If you haven't heard Ohio Governor John Kasich had to say about teacher's lounges, you can read and hear it here. What if John Kasich has a point about Teacher's lounges? I'm not saying that they should be banned, but I see a lot of comments in social media by teachers saying that they don't eat lunch in the teacher's lounge. Why?
The unfortunate answer is that the teacher's lounge can be an intimidating place. During my student teaching, my professor instructed us not to eat in the teacher's lounge. She didn't tell us why at first, but she later revealed that it can get negative at times. She was protecting us from the negativity during a stressful time when we needed to stay positive.
I know we don't want to hear this, but teachers do complain in the lounge, a lot. I am not trying to shame anyone here. I have most certainly contributed to this negativity at times. And this is not to say that all lounges are like this, I have experienced good ones and bad ones in my time. And even the best lounges can turn nasty with a few comments. But the truth is that it can get bad, bad enough that some teachers refuse to go in there.
I do not find myself agreeing with John Kasich very often. I really don't agree with him here either, I just think he has a point, a point that he argued in a very inarticulate way.
So what do we do?
Turn the lounge into a positive place. Show John Kasich that the teacher's lounge can be a positive uplifting place where teachers can talk with other adults. Show him that the teacher's lounge is a place where teachers can laugh and support each other. Show him and everyone else that teachers need to spend time together and be social just like other human beings.
My professor has retired, but wouldn't it be cool if we could turn the teacher's lounges around and she could lift her ban on student teachers in the lounge? Yep. That would be pretty cool.
