Lazy "A" Teacher

Most classes I visit confirm that one cannot be lazy and be a teacher. It cannot be done! Teachers have so much they need to do and the children will not allow it!

However once in a while I see someone who ticks me off royally. I come into their classroom and they are sitting behind their desks in the same place I left them last week. Some older teachers still think that they sit behind the desks while the kids work--usually doing seat work after a boring lecture. That time has past. I'm not talking about the paperwork/computer work that has to be done from behind the desk. I'm talking about those who park their tuchas behind the desk at 8:00AM and don't move from the spot except for lunch, fire drills and break time. If they need something from across the room, they usually bark at a student or wave a finger at a paraprofessional. They are few and far between but they exist these lazy "A's."

I had a kid in a classroom where the teacher sat with her favorite para on one side while the other paras did most of the work. Did I say "most of"? I should have omitted that phrase. I gave her the benefit of a doubt at one time, thinking she may have been overwhelmed by a new situation. I gave her several ideas and showed her how to include the student with visual impairments. My that would be like too much work! I noticed that after I brought some materials in to the room they were used to rearrange her room so she could see who was coming into her class but those arriving would not see her immediately. She could jump up or turn to her computer keyboard and look quite busy to those unfamiliar with the situation. To keep the kids quiet in the mornings until they left for their inclusion classes she had prepared a binder of worksheets for each student. Did I ever explain how much I loathe an improperly used worksheet? That's a later discussion.

Even though the child was on my related service caseload I pulled the kid out to work with him so that he could learn something and not lose what he'd been taught the years before under a couple of excellent teachers. There were no lessons going on in there that I could observe and help her with modifying for a student with visual impairments, so for the sake of the child, I had to pull him out.

There is another teacher who has considered herself as mastering not looking as lazy as she is because she doesn't sit behind a desk. She does, however have several rolling chairs placed about the class and she will roll herself between the children's desks. She does not allow the children to get up or do much that is different. They must conform to the way she teaches or fail. The three or four students read on different levels from the same reading series with no modifications or outside sources. HELLO! YOU HAVE A COMPUTER TO LOOK UP THIS STUFF! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO LEAVE THE ROOM TO FIND SUPPORTIVE LESSON MATTER!! LAZY "A."


I need to write one of my lists. I think it should be called "You Know You're Lazy 'A' Teacher If..." Yeah. I'll do that.