Transcript Part 1: The Principal and the Difficult Teacher

Dealing with Difficult Teachers
by Todd Whitaker
Angie Bielefeld
Haleigh Hansen
Andrea Pettigrew
Diania Pile
Give One Get One Activity
Part 1:
The Principal and the Difficult Teacher
Phrases and terms used to describe difficult
teachers:
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Lazy
Negative
Resistant to change
Boring
Negative leader
Belligerent
Inflexible
Back stabber
Domineering
Stubborn
Cannot get along with others
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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
Six general areas that may cause you to label
teachers difficult:
Classroom Behavior
Staff Influence
Public Perception
Resistance to Change
Dampen Enthusiasm/Damage Climate
Parade of Students to the Office
Three Kinds of Teachers
Superstars
Backbones
Mediocres
Part 2: Motivating Difficult
Teachers
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)
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-toone.
 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 Group
Power of Pity
Guest Speaker
Shuffle 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 Line
Adapted 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 the
Junior High School.
The junior high school noted,
“It’s so hopeless and sad
Thanks to those elementary clowns,
They can’t add or subtract.”
The grammar school teacher said,
“From such stupidity
May 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 teach
Is something that we all share,
But somehow the grass is
Always greener over there.
So rather than hand down
These grumbles and groans,
Let’s remember about glass houses,
And the throwing of stones.
The answer of course,
It is not chance or luck
But what we do in our own classes,
So let’s not pass the buck!