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Teacher standing in classroom before chalkboard filled with math and science equations.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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Just like Veteran employees who've outlasted entire generations of entry-level workers, Veteran teachers who've outlasted entire generations of students sometimes develop a very specific personality. They've been in the building so long that the building starts to feel like theirs, the hallways are their hallways, the rules are their rules, and anyone who doesn't run their classroom exactly the way they do is personally making their life harder.
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Coworker prevented me from entering my classroom then put his foot on me.
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Smiling teacher holding a notebook in a classroom with math equations written on a chalkboard behind her.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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The noise complaint is a classic opener because it sounds legitimate. Nobody can argue against wanting a quiet hallway. But when the actual concern is that a first-year teacher's students were playing on the Promethean board and that apparently makes the veteran teacher look like the bad guy, the noise was never really the point. The point was establishing who's in charge of the hallway, and by extension, everyone standing in it.
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Most people, when they want a conversation to end, take the hint and let it end. This particular colleague took a different approach and put his foot on hers. Physically. As in, foot-on-foot contact to communicate that the conversation was not, in fact, over. This is not a conflict resolution strategy covered in any professional development workshop. It's just a very tall person deciding that the size difference wasn't doing enough work on its own.
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The following her down the hallway part is where it tips from awkward into genuinely unsettling. She walked away, he followed. She went into the workroom and closed the door. At some point even the most self-righteous hallway enforcer has to recognize that a closed door is not an invitation to continue the discussion about appropriate Promethean board usage.
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First-year teachers are already running on fumes trying to figure out the job, the kids, the admin, and where to eat lunch without accidentally sitting in someone's spot. Getting physically blocked from your own classroom by a veteran colleague who thinks complete silence until 2:55 is a personality is not part of the orientation packet. Crying in your classroom afterwards is honestly the most understandable possible response.
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