What Does ~Be At The Meeting~ Mean?
Good Question, and if you popped over from our Big Bright Ideas Blog Hop, I wouldn't keep you very long, so that you can keep hoping.
End of Discussion!
But how many faculty meetings have you been to where...
25% of the teachers are dozing?
25% of the teachers are grading papers?
25% of the teachers are pretending to take notes or check dates on their iPad or phone? They're Facebooking, you know, I know, the principals know it!
YOU are busy, you need to multi-task, you have "a life" to get home to, it's baseball night, you have to grocery shop, your favorite movie was just released on Blue-ray and the list goes on and on and on...
How about that last 25% of the teachers?
They are AT THE MEETING, they are making eye contact with the principal or any speaker, they are taking notes, they are leaning forward and they are interested.
AND, and this is a big AND,
They Just Might Be Faking It.
But many times you fake it until you make it, and suddenly it works, the meetings go by faster, you're not overwhelmed because you missed upcoming deadlines, you get awarded and selected for things because your principal knows....
YOU ARE AT THE MEETING!
If you're new to my blog I'll share one quick personal story, I don't stay in the parking lot until 8pm every night. That doesn't equate to a hard worker. A hard worker is someone who comes to work and gets the work done. I've been Teacher of the Year, I've been a district specialist, I've been a consultant, I've taught Technology to our entire area's principals and assistant principals. I now work from home due to the blessings of Teachers Pay Teachers and other online sources. But I can recall many, many, many meetings where one little thing might have come up about a teacher.
ONE LITTLE THING...
Teacher of the Year selections, New Staff Interviews, Promotions, Selection Committees, you name it and when there is a list of teachers and the list needs to be narrowed down to a few candidates, one thing comes up first to cross a name off the list....
"You know Mrs. Johnson, she's the one who is ALWAYS on her phone at faculty meetings."
Cross that name off...
"You know Mr. James, he's the one who leaves the meetings early pretending to go to the restroom."
Cross that name off...
"You know ___{Fill In The Blank}___, she's the one who __{Fill In The Blank}___."
I have never heard, "Cross Mrs. Whitehead off, she's the one who pays attention in my faculty meetings." Many of these teachers NEVER understood why so many great things never came their way, their one action of showing little to no respect to their administrators derailed their career.
How about you?
Are you AT THE MEETING?
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This is so true! This post should be shared with student teachers.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I work at a smaller school, so no one dares to do anything but pay attention at meetings. I couldn't imagine sneaking out early or correcting papers at the meetings!
ReplyDeleteSally from Elementary Matters
Love this Fern. As a retired teacher and much older we never had cell phones or computers to distract us. Showing up and listening is about respect and it definitely gets noticed. I was a State Teacher of the Year- my principal noticed.
ReplyDeleteArlene
LMN Tree
All good tips Fern! I see other teachers on iPads and their iPhones under the table. My friend told me that at a PD class, the presenter had them jail their phones and iPads until lunch and then after the session!
ReplyDeleteJourney of a Substitute Teacher
GREAT POST! I guess I hadn't really thought about it in this way before, but your post makes perfect sense! Yes - we need to be present. One other thing I would add is to avoid sitting by "that person" - you know, the one who is always talking, giggling, and whispering about something that has NOTHING to do with the topic at hand. I often find that I get sucked into that person's chatter and then I miss out on things. Thank you for such a wonderful post! I'm pinning it now!
ReplyDelete~HoJo~
Great point and one for us to all remember!
ReplyDeleteTori
Tori's Teacher Tips
So true Fern! Wise words.
ReplyDeleteAloha,
Corinna (✿◠‿◠)
Surfin' Through Second
I agree! Even when it is boring, I work very hard to BE at the meeting. It drives me crazy when others are grading, texting, etc. We want our students to be paying attention, so we should be doing the same!
ReplyDeleteSara :)
The Colorful Apple
Absolutely true! Sometimes teachers are the worst students themselves.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice, Fern!
Susanna
Whimsy Workshop Teaching
Thank you for stopping by, congrats on your TPT milestone! :)
Delete~Fern
Fern, this is so something I need! I am always multitasking and have a very hard time sitting and just listening, especially since I work at a K-12 school and most things are not applicable to me. But, it does look bad when I'm grading papers or checking my phone. Thank you for a little wake up call :)
ReplyDeleteSo true, Fern. It's all about being present, engaged and in the moment. Others are always watching. Always. Thank you for such a great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I appreciate my colleagues, but it always bothers me when teachers are disrespectful during meetings and assemblies. I know we are all busy, but we shouldn't have one set of expectations for our students and another for ourselves. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteJan
Laughter and Consistency