Fidgety: "INITIATION"

September 10, 2008

"INITIATION"

"Excuse me everyone, Can I have your attention? We have a new 'staff' member here. This is Mr. So and So," Warden announces in his usual demeaning tone. Never without his tacky smirk, Warden humiliates another new DOE prisoner. After reading him the riot act and having him sign it, Warden then calls the entire rooms' attention to this unfortunate being. He then leaves him standing awkwardly at the door while the group sizes him up. Like a 'Fish Out of Water,' this teacher is left to navigate the rigid politics of the Rubber Room. Obviously at this point, So and So is feeling pretty bad. EZ walks over and shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you," he says. 3 Seater barely looks up from her laptop. Instead she casually places her shopping bag on to the chair beside her. (Translation- "Don't even think of sitting your butt down over here!") The only thing 3 Seater has been generous with has been her germs. Not only does she have a persistent hacking cough, but someone failed to teach her how to keep them to herself. Ironically, she'd be the first one to raise hell if someone else were coughing. Lucy, a school aide from Chapel Street takes her feet down from a chair, and then offers it to the newbie- thus sacrificing her only foot rest. Newbie passes on the offer and scans the room for a spot less congested. He finally opts for a chair near the doorway.
Remember what the realtor always stressed? Location, location, location. She was definitely on to something. With the room quickly filling up, the goal here is to position yourself where you are not in the way of traffic, not in earshot of the 'Warden', quiet enough to take a siesta and far away from anyone who does not meet up daily with a bar of soap. I am always amazed by the amount of educated people who fail to recognize the value of a shower and a shave...
In his button down shirt and tie, Newbie is now seated at his table in a state of shock. He is definitely not going to settle in anytime today. He hasn't made eye contact with anyone. He is tapping his fingers on the desk and well as shaking his knee up and down. He is not ready to talk. Moocher offers him the newsapaper which he politely declines with a waving gesture. He is definitely not ready to read. Finally, after about an hour, he lies his head on the table and falls into a deep, much needed sleep.

Blogger JUSTICE not "just us" said...

Look, your rubber room has to stop this! By allowing Warden to do this you give him the upper hand. Let them know you, the inmates, control the institution not the other way around. Form a greeting committee to make every newbie welcomed. I know my people were political prisoners(the real deal) and I have learned that in "prison" it is the prisoners who rule.

They can control so far as you let them control you. You have be united!

Political Prisoner on sabbatical

September 14, 2008 3:07 AM

2 comments:

JUSTICE not "just us" said...: Look your rubber room has to stop this! By allowing Warden to do this you give him the upper hand. Let them know you, the inmates, control the institution not the other way around. Form a greeting committee to make every newbie welcomed. I know my people were poltical prisoners(the real deal) and I have learned that in "prison" it is the prisoners who rule.

They can control so far as you let them control you. You have be united!

Politcal Prisoner on sabbatical; September 14, 2008 at 5:07 AM
Pissedoffteacher said...: These posts get more bizarre by the minute. The Geneva Convention protects prisoners of war, Too bad there is nothing like that for rubber room teachers.; September 14, 2008 at 11:06 AM

Origin of The Rubber Room...(From Rubberroommovie.com)

Exact specifics as to when, why and how The Rubber Room came into being are next to impossible to come by, although wild speculation abounds. The likelihood is that, rather than being consciously created by any one person or group, The Rubber Room slowly but surely developed over a period of years through a process of trial and error, whereby teachers deemed unfit to remain in the classroom where "reassigned" to the nearest empty and available administrative space.
The term "The Rubber Room" appears nowhere in the formal legislative code governing New York City schools. When a New York City educator is sent to The Rubber Room, that educator is not openly or specifically told that he or she will be going to a place called "The Rubber Room". Moreover, if you telephoned an official in the New York City school system and asked for directions to "The Rubber Room", you may very well likely receive a response, possibly masked in faux confusion, telling you that there is no such place called "The Rubber Room". Nevertheless, "the room" undoubtedly exists and, because it has no official name, those three provocative and inflammatory words, "The Rubber Room", make up the default epithet by which it has come to be known, even by high-ranking school officials, many of whom find the phrase distasteful.
The exact meaning behind the words "The Rubber Room" is a topic of hot debate, particularly for occupants of The Rubber Room itself, some arguing that it is a reference to a padded room where mentally ill patients are placed, others proposing it is a room where once normal people are slowly and steadily driven crazy, still others believing it to be simply a generic allusion to a prison cell. There are even some -- more than one might initially suspect -- who claim to have been present during the exact moment when the phrase was coined, or even to have coined it themselves. Aside from etymological differences, however, almost everyone agrees that "The Rubber Room" is a pejorative term used to describe a room where New York City teachers are sent, usually involuntarily, to sit idle day after day while still collecting their salaries, often for months and sometimes for years at a time.
Over the years, many have made efforts to eradicate The Rubber Room entirely. For example, in March 2002, then Chancellor Harold Levy vowed to close The Rubber Room after becoming frustrated with a particular case, and in January 2004 Randi Weingarten, UFT President, called for an unconditional end to all of New York's Rubber Rooms. Despite best efforts, however, "the room" remains. http://www.rubberroommovie.com/

Do not believe...

Do not believe because you read it in a book,
Do not believe because you saw it on television,
Do not believe because science says so,
Do not believe because a famous person says so,
Do not believe because a wise person says so,
Do not believe because a wise person believes it,
Do not believe because your best friend believes it,
Do not believe because everyone else believes it,
Do not believe because others have believed it for a thousand years,
Do not believe because you've heard it many times before,
Do not believe because you are told you must,
Do not believe because others expect you to,
Do not believe because it gets you accepted
Do not believe because it will make your parents happy,
Do not believe because it will get you noticed,
Do not believe because you want to believe,
Do not believe because you can't afford not to,
Do not believe because it helps you cope,
Do not believe because you'd go mad if you didn't,
Do not believe because you must believe something
Do not believe because there's nothing else to believe,
Do not believe because it feels good to believe,
Do not believe because it makes sense,
Do not believe because your eyes tell you it is so,
Do not believe because it is your own experience,
Do not believe because it feels true,
Do not believe because you know it is true,
Do not believe any of this, Believe only that you are,
And do not even believe that,
For that is beyond belief.

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