Who the Hell Was That Guy?

   So, as it turns out, I am not the only male in my grade level in my district.  How exciting!  I met two others today at a district meeting.  This was quite surprising since this is our third or fourth meeting of the year.  One of them is a student teacher, and I wish him all the best.  The other one, is a first year teacher.  As I said, this was the first time I've seen him.  As it turns out, he hadn't cleared space is his schedule to make it before.  (Hearsay from his co-worker: "What are they (the district) going to do?  Fire me?")  Later in the day, I had another session with him where he sat in the back and declined to participate ("No, I'm good") when asked.

   I don't think I've ever been more upset at a person's attitude.  There's already a huge stigma on male teachers and the last thing I want is for one of our own to degrade our image.  I'm not the best teacher.  I never will be.  However, I know that I want to be a better teacher than I am now.  It's going to take work... lots of work.  "You should never stop learning" is a cliché, but it became a cliché because there's near inarguable truth to it.  I'm a huge advocate of getting more men in the classroom, as you could guess, but I'm a fan of getting the right men in the classroom.  Maybe he's not a lost cause, but the passive-aggressive stance that he's taken towards his professional development thus far, doesn't instill confidence in me.  I hope he can turn it around and become an example of what a great male teacher can be.