okay, she quit today

[Zoe Girl]

I think I am feeling relief but confusion and a touch of anger. My Lead Teacher (that I have been writing about) quit. I worked with her a few hours this morning and she left without saying a word about it and then called my supervisor to say there was a resignation in her box and today was her last day. :(

I went by the main office but the resignation was sealed and marked personal so the HR person has it now. My supervisor goes to many schools so she hasnt read the letter yet. I haven't read the letter either. And I need to start covering her on Monday at 6 am, how nice to not tell me. This is part of her style to skip me as she has done this before so I am not taking it personally but it does mess with our program. Very unprofessional behavior.

In any case I am waiting to see what the letter says when my supervisor reads it. I think that having her sign a document stating what we had talked about yesterday triggered this. She tried to negotiate the written version instead of signing but I told her it was just an overview of the conversation and I was trying to be more timely with paperwork such as this. Nothing in our conversation said she was in trouble or that she was being warned in any way, but there were a few notes of things she needed to work on phrased in a way that was not accusatory. The worst was I wrote that she needed to look at the calendar so that she would not write lesson plans for days there was no school, um duh. Also that I was going to back off and expect her to find things and information using me as a last resort instead of a first call.

Okay, it has been a day let me tell you!

[chrisgermany]

Have you learned the letter details by now and got a reaction from your superior?
I hope this does not turn out negatively against you.
Take care!

[leslieann]

Hi, Zoe Girl,

When I saw the subject of your thread, I felt relief on your behalf, after reading about this struggle...I didn't anticipate that she'd walk off the job but of course you are right, that is consistent with other behaviour. From what you have said, I surmise that it was the clarity of your communication and boundaries that resulted in this shift. That is, once it became clear that 1) you had expectations and 2) you were getting things on paper for the sake of accountability for all parties, then she was not able to stay. Too bad you guys could not have talked it out, rather than just her acting it out.

Hope all is going well in the aftermath and that you are able to search for and find a dynamite replacement soon!

L.

[Reyes]

I can see a person have the perception of being trouble when asked to sign such document. Especially considering that the working relationship sounded strained at best. As far as going over your head, it seems that, for whatever reason, she did not view you as her supervisor in any way other than by title.

[Zoe Girl]

It has been interesting let me tell you!

The letter only said thank you for letting her work at our program. In the afternoon she only told me that she needed more time to seek a teaching job and could not do it while working with us (she worked 5 1/2 hours a day with a long break in the middle of each day). She did not want us to tell the children however on Monday she came by and gave us a card to read to the kids. It did not say anything about why she was leaving just that she would miss the kids and was bad at goodbyes.

It all has been good, I don't think she could make a dent in my reputation at work as I am doing a good job and have excellent feedback from all parties. I wasn't really worried about that but I didn't want to deal with all the drama that could follow. I have had a sub to assist in the morning since I have too many kids for one person. I have also had my supervisor in the afternoon until enough children are picked up to bring us into ratio with 4 teachers. My stress level is so much lower that I am working on other things that need to be done and enjoying my job more. I always enjoyed it so I didn't realize how it was affected.

Then yesterday I had some excellent validation. My supervisor was there as a sub and talked to the younger teaching assistants. They are both really happy with our program and one told my supervisor that she was glad LT was gone. Apparently it was obvious that she didn't know her job, she insisted the TA's come to her first but she never knew the answer so then they were sent to me who actually knew answers and the way the former LT delegated was more of treating people like servants than with respect. It is exactly what I would have said about her. In my last conversation with former LT she said 'unlike you I have no problem delegating' and my first thought was that she treated people like crap in delegating so no one listened to her by the end. I didn't delegate to her because it was too much work to get it done right, follow up, double check, etc. The worst was a time when a child had a mess in the bathroom and i sent her to find a custodian. I only found out the next day that she never did what I told her to when the custodial staff was furious to find a filthy bathroom and have no idea there was a mess like that. No something you want to randomly find a poop covered bathroom when you are on final check up on the building at 2 am. (they stayed overnight for construction purposes then).

Anyway I am looking forward to great new people, we already have a fabulous staff and i hear even in comparison to other sites in our program we are the top of the heap.

[razz]

Well done, Zoe girl!!!!

[kally]

well it sounds like it will all work out. What I find useful, once I have calmed down, is to figure out the lesson in it for me; there is always one. That is how I think we learn from experience in this world. Sounds like a much better place for all concerned to work in now. You seem to have found your niche. I am so glad.

[Zoe Girl]

it is nice to finally learn a lesson about something I did RIGHT! I have learned a LOT of other lessons as well along the way.

[chrisgermany]

Good news. Thanks for letting us know.