Midway through delivering a lesson to my students, my classroom door flung open with a crash as though the Reckoning had come to collect my soul. In fact, in a non biblical sense, it had, but it wasn’t my soul on the line, it was my position as a teacher in the district. My principal, squatty and stout, with salt and pepper hair, and dark ink colored bags under his eyes stood in the doorway and raised his index and thumb at me in the same fashion small children make guns out of their hands and said, “We need to talk…now,” and then backed out of the doorway into the hallway. Quickly and nervously, I instructed my students of their task as I made my way to the back of the classroom and into the hall. In the hallway, I stood face to face with
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You know that right?” My principal said in a loud whisper. He was close enough to me that I could see small pieces of food stuck between his coffee stained teeth. “It’s all politics Mr. Knights, keep that in mind.” I shook my head in disagreement with what he said. Contemptuously, he rolled his eyes at me, “This Alex Jones situation has become quite the ordeal don’t you think?” “I agree.” I …show more content…
With flared nostrils and clenched teeth he told me what I was going to do. “You’re going to give him one assignment worth as many points as he needs to get an ‘A’. He’s going to get an ‘A’ on that assignment, and then you’re going to delete his ‘F’ in the grade book and make it an ‘A’.” The look on my face must have belied my astonishment to him because he reiterated what he had just said. This time, however, he followed it up with, “Do you understand me Mr. Knights?” And, “I do not want any more emails from his parents.” “But he doesn’t deserve an ‘A’. He didn’t earn it. It’s not ethical.” I responded. With the type of restrained severity and sharply enunciated words reserved for scolding small children in public, he said, “It’s not about ethics right now, it’s about politics. Part of being a teacher is being a politician. Be a politician or learn to be one really quick.” I bowed my head in consternation. “Have a good day, Mr. Knights,” he said as he walked away. I lifted my head and reentered my classroom with my pride solemnly decimated and my faith in the teaching profession
You know that right?” My principal said in a loud whisper. He was close enough to me that I could see small pieces of food stuck between his coffee stained teeth. “It’s all politics Mr. Knights, keep that in mind.” I shook my head in disagreement with what he said. Contemptuously, he rolled his eyes at me, “This Alex Jones situation has become quite the ordeal don’t you think?” “I agree.” I …show more content…
With flared nostrils and clenched teeth he told me what I was going to do. “You’re going to give him one assignment worth as many points as he needs to get an ‘A’. He’s going to get an ‘A’ on that assignment, and then you’re going to delete his ‘F’ in the grade book and make it an ‘A’.” The look on my face must have belied my astonishment to him because he reiterated what he had just said. This time, however, he followed it up with, “Do you understand me Mr. Knights?” And, “I do not want any more emails from his parents.” “But he doesn’t deserve an ‘A’. He didn’t earn it. It’s not ethical.” I responded. With the type of restrained severity and sharply enunciated words reserved for scolding small children in public, he said, “It’s not about ethics right now, it’s about politics. Part of being a teacher is being a politician. Be a politician or learn to be one really quick.” I bowed my head in consternation. “Have a good day, Mr. Knights,” he said as he walked away. I lifted my head and reentered my classroom with my pride solemnly decimated and my faith in the teaching profession