We're Not In Kansas Anymore, Part 1

And by "Kansas," I mean Christian schools.

The differences are subtle: Channel One school news instead of morning devotions. Ending the last class period with afternoon announcements instead of prayer. Teachers that eat alone at their desks instead of in the teachers' lounge.

I think it was the third of those differences that blind-sided me. At GMS, the primary function of the teachers' lounge is to house the microwaves and store the leftover treats from staff meetings. Not once in the two weeks that I've been there have I seen a single teacher actually eat their lunch in there, and I've done my microwaving during each of the three lunch periods (two thumbs up for prep hour and lunch hour back-to-back for 80 minutes of "down-time" in the middle of the day). It's weird to never see teachers in there! If the rest of them are anything like my CT, they just eat lunch by themselves in their classroom.

I find that kind of lonely. Teachers at my high school NEVER ate lunch in their classroom unless they were conducting a meeting. The lounge was their hideout. I don't know if this points to a fundamental difference between private schools and public schools or if GMS is just an exception, but it seems like a great waste of an opportunity to build community among the faculty and staff. I'll be the first to admit that I like to be alone from time to time, eating lunch while reading a good book, but certainly not every day!

It's amazing how lonely one can feel when surrounded by people all day. I see 180 students per day, spend 7 and a half hours (or more) with my CT, and am never more than 50 feet from another human being (seriously, the main office is right across the hall). Yet I still feel so lonely. The only other teacher I know by name is the long-term sub who's filling in for the other Spanish teacher. And yeah, I'm not exactly an extrovert who seeks people out in order to introduce myself, but when my CT and I pass other teachers in the hall, they often don't even acknowledge each other. Am I the only one who finds this odd?

I really really hope that this is just the way that GMS is and not all public schools in general. Any public school teachers reading this should feel free to comment on this. I just can't see myself teaching in a school where co-workers don't know each other and everyone just eats at their desk.

Bottom line/lesson learned: I need community. Also, I need to take an actual 30 minute lunch break from now on, away from my desk. Otherwise, I end up working through my break while eating. Sorry CT, I'll get to that stack of tasks after my lunch break. :)