Work is getting me down - a teacher's lament

[MakiSupaStar]

So I was just accused of cussing out a student when I didn't do it. Just got out of a long meeting with my Principal and VP and suddenly, I get the feeling that they're believing the student and not me.

This student was getting a referral for swearing my class, and then when I was walking her to class she said that I called her a f'n b****. This girl has a mouth and rap sheet for swearing as long as I'm tall, but for some reason I can't help but feeling like I'm on trial here and I'm on the defensive. Now I have to meet with the student, my principal, and the VP and confront her about it. I have a weird vibe about this meeting. So now I've pulled in my Union Rep. The whole thing just stinks. I've got a knot in my stomach and find myself very nervous about the situation, because if all hell goes loose, I could get fired (even though I'm tenured).

Am I over reacting? This whole thing is depressing me. I lost sleep over it last night. Sometimes my job friggin' sucks.

[FL Knifemaker]

My Dad was a teacher all his life. He never missed a single day of work and was loved my most of his students. Even today, I hear about what a great teacher he was. He took a one year early retirement by cashing in all his sick days and vacation. He said if he taught ONE more year, he probably would have been fired.......for diciplining students. He used to punish student by making them do pushups or run laps around the football field, OR mopping and cleaning floors. Can't do that anymore, times changed, he got out JUST in time.

[Gard]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

So I was just accused of cussing out a student when I didn't do it. Just got out of a long meeting with my Principal and VP and suddenly, I get the feeling that they're believing the student and not me.

This student was getting a referral for swearing my class, and then when I was walking her to class she said that I called her a f'n b****. This girl has a mouth and rap sheet for swearing as long as I'm tall, but for some reason I can't help but feeling like I'm on trial here and I'm on the defensive. Now I have to meet with the student, my principal, and the VP and confront her about it. I have a weird vibe about this meeting. So now I've pulled in my Union Rep. The whole thing just stinks. I've got a knot in my stomach and find myself very nervous about the situation, because if all hell goes loose, I could get fired (even though I'm tenured).

Am I over reacting? This whole thing is depressing me. I lost sleep over it last night. Sometimes my job friggin' sucks.

Y'know, you're a major wise@$$, and you definitely party with the pros, but you're also a good dude, and don't deserve this horse$h!t for doing such an irreplaceable yet underappreciated gig.

I say you pimp slap the little wretch that is trying to flip this back on you, but sadly that won't fix your sitch.

Hopefully, everything will be cool, you shouldn't be worrying about this crap. Teachers put up with far too much crap for far too little scratch, IMO. You guys should all be pulling down 50K+ on day one, nothing is more valuable than education.

[buzzbass]

your record will speak for itself, as will hers. don't let them make you agree to ANYTHING, you're not wrong here.

[TheXym]

Maki, I'm feeling your pain. You know from my previous PMs in your teacher related threads that I'm proud to have you in the trenches as a fellow teacher. You're doing the right thing by bringing in the union rep. You'd think that it'd be a slam dunk for you, but in this day and age administrators all over the place seem to lack the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing and appease parents who are shall we say, less than stellar, to put it mildly. Hang in there, and let me know how it goes.

[spade2you]

I'm not a teacher, but if your bosses don't have your back, it's probably not a good place in the long run. I'm currently working in a hospital where my boss would feed me to the wolves if it saves his skin. Good luck in this situation, but I'm definitely outta here when I find something decent.

[Matt_W]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

He used to punish student by making them do pushups or run laps around the football field, OR mopping and cleaning floors.

I always thought those were the kind of punishments that were good for you... Beating and humiliating students is bad, but showing students that their bad behaviour has unpleasant consequences is not.

[jwbassman]

Originally Posted by buzzbass

your record will speak for itself, as will hers. don't let them make you agree to ANYTHING, you're not wrong here.

+1

If this chick is know for this kind of BS then that should work in your favor. Unfortunately yous bosses have to do what any good boss in that position would do, and that's listen to both parties and make the right decision. So hopefully the parents of this girl aren't the "my kid's and angel and would never do that type of thing" type of parents.

It's BS man!!

[Matt_W]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

So I was just accused of cussing out a student when I didn't do it. Just got out of a long meeting with my Principal and VP and suddenly, I get the feeling that they're believing the student and not me.

This student was getting a referral for swearing my class, and then when I was walking her to class she said that I called her a f'n b****. This girl has a mouth and rap sheet for swearing as long as I'm tall, but for some reason I can't help but feeling like I'm on trial here and I'm on the defensive. Now I have to meet with the student, my principal, and the VP and confront her about it. I have a weird vibe about this meeting. So now I've pulled in my Union Rep. The whole thing just stinks. I've got a knot in my stomach and find myself very nervous about the situation, because if all hell goes loose, I could get fired (even though I'm tenured).

Am I over reacting? This whole thing is depressing me. I lost sleep over it last night. Sometimes my job friggin' sucks.

Good luck, I'm sure your union support will scare the dip****s into doing the right thing.

[TheXym]

Originally Posted by jwbassman

+1

If this chick is know for this kind of BS then that should work in your favor. Unfortunately yous bosses have to do what any good boss in that position would do, and that's listen to both parties and make the right decision. So hopefully the parents of this girl aren't the "my kids and angel and would never do that type"

It's BS man!!

You'd be surprised at how many of those there are. I'm glad I'm a music teacher and the vast majority of my students WANT to be in my classroom.

[disenchant]

Well, I would hope they would believe you over some troubled kid. I would imagine you're a teacher in good standing, and it would be highly unlikely that you'd lose your job over it.

