Uncategorized | Mar 5, 2009
The top 10 (harmlessly?) unprofessional behaviors
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
The top 10 (harmlessly?) unprofessional behaviors
By Angela Watson
There are seriously unprofessional behaviors, like coming in late everyday or not having your lesson plans prepared. And then there are…those things. The ones that don’t REALLY impact the kids or instruction in any substantial way. Those behaviors that are, ahem, frowned upon?
There’s been a ongoing discussion on our campus about whether it’s okay for teachers to wear those velour sweatsuits that were popular a few years back. Some of us are passionate: They’re sweats! Absolutely not! Others of us say: Hey, what’s the difference between that and the jeans we’re allowed to wear on Fridays?
My opinion on each of these photos, for our school in Florida:
- No (logos are tacky);
- No (sloppy, and more importantly, ugly);
- No (although it’d be easier to get dads in for a conference);
- Yes (occasionally on a Friday).
The whole thing got me thinking about the subtle and trivially unprofessional behaviors that we as teachers sometimes engage in:
- Giving an assignment mainly because you want to write about it on your blog. Heh.
- Positioning yourself towards the sun during recess to darken your tan.
- Talking on a cell phone while walking the class to lunch.
- Eating in front of students.
- Setting up a book buddies routine (or other combined class activity) so you and your colleague can chat while the kids work.
- Always scheduling book fair visits, guest speakers, and other classroom diversions into the time slot of the subject or class you least enjoy teaching.
- Turning off the classroom lights after dismissal so no one will knock on the door while you’re grading papers.
- Wearing house shoes or slippers in the classroom [this was huge in D.C.].
- Having a student fetch your sweater, phone, or keys from across the room.
- Setting up a classroom behavior system that involves pizza party rewards because you love Papa Johns.
In the interest of full disclosure, my personal weakness is #2. At least it was last year, when the assigned third grade recess slot was 1:45 p.m. This year, our time was suspiciously changed by administration to 8:15 a.m. Coincidence or conspiracy? I think the evidence speaks for itself.
Are any of these things a pet peeve of yours? What wouldn’t fly at your school? And, what’s YOUR (harmlessly) unprofessional behavior?
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
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I let my fourth period go to early lunch sometimes when we aren’t scheduled to because I want more time for lunch that day.
Miss A, Miss Profe, Kathy N, and Dkxody: Thanks for you honesty and reflections. It’s good to have the collective affirmation that none of us go by the book 100% of the time…I appreciate your contributions to that.
I forget breakfast all of the time. But I feel guilty about eating in front of students, so I solved the problem by keeping a box of granola bars and a few other things in a drawer. The kids know I have them and if a kid is hungry (this is high school), she’ll ask, “Do you have anything good? I haven’t eaten.” It costs me maybe $3 a week in cheap snacks but the kids love it, and I get away with eating in class because I’m not greedy about it.
We had a teacher in our building who made great homemade salsa. Teachers would get jars from him and buy enormous chip bags from the cafeteria (at cost, so $4 for enough chips to feed an army). If I was eager to dig in during class, I’d crack open the bag and jar and pass it around.
Food is a great motivator! Everyone is suddenly relaxed and talkative (in a good way, about the content). Of course, all of this could also explain the five pounds I seem to tack on each year. 🙂
I’ve developed a classroom playlist on my iPod full of songs from my playlist that are 100% appropriate for the students, but not 100% interesting for the students. When I’m having a rough day or find it difficult to focus, I’ll turn the music on (music I like) while they read for 5-10 minutes or have a chance to catch up on any work they need to do for me or other teachers. I totally let myself check out and sing along–usually just in my head–while I try to refocus. I try to be very understanding of the student tapping on his desk while I’m teaching for this reason.
Erica, I like that a lot, actually. I think it’s good to expose kids to different types of music they wouldn’t normally hear. 🙂