Ok! So, I really need to let this out before I explode..

[Babestaaa]

So some background info, I am a student-teacher completing my 2nd (and last) part of my "internship" so to speak and my Co-Op is driving me bonkers.

Every-time I try to do something or take initiative she just brings me down. I want to vent to someone but my Seminar teacher is the Principal at the school which I am completing my student-teaching at.

For example, today we had the 1+2 grade morning breakfast and lately I've had back pains so my days have been unpredictable, but last night I decided to do mini cupcakes and pumpkin shaped cupcakes (even though I ended up stressing my pain) I come in early today and prepare with the other teachers and I get compliments, etc. My teacher even said they were cute, yada yada. I go back up to class (beginning of the day) and my teacher says "I didn't tell you about the breakfast thing because I know your back hurts. Didn't want you to feel left out and what you did today is something you should let me know beforehand" Is she serious? I swear, my face must've turned red. I wanted to participate because I am technically part of the 2nd grade class, I do adore my kids and appreciate the faculty. She always somehow tries to make me feel miserable.

Starting from last year when we had a class trip that she said "yeah, I guess you can come if you want" and I had to help out my sister cause she and my goddaughter (1y/o) were sick and she needed help because they were both with fever, throwing up, etc. Well this happened to be the day the trip was and I chose family bc they are the most important thing to me ever! & she tells me the next day, "that's not important and I told Mrs. R that you had to babysit" like wtf? I didn't have to babysit, they were sick. Then she gave me a lecture how she never calls out yet, I noticed this year, she does.

She's just so full of herself, thinks her poop don't stink, is the "gossip" of the school, and I honestly haven't said anything because I don't want it to hurt my chances in getting a job or a recommendation. Because if things get sour, it'll be a horrible experience for me, which in the meantime I am not letting her (so much) try and get to me because I'm really there for those kids. But boy do I get discouraged :(

[truegem]

I don't know what is going around with people these days. Lately I have been hearing a lot of stories such as this. If people just took a moment to think before they spoke and did certain things how much better off everyone would be.

It sounds like you have the right attitude though being all about the kids. She may just feel threatened by you and your intiative. Hang in there.

[flashy.stems]

if i were you i would just focus all your energy on succeeding, and helping the children out. ignore her comments, and respond as if you are not bothered, and stay positive (whether you are actually positive, or you're faking it). she sounds like she's just jealous somehow, and may need to rethink whether she'd like to take on a student teacher in her classroom next year..

good luck, i hope all goes well and you somehow work out your problem.

enjoy being a teacher :)

[Babestaaa]

Thank you very much! I'm so glad to read such feedback, positive, that is :)

I will definitely focus all my energy on my students.

[Love my Tanos]

Ignore it. I interned under a woman who sounds just like the lady you're having to deal with. Turns out, she was dealing with a lot of personal problems and resented even having to teach that school year at all....she had become pregnant the previous school year, and had intended to quit teaching altogether, but had a miscarriage and had to come back to work. She was assigned an intern (me) and the stress of that, plus the emotional turmoil of losing her baby, plus not wanting to teach in the first place, all added up into a really rotten, passive-aggressive attitude - which was very hard to deal with, but totally understandable under the circumstances.

There's nothing you can do about it anyway, so just try to smile through it and ignore it as best you can. More than likely she has no idea that her dismissive comments sound as rude as they do - she probably doesn't even hear herself. Do your best not to take it personally and remind yourself that you only have to deal with her for a few more months.

Believe me, I feel your pain. My internship felt like a hazing sometimes. I finally just accepted that my teacher was going through her own stuff and none of it was "about me," and my only job was to learn as much as I could (both good and bad) from the experience, the kids, the school, other faculty members, the parents....etc and move on. Let the other people around you be your "teachers" instead of her; that's what worked for me, bc mine had mentally checked out.

Good luck. Interning is soooo hard when the person above you is just a bad fit.

[Babestaaa]

You really nailed it Love. Just 6 more weeks, I'm counting down :) She is an extreme hipocryte and will talk bad about everyone and their mother. I seriously think she is bi-polar, one minute she'll be nice and the next it's like hell breaks loose. She demands the kids be attentive, yet when I'm teaching, she'll start a random conversation with the students. Or she'll second guess my techniques/answers to Math problems for ex and the kids get confused, as do I. I know I'm "new" with about a year of clinical and substituting, but I'm not stupid. Extremely rude. But i'll just look at her as one of the kids.