I had a parent come in all furious because her nine-year-old daughter was upset that she wasn't allowed to do back handsprings with just a spotter and had to do them over a barrel mat and the child was embarrassed that she was the only kid in the class that was doing them on a barrel mat. That was false information, only two kids out of a class of 8 were doing them with just a spotter. And her child wasn't ready to do them with just a spot yet. Anyway, the woman wouldn't listen to me, only her daughter (despite the fact that there were many witnesses to my side) and vowed that she was going to remove me as a teacher.

I got interrogated by the Park District head, the woman was furious and demanded she be heard because her tax dollars paid for the park district. I felt like a criminal when they were grilling me but in the end my reputation as an outstanding coach prevailed. They knew I not only grew their program but we also have been winning trophies and people are on waiting lists trying to get on our team that I started.

So, while you may feel like a criminal, hang through the process and don't lose your head. Your reputation as a great teacher will win in the end, not some liar of a kid and their irate parent.

[jwbassman]

Originally Posted by TheXym

You'd be surprised at how many of those there are. I'm glad I'm a music teacher and the vast majority of my students WANT to be in my classroom.

I believe it! That's a major part of what's wrong with society these days. Parents a too quick to take their child's side and not listen to the "Professional" that is mentoring their child.

[mjolnir]

Wow... Sucks, man. Unfortunately it seems likely that those in the administrative positions have to give the student the benefit of the doubt. This is a disgustingly PC word we live in, and schools these days seem very anxious about keeping the children and the parents happy and less and less concerned about the teachers.

I was told about a teacher at my old high school who was enormously well loved by nearly all of his students. He was a legend, and a genuinely good guy. Unfortunately, one little prick of a girl decided she didn't like him because he graded her fairly (that is to say she never took his work seriously so he graded her accordingly) and told one of the VP's that he had made sexual advances toward her. He was evaluated and eventually suspended pending judgement or some crap like that. Apparently the girl was also blabbing to her friends that it was all a hoax and that all she really wanted is for that teacher to not come back. Naturally one of the VP's eventually overheard and he was offered his job back. He didn't take it, swore he'd had enough of that crap, and now I hear he's doing very well for himself in the real estate business...

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by mjolnir

Wow... Sucks, man. Unfortunately it seems likely that those in the administrative positions have to give the student the benefit of the doubt. This is a disgustingly PC word we live in, and schools these days seem very anxious about keeping the children and the parents happy and less and less concerned about the teachers.

I was told about a teacher at my old high school who was enormously well loved by nearly all of his students. He was a legend, and a genuinely good guy. Unfortunately, one little prick of a girl decided she didn't like him because he graded her fairly (that is to say she never took his work seriously so he graded her accordingly) and told one of the VP's that he had made sexual advances toward her. He was evaluated and eventually suspended pending judgement or some crap like that. Apparently the girl was also blabbing to her friends that it was all a hoax and that all she really wanted is for that teacher to not come back. Naturally one of the VP's eventually overheard and he was offered his job back. He didn't take it, swore he'd had enough of that crap, and now I hear he's doing very well for himself in the real estate business...

That's the exact story that scares me. To top it off, this kid is out of here in three weeks, so if they were to side with her, and this does happen, then even if she does blab like your example, no one would know because she'll be at a different school.

[Mark Latimour]

I'd sue the student for defamation. You guys do that in the States, right?

[mjolnir]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

That's the exact story that scares me. To top it off, this kid is out of here in three weeks, so if they were to side with her, and this does happen, then even if she does blab like your example, no one would know because she'll be at a different school.

No matter what, you don't deserve this horse ****. You have one of the toughest jobs out there, nobody should give you this crap for doing your job. Best of luck to ya, bro. You know all of TB has your back, even if the best we can do is offer moral support.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

I'd sue the student for defamation. You guys do that in the States, right?

Pfft. She's dirt poor and I'm pretty sure her family is on welfare. How does that work? garnish her welfare check?

[Jared Lash]

Should you be worried? Unfortunately the answer is yes.

One thing I always appreciated about my old school (which was a private, Catholic high school) was that in absence of overwhelming proof to the contrary (or repeated accusations), the administration was firmly on the side of teachers when complaints came in from students and/or parents. Their outlook was that they had hired teachers of character who deserved their support.

Unfortunately, my time in public school has shown me that fear of litigation and/or bad publicity drives everything, including student discipline. Everyone who complains that schools are too "soft" or PC when they ban certain playground games or call it a Winter Break rather than Christmas Vacation need to understand that the motivation in almost every case is not to get sued. And now schools are afraid to back their own teachers for the same reasons.

Twice in my career I was confronted with false allegations, both somewhat similar to what you're going through and it's an awful feeling. The idea that you pour your heart into education, dealing with all the frustrations that come along with it and then to be accused of some BS you didn't even do because some student has decided that despite all your hard work they don't like you? It's gut wrenching.

I am truly wishing for the best for you in this situation Daren, and believe me I understand where you are coming from. I've always said that middle school teachers should get a medal just for being willing to do their job, and I have respect for those who choose to do it and do it well. We certainly can't afford to lose any more good ones.

Best of luck.

[sarcastro83]

If she's a complete nutter, and I'm sure she is by the sounds of it, her word will be worth jack all when all is said and done. Good call on the Union rep. Good to have someone in your corner who'se obligated to be there should you be the subject of anything underhanded (hope that's not the case). Also, was there anyone else around while you were walking this little beast to class?

[Yngwie 4String]

Dont worry man youll be fine. If not the TB army will have your back.