As much as you try to psych yourself up for it, the faculty meeting can be rough sometimes. Youâve just been with students all day, you have papers to grade, and you really just want to go home. Here are thoughts weâve all had at the faculty meeting. Itâs nice to know youâre not alone.
1. I hope I have a good seat.
We all have people we want to sit beside. People who understand our meaningful glances, carefully timed sighs, and sometimes, our snarky comments scribbled on the agenda. Faculty meetings are bad enough without having to sit next to that weird science teacher who never talks to anybody.
2. Are there snacks?
Fair warning to the administration: If snacks were promised and there arenât enough for everyone (or if the snacks arenât good), things are gonna get ugly.
3. Wait, why does everybody have their laptops?
Well, of course you read that last-minute email from the principal! Well, you skimmed it. That counts, right? Still, thereâs not much more uncomfortable than showing up to a faculty meeting then suddenly realizing that youâre one of the few teachers who didnât bring what you were supposed to.
4. Who is that?
Someone stands up to make an announcement about the upcoming food drive or science fair, and you realize youâve never seen them before. Is he a student teacher? Did we get a new social studies teacher? Whatâs going on?
5. How old is that student teacher?!
The longer you teach, the younger the student teachers become. Itâs shocking the first time you look at a new student teacher and think âI donât think youâre legally able to drive, let alone teach! Holy crap! Iâm old!â
6. Yeah, we all know who this reminder is really for.
That reminder about wearing jeans only on Fridays? Itâs really only for Bob, the history teacher who wears jeans and a golf shirt every day. The reminder about our contracted school day ending at 3:30 p.m., so no one should be in the parking lot before then? Thatâs for Susan, who sneaks out the back door at 3:15 p.m. at least three times a week. Why do we all have to sit through these mini-lectures? Everybody knows who theyâre for.
7. Weâre never going to finish on time.
We got off to a late start because the principal wanted to use PowerPoint but couldnât figure out how to get it to work, and that teacher asked five questions (just like she always does) about the changed schedule due state testing, even though it wasnât all that complicated. Now itâs 15 minutes before the end of the meeting, and weâre only halfway through the agenda!
8. Is this what sitting in my class is like for students?
We secretly check our phones, write notes to our friends, zone out, doodle, and count down the minutes until we can leave the meeting. Is this what our students feel like when theyâre in our classrooms?
Ok, so not all faculty meetings are terrible. Hopefully, you have attended more interesting, helpful meetings than boring, pointless ones.
Let us know in the comments below if weâve missed any thoughts that you know we all have during faculty meetings!
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