ABSTRACT
You can learn a lot about a school simply by listening to the teachers talk. Are they complaining to each other about the students’ behavior or are they sharing accomplishments of their classes? Are they griping about the students who are not turning in their homework, or are they collaborating about instructional strategies? Are they counting down the days until the next break or are they smiling, laughing, and having fun with each other? The interactions of the adults in the building provide a great gauge of the culture of the building. And if you want to see a teacher’s rapport with students, watch them interact with the students in the hallway. Those interactions speak volumes! Every school has basically the same mission: “Preparing kids for their future.” What matters is not the quality of words in a frame, but the quality of relationships in the building.
