Monday I found out last minute I was to lead a workshop because the leader I was supposed to be assisting texted me last minute saying she was having car problems. Long story short, I led everything with the backup of a few wonderful people and it went fine, but two people that could have easily made my situation easier simply did not help. Thanks for nothing, guys. It's just another one of those situations where you see who you can count on and who you can't. I think I can predict who, in the longterm, will be more successful and happy and all that jazz.
On a related note, if you are a teacher that knows ahead of time that you will have a substitute teacher covering your class, and you have work for them to give your students, don't make it any more difficult for the sub than it already is. If you have handouts, print them out and leave them on your desk. Don't make the sub look for them on your computer and figure out where the printer is (when there are multiple printers in multiple buildings in your school) in a limited amount of time... only to find out that they printed out blank for some unknown reason without any additional time to go back and forth between buildings trying to troubleshoot tech issues. "I didn't know if you were going to do the lesson" was a reason she also didn't print out that and other future handouts for subsequent lessons, and she also mentioned that she hadn't even read those lessons yet. Well yeah, I didn't know if I was going to be able to do the lesson either because you didn't give me what I needed. Now you're also telling me you're giving me more lessons that, not only are you not prepared for, I will not be prepared for them as well. Yes, now that I know I can do what I can to prepare for them. However, why are you making my life harder, and thus, probably making your students' lives harder, and thus, your life harder in the end? I'd prefer to be left no plan than vague plans I have to decode.
Being a teacher of any kind is not easy. When it comes to a regular classroom teacher versus a substitute teacher, the regular teacher obviously has a home field advantage. If you don't make life as easy as you can for your substitute, in the long run you are making more work for yourself because you are going to end up having to re-teach a lot of lessons. You're going to have to follow up and address behavioral issues, etc. If you actually do what you can to make your sub's life easier, your students will be more successful and probably make your life easier. I have been fortunate to work with a few teachers that seem to understand this and act accordingly. Sometimes I have very good days teaching.
I think this idea of the making coworkers' lives easier translates to many professions other than teaching. Even if you do it for the selfish reason of making your life easier in the longterm and the bi-product is that it helps others, then do it. Sometimes it really doesn't take that much, and people's laziness really irritates me.
OK, rant over. I guess I'm just a big picture kind of person, and not everybody else is.
On a completely un-related note, how about that Game of Thrones season finale, folks? Pretty crazy, right? And people wonder why I enjoy shows like that and Walking Dead when I have to deal with kids and adults that test my patience nonstop all day long.
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