PrinciPAL

     So. I have reached the point in my placement where I have developed a pretty good report with my mentor teacher and the teachers on my team – they are comfortable sharing their experiences and anecdotes with me and vis versa, including even things from their personal lives. I have never felt uncomfortable with this, until pretty recently. 

     My grade level team eats lunch together in the library most days, and recently, one of the teachers was about to have her observation from the principal. I have only ever had great interactions with our principal – she has been incredibly welcoming and kind to me as well as the other student teachers, and during the faculty meetings I was excited to see how much she favored innovation and shared experiences. However, there seemed to be a pretty tangible tone of negativity when she was brought up during lunch. Ever since she was brought up a couple days ago, there seems to be a pretty blatant common thread in most of our ‘casual’ conversation. On one occasion, my mentor teacher was telling us that her husband’s school was getting a new principal, and there was a comment about the possibility of my placement getting a new principal and how great that would be. On another occasion the next day, another one of the team members brought up a joke about the principal that seemed a little off-color.

     On all of these occasions, I have just kept my mouth shut. And all of these occasions have never been out-right enough for me to classify them as rude, disrespectful, or even mean. However, it is really uncomfortable for me to not really have the same understanding as the rest of the teachers in my grade-level and still be listening to these types of comments. I guess what I’m saying is, what should I be doing in these types of situations besides not saying anything? Nothing? Should I be nervous for my principal’s opinion of me? Does she realize that this group of teachers might not think as favorably of her? Is that a poor reflection of me in her eyes? It makes me very nervous.