[bagnshoofetish]

there is a difficult one in every bunch. you'll never escape people like this completely. I truly believe people like this are dropped into our lives to show us how NOT to act and to keep us in check - to examine ourselves and make sure we are not acting the same towards anyone.
go about your business. do the right thing always. in my experience, people like this aren't very happy inside. there has always been at least one person in my workplace like this no matter what job I had. I have one right now. I try to just let her say her negative piece and walk away.
for example:
our construction guys were installing a new stall door with a pulley system for our baby hoofstock. (I am an animal keeper at the zoo).
they wanted to put the hook for the rope on the inside wall of the stall - we would have had to reach into the stall to pull the rope. I asked them instead, would it be possible to drill a hole through the cinder block so they can pull the rope through and we could just access the rope from outside the stall (which is much safer and less stressful for the animals). they said, "sure!" so they did it.
the next day, the co-worker who is a lot like yours doesn't say a thing about it. so I asked her if she saw the new pulley system and how it comes through the wall now and she says, "I didn't know they could do that." I say, "neither did I so thats why I asked if it were possible." Now, instead of saying, "thats great - thats so much better than reaching into the stall, she says, "I"ll bet it was loud," implying that all the animals were scared while they were drilling - they weren't. they were all outside basking in the sun!
point being, this is the kind of reply I get from this person no matter what. she tends to be very negative. there is nothing I can do about it but just continue to be nice to her. so there. you are not alone!

[Love my Tanos]

Originally Posted by Babestaaa

You really nailed it Love. Just 6 more weeks, I'm counting down :) She is an extreme hipocryte and will talk bad about everyone and their mother. I seriously think she is bi-polar, one minute she'll be nice and the next it's like hell breaks loose. She demands the kids be attentive, yet when I'm teaching, she'll start a random conversation with the students. Or she'll second guess my techniques/answers to Math problems for ex and the kids get confused, as do I. I know I'm "new" with about a year of clinical and substituting, but I'm not stupid. Extremely rude. But i'll just look at her as one of the kids.

I think some teachers, especially older ones, get very insecure when younger interns come on the scene because they feel like their methods are being scrutinized. So they micromanage and do things to make the intern feel off-kilter, when the situation is already stressful enough....

Bagnshoo is right, and it's what I was trying to say as well. Sometimes we learn from other people's good behavior, but other times their bad behavior can teach us how NOT to act also. IMO you'll save yourself a lot of stress if you just try to let her rudeness wash right past you. Don't even get engaged in it enough to let it make you mad. She probably doesn't even realize she's doing it, so letting it wind you up would be pointless. And if she IS intentionally trying to make you mad, then what better revenge than to pretend like you don't even hear it? It's just six more weeks. You can totally do it. All you need from the experience is just her signature on the final report. It's lucky that it's just an internship and not a typical 9-5 type job where she was your manager and there was no escape!! Look at it that way.

[HandbagLuvr]

My friend had the same problem when she started teaching (she was an aide for a particular student, but helped in the classroom too). It was difficult for her as the teacher would say very rude things and my friend did not want to get in an argument in front of the children. When my friend set up a lunch reading program with parents volunteering to read to children during lunch the teacher got upset and tried to block it from happening. It didn't make any sense why she acted that way. Eventually my friend got a new job. The teacher you work with has the opportunity to be a mentor to you and instead she's being a jerk.

[golden's mom]

Sounds like she's insecure about having you there. Just smile and realize you've only got a little while longer with her.

[kymmie]

In the last two years, I've hosted three student teachers. I would have been thrilled to have someone so ambitious in my classroom.

Ugh, its always difficult to be in someone else's classroom.

Ten years later, I actually teach in the classroom next door to my supervising teacher. Oh the flashbacks!

[CCfor C]

Ignore, ignore, ignore. Kill her w/respect and kindess. Do your job, and be positive. Agree w/ her, etc. Because soon you will be out in the world w/ your own classroom, and you want positive recommendations. Just think...."this too, shall pass..."!

[Babestaaa]

You guys share such kind words! Thank you so much. Exactly the same advice my sister and bf gave me. I'll hang in there! :)

& Kymmie, I really do respect her privacy, belongings, everything in her room and ask her for permission or get some approval before I do anything. Also, I always ask for her opinions because she is much more experiences and educated in this field than I am. Also, she tells me out of her 7 yrs she has only had 2 student-teachers that were so ambitious and helpful, one from years ago and me. Which is so weird cause of how she is toward me, but I tell you to me she is one person and to everyone else in the school she's someone different (if she's in a good mood)

Today was my first day taking over every subject from beginning to end and I was far too busy to notice any negativity :)

[mdmc]

Just keep thinking "It's almost over, only 6 more weeks"

[Love my Tanos]

Oh yeah also - I just remembered this today, can't believe I forgot it.

My difficult supervising teacher told me on my last day, as she was filling out my final critique with all A+/"superior"'s, that the reason she had been "so critical" of me (her words) both verbally and in reports she had turned in to my graduate advisor (not all of which I had been shown first) was that she knew my advisor would want to see improvement in performance from the beginning of my internship through the end, regardless of whether I started out as a true A+ and ended as an A+ or what. She felt it was "better" to say I started as a C, and move me to an A+, so as to not arouse suspicion. She actually said I was the best intern she'd ever had and she knew it within my first week, but felt she had to "find something to criticize".

OMG. I guess I blocked this memory! Can't believe I forgot it. Maybe your supervisor is doing a bit of this herself. Good luck with the next few weeks. The first week of full-day teaching is the hardest, and then it's a breeze. Maybe your supervising teacher will begin taking lots of snack breaks soon. :)