9- Generous Granny

Esther has been interfering with my classroom time. She is a kiss-up, and I’ve noticed that her brown-nosing sometimes affects my job. I overheard her last week telling some teachers that our team (Esther, Caroline, and I) would be happy to make copies for them “anytime they needed.” Two days later, one of those teachers popped into my room and interrupted a math lesson to ask if I could make a few dozen copies for her during my planning period because she had to leave early that day. Being a new teacher, who has not grown all of her backbone, I said yes and did make copies for the woman. I also made a mental note: “Tell Granny Esther not to volunteer me for stuff.”
I gave Esther the benefit of the doubt that it was a harmless gesture that wouldn’t happen often. I was wrong.
Today, during our planning period, I had a scheduled meeting with Caroline, Esther, and the literacy coach from the District. The literacy coach had come to discuss the possibility of doing a Developmental Reading Assessment on Kramer. The DRA would pinpoint his exact reading level, as well as give us insight into what strategies he uses and does not use when reading. As a new teacher, it is extremely important for me to learn as much as I can about a DRA.
In the middle of our meeting, the 4 year old kindergarten teacher stuck her head into the room. “Oh! Are you busy? Esther, you said… Is this a bad time?” She looks at us expectantly.
I nodded my head and started to say, “Yes, this is a bad time,” but was interrupted by Esther.
Jumping out of her chair, the Generous Granny declares, “Of course this is not a bad time, honey. We’re on our way.”
On our way? Where were we going?
The literacy coach looked surprised; she had taken time out of her day to meet with us about Kramer and now we were going to leave the meeting. Graciously, the literacy coach smiled and told us she would wait while we did whatever it was we had to do.
Apparently, Esther had stopped by the 4 year old kindergarten room earlier and volunteered our services, “anytime they needed,” to help walk the 4 year olds out to their busses. I counted six adults present to walk four kids out to the busses. I could barely force a smile onto my face and a “Your Welcome” out of my mouth when thanked for my assistance. I was furious.
We got back to our meeting almost twenty minutes later, and by that time, the literacy coach had to leave. She did schedule to come back the following week to help me do a DRA on Kramer. I waited for everyone else to clear the room before I said anything to Esther.
As politely as I could, I asked her not to volunteer me to do things for people anymore. I told her that I do like to help people when they need it, but that I had to make my own job my priority.
She can’t tell people that we can help them “anytime”, because it is just not true. I told her I was especially upset that we had to interrupt our important meeting with the literacy coach.
Esther’s response was priceless.
She leaned in close, like she was going to tell me a secret and whispered, “I’ll tell you what I’ve learned to do after all these years. In this business, you have to tell people that you’ll do a lot for them. That makes them happy and it makes them like you. I like to volunteer to do stuff for people, and then when they ask later, I just back out politely.” The old lady nodded, “Just say you’ll do a lot of stuff, and then quietly back out. That makes you look good.”
What kind of jerk attitude is that?
I looked the Generous Granny in the eye and said, “I’m not going to be like that. Ever. Don’t volunteer me for stuff anymore.”
This is how I left the day with Esther. She smiled and said something sweet to me, like it was all a joke after all, but I now I know. I know that she’s a fake.