We’ve probably all seen Mr. Overflowing Plate in the buffet line. He can’t make a choice, so he chooses everything. As he returns to his table, he leaves a trail of onion rings, and pizza slices in his wake. His plate is too small, his appetite too big.
Now, imagine, that overflowing plate is filled with items he didn’t choose and even dislikes while those in the buffet line hurl insults and second-guess the forced choices tumbling from his plate.
The plates of public-school teachers are overflowing, and it’s causing serious heartburn leading to burnout.
It’s about respect
When I was still representing educators, a tearful elementary teacher said, “I told a fourth-grader to be quiet. She told me, ‘Daddy says you don’t make much money, so you’re not very important.’”…