Everyone will face some form of frustration with their administration, especially during their first year of teaching. Often, though, the administration is hardly the one to blame – but, they’re such an easy target. Of course, I’m not saying that they’re excused; from everything I’ve heard and experienced this year, school districts are professional “screw-ups.” Are there little tricks to help a person avoid or deal with the stress caused by his/her district and/or administration? I’m inclined to say, “to each his own.” People have different ways of reacting and dealing with difficulties. The biggest piece of advice I would have to offer to anyone is BE POLITE. Regardless of the situation, I have never heard of a person benefiting from being rude. Be forward, be direct, be honest, be serious – but, keep it professional. Across the board, politeness and professionalism seem to be a given. Of course, these terms mean different things to different people (hence, all the frustration between a teacher and a district). My personal policy was the simple “smile-and-nod” technique. If a principal, fellow teacher, or administrator was pissing me off, or doing something to induce stress, I would immediately smile, be overly nice, and get outta there. The more condescendingly sweet to a person a can be (provided that the person is stressing me out), the better I feel. It may seem horrible to some, but like I said earlier, “to each his own.” Here are a few other tricks that I and others have used to deal with the frustrations brought on from our “superiors”:

• Have someone to vent to: If someone is willing to listen, talk to them. Many times family and friends have difficulty relating to how shitty things can get during your first year of teaching – but, our particular program just so happens to place you, every-other weekend, with a group of people in your exact same shoes, very willing (usually) to listen and - more often than not – laugh.

• Write a letter: Doesn’t matter who its to, or whether you even end up sending it, sometimes its just plain nice to write it all down. I guess some people call this a “diary” or “journal”, but it can be cool to address something to your principal, and let them know EXACTLY what you are thinking about their new “grading policy.”

• Post a flyer to your school building…or not

• Call the media… or not

• Get away: Don’t think about school, Don’t think about your district – just go! Take a day trip to the Delta (or out of the Delta). Go to Memphis. Go to New Orleans for the weekend. Just get your mind off of school.

• Edit something on pbwiki or googlemaps…or not

• BLOG

• Join an angry girl band

• Get involved in something productive outside of school (church, volunteering, library book drives, etc.)

• Take a cooking class

• Go to a restaurant

• Go for a run

• Go for a drive

• DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!