Dealing with Difficult Teachers

by Todd Whitaker

Angie BielefeldHaleigh Hansen

Andrea PettigrewDiania Pile

Give One Get One Activity

Part 1:The Principal and the Difficult Teacher

Lazy

Negative Resistant to change Boring Negative leader Belligerent Inflexible Back stabber Domineering Stubborn Cannot get along with others

Lectures Cynical Doesn’t like teaching Argumentative Counting the days until they retire Counting the days until school

ends (and it’s early October) Doesn’t like kids Doesn’t like their job

Phrases and terms used to describe difficult teachers:

Six general areas that may cause you to label teachers difficult:

Classroom BehaviorStaff Influence

Public PerceptionResistance to Change

Dampen Enthusiasm/Damage ClimateParade of Students to the Office

Three Kinds of Teachers

SuperstarsBackbonesMediocres

Looking for the Good Part-Sometimes You Have to Squint

Consistently try motivating your most difficult staff members

Have regular, positive, weekly memos Give difficult teachers responsibilities Praise a staff member in front of your superior

Public and Private Praise (must be specific)

Part 2: Motivating Difficult Teachers

Parts 3 and 4:

Making Difficult Teachers Uncomfortable and Communicating with the Difficult Teacher

Effective teachers need to make ineffective/difficult teachers feel uncomfortable.

Effective teachers usually take more responsibility than ineffective teachers.

If ineffective teachers feel no discomfort, they will continue to operate in the same way.

One method to begin to make less effective

teachers feel uncomfortable is to empower the

effective teachers on a staff. Ineffective teachers usually look to pass the

responsibility. Instead, make them accept it.

When trying to improve an ineffective teacher,

it is always best to pair them up with a

superstar teacher. When attempting to communicate with a

difficult teacher, always assume that they want

to do what is right or best. When communicating, always be prepared.

Have a game plan, so that your emotions don’t

get the best of you. We should never address a difficult teacher in

front of a group. It should always be one-to-

one.

Effective teachers should always look to

eliminate ineffective teachers’ negative

behaviors. When talking to difficult teachers, effective

teachers should always focus on how they

can help improve the ineffectiveness.

Part 5: Weakening the Influence of Difficult Teachers

Negative leaders in a school might be the most harmful influence in preventing school improvement

Roles and Styles of Negative Leaders Brown-Nosing Back Stabber Town Crier Stay-At-Homes Saboteurs

Dealing with Negative Leaders

Break up the GroupPower of PityGuest SpeakerShuffle the Deck

Room location Planning period and lunch break Grade level

Part 6: The Role of New Faculty

New teachers can be powerful tools in improving schools. Two ways to improve your school

Improve the teachers you have Hire better ones

New teacher leadership Starts during the interview

Part 7: Eliminating Difficult Teachers

Where do I start?

Focus on the end goal.

Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe

Retirement and Other Miracles

Retirement

Building Transfers

Discontinuing a Program

Dismissal

Nonrenewal of Probationary Teachers

Dismissal of Tenured Teachers – Incompetence, Insubordination, and Immorality

Documentation – An Essential Element

Part 8: General Tips and Guidelines

How Can I Stop Them From Sending So Many Students To The Office? Establish Expectations

Expect That the Difficult Teacher Always Wants To Do What is Right

Enforce the Expectation

If All Else Fails -

If They Know You Are Aware of It, They Know You accept It.

Never Argue or Raise Your Voice With A Difficult Teacher

Hope They Will Run Out and Tell Their Peers

Use a Shotgun Approach

Easing the Guilt

Should You Feel Guilty?

“You should not ever feel guilty about doing what is best for the young people in your buildings. You should only feel guilty, if you do not.”

Passing the Buck Down the LineAdapted by Todd Whitaker

Said the college professor, “Such rawness in the student is a shame,Lack of preparation in high school is to blame.

Said the high school teacher,“Good heavens, that boy’s a fool.The fault, of course, is with theJunior High School.

The junior high school noted, “It’s so hopeless and sadThanks to those elementary clowns,They can’t add or subtract.”

The grammar school teacher said,“From such stupidityMay I be spared.They sent him up to me so unprepared.”

The primary teacher huffed,“Kindergarten blockheads all.They call that preparation?Why, it’s worse than none at all.”

The kindergarten teacher said,“Such lack of training never did I see.What kind of parents Must those kids’ parents be?”

This responsibility to teachIs something that we all share,But somehow the grass isAlways greener over there.

So rather than hand downThese grumbles and groans,Let’s remember about glass houses,And the throwing of stones.

The answer of course,It is not chance or luckBut what we do in our own classes,So let’s not pass the buck!