Wednesday, February 13, 2013

NYC Educator: Stupid Meetings

NYC Educator: Stupid Meetings:


Stupid Meetings

I'm the UFT chapter leader at my school. It's kind of a crazy job. I get called to go here, do this, or discuss that on a regular basis. But I'm also an ESL teacher, and I almost always teach beginners. One day, the kids asked me why I had to leave a class early. I told them I was the chapter leader. They didn't really understand that. The more I explained, the less they seemed to get it.

The next year, a new group of kids asked me the same question. I decided to explain to them in a way they might understand and accept. I told them I had two jobs. First, I teach them. Second I had to go to a lot of stupid meetings. This, they understood. They asked me who made me go to all these stupid meetings and I said it was the principal. The kids all agreed that if the principal said I had to go to stupid