We have teacher's meeting (or professional development) every week. Some of the new teachers have an interesting attitude towards meetings. If they don't feel like coming, they have 'better' things to do. It is really strange to me that they can blow off a meeting that is required under contract. However, they feel that if the meeting goes beyond 3:00, they should not have to stay.
To me, this is very strange. My first few years of teaching we often had meetings that lasted until 5:30 or 6:00. We stayed until the very end. No one left early. I just don't understand how or why the new teachers have this attitude.
One of my team members has rarely been to a full teacher's meeting. Another is there but leaves early to work in her classroom. I never would have DARED to do such a thing. There are important things discussed at these meetings and then we have to relate the information separately to these people. I don't think it is fair. Then they ask me questions that they should have asked at the meeting. Things I can't clarify for them because I don't know the answers.
This is an issue that really bothers me. I wonder why my principal lets this happen. I know she is a really nice person but she needs to learn to put her foot down and tell them that under contract, they are needed to be at the meetings. Needless to say, this is driving me nuts.
In the same vein, I have a teacher on my team, aka Monkey Poop, who doesn't want to "waste" her time coming to team meetings. Then she expects us to tell her what was discussed and what is going on. I am getting really tired of this attitude. I have told the principal that I will no longer be responsible for re-disseminating information that has already been gone over at a mandatory meeting. I actually have teaching things to do. I should not have to spend all my time going around to my team members and telling them individually what was said when they decided not to show up.
The last member of the team complains and complains about meetings but she is clueless about anything that happens. She can't use computers and needs me to constantly help her, she doesn't understand the data from DIBLES and has to have it explained over and over. She is slowly becoming a pain in my glutteous. How can you be a teacher for 12 years and not know how to use the materials and data that we have? Yes, she is an older woman. She is supposedly younger than me and I keep my tech knowledge updated. The district offered classes in the programs on the computer but she had better things to do and didn't take them. I don't know what the solution is. I kind of wish I could get a new team for next year. I am tired of doing work for two or three because my team members can't keep up or attend meetings.