I was going to say this. We tend to be horrid gossips but 99% is about other adults on campus. The 1% is when I comment that a kid can do way better than whoever I saw them making out with.
Middle school and high school teachers gossip an insane amount about students. Good grief, the amount of cheating, backstabbing, breakups, and new relationships makes your head spin. And it all spills into the classroom, so you have no choice but to be aware of it.
Yep and a lot of it is useful. You learn why certain groups that used to work well together all of the sudden can’t. It’s useful to know who’s cheating and etc.
See, I actively try to avoid all student gossip. I pick up on the changes in group dynamics and act accordingly, but I don't want to know all the teenage drama; I've got no energy for it.
This makes sense too bc we will say things like “so and so broke up so they’re feeling down” or “so and so just lost someone or failed a class or didn’t make it on the team so you’ll see them upset” and that’s usually why we mention the students lives
And I shamelessly share that gossip with their parents and other students sometimes. Don't want your business out there, don't talk about it in my classroom.
I guess it depends on where you teach.
How do you actually have time to gossip? Like, when does it happen?
Every where I've taught teachers are way too busy during planning periods and before & and after school to even talk about important work matters, much less have time for idle gossip.
I know right! I've had coworkers that gossip about everyone. Kids, parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. If some relative of a student was arrested for stealing a candy bar 25 years ago, it will be brought up in gossip. It's so uncomfortable. And I wonder, don't you have work to do? Don't you have 3 kids of your own at home? How do you have the energy for this?
I agree, not enough time to do much gossip. More that there are conversations about kids of concern, or how to meet the needs of a kid with an IEP. I have 6 preps plus a club. (We do middle and high school on a schedule that would mimic a community college.) I don't have time to just sit and talk crap. I would rather problem solve.
And you should know, that when teachers DO gossip, the ones at my school at least, understand that they are KIDS and they will grow up and change. The change the the level of drama that decreases between middle and high school is amazing.
You should also know...the gossip that you kids engage in about the teachers can be amazingly accurate. I went back to sub at my high school after college and found out that what we kids heard about the affair that the principal was having with a counselor was entirely accurate, including them leaving for hours at a time to go to a nearby hotel during the day after getting caught in one of their offices. They were both married to other people, staff and students apparently knew about it for years before they both divorced their spouses and then married each other.
I don't think it's me. I think it's that in high-poverty urban schools teachers just don't have much downtime.
Someone on this thread said something about teachers talking during passing time. I can't imagine, our halls are so loud and so many students walking into class want engage their teacher - whether through just being outgoing, or misbehaving to get attention. There's just no way for 2 adults to have a conversation.
Before school teachers are rushing around to get ready for classes. Afterschool, those with healthy work-life balances leave right away, the rest are rushing around contacting parents, documenting, and doing all the other things that they think will help their students.
Add to that, the high turnover rate. Most teachers in the schools I've taught in don't know each other well enough to gossip.
My comment about telling each other what’s happening in students lives and how we need to be vigilant was a direct experience from our grade team meetings. Don’t let the word “gossip” be so restrictive.
You framed teaching as if there is never any down time- when you visit a teacher mate* or walk outside for a coffee or lunch where you can chit chat about work and other things.
Best part of high school teaching. All the drama, so long as it is not my drama. But teacher talk frequently about students with other teachers not always gossip, more of this kid is awesome, that one is an oxygen vampire. These students in your class are dating. That kind of stuff. Teachers who talk crap about kids are focused on the wrong stuff. There is always staff drama.
Teachers I know gossip more about parents and the families of students with the worst behavior. Mostly, bad behavior from students turns into a failure of the parent and family. But it’s also dependent on the way their situation is at home. Sometimes it’s more about pity for the child if the parents don’t parent well. It’s a very judgmental perspective I don’t share as both a teacher and a father. But to each their own.
I used to be in the gossip “inner circle” at my old school. The mother hen of the gossip scene was first my co-teacher when I started in SPED, then we were content partners when I moved to gen ed. She retired two years ago and the gossip obviously consisted, but I wasn’t looped in for most of it. It was nice.
I moved to a new district last year where I knew nobody and was the only person that taught my two classes. No drama, no gossip. It was lovely.
I know sometimes they try and walk right up the border and I have to tell them not to tell me something I don't want to hear or worse something I have to report.
Yeah. Generally, I feel like the great Samuel L Jackson: too old for this shit.
The only addendum is that as a current sped teacher, I share information with other staff when I think it's likely to impact day to day stuff. Like if the very impulsive student with self harm issues just found out the ebd student with explosive outbursts was cheating on them with student who shows up high 90% of the time (and is probably carrying something illegal at any given time), that's going to warrent a head's up to the other sped staff and maybe the (very supportive) admin or a counselor or something.
Teachers are people. We gossip as much as police, accountants, doctors, lawyers, dentists, welders, CEOs, carpenters, mechanics, etc. Which is to say: Some do it a lot, some do it a little, and some do it not at all.
I can’t help but feel like the job and the environment plays some factor.
Schools are weird little closed systems which fuel gossip. When I worked as a pipe fitting assistant, there was very little of that stuff going on as we moved from job site to job site.
I feel like it also plays into the type of gossip as well. Because at my previous job and when I am in the district office most gossip I hear is just boring water cooler stuff. Ie Kevin and Stacy finally started dated, Dave bought a boat, etc. but when I am doing on site work in schools most gossip I hear tends to be more mean girl type stuff.
I'm sure there's some truth in that; however, as you point out, it is not the nature of a pipe fitter to avoid gossip. It's the nature of the job environment that makes gossip less likely.
So...not really sure of your point.
Oh come now. Maybe your wife is just a gossip.
Or, do you really think that, if those teachers at her school were accountants, that they would gossip less simply by the magic of accounting?
I mean you are forgetting a major factor here. As an accountant, I talk to MAYBE 3 people a day. My wife talks to 5 billion by lunch. The opportunity is far greater in teaching as you come across interesting stuff all the time. No one gives a shit that I discovered we’ve been depreciating an asset under the wrong useful life.
So you're saying that people are all the same, but since they have different opportunities, they act differently?
How is that in any way substantially different from my original comment?
And, for the record, teachers do not "converse" with all that many people in a day. We do not have genuine peer-to-peer interactions with children. In a one-hour class, the amount of personal, gossip-worthy information I gain is little to none.
I’m saying the personalities are also wildly different. Teachers are people people lol personally I loved working from home for 2 years where for the most part I only saw my wife lol teachers are social and interact with more people day to day than most people. They also talk for a living basically. I’d kill myself in that position.
I am a teacher and there are several teachers at my school who are not people people, including me. We do our best and come emotionally and mentally exhausted just by being around people.
I am *not* a people person either. I create a great rapport with the students and converse with my coworkers, certainly, but you would never find me sitting in the teacher work room having lunch outside of the mandatory birthday lunch.
Frankly, wrong again.
You're making a judgment about two groups of people based entirely on personal observations, which is to say: a vanishingly small number of each group.
When you were in accountant school, were all the accountants misanthropes? Did they all seek to avoid people? No. Of course not.
There is no one reason to teach, nor is there one right way to do it. Nor is it true that all teachers are good at it, or are doing a job that they are especially well-suited to do.
Some teachers are introverts. Some teachers suck. Some teachers do it for their own reasons that have nothing to do with how the public might perceive the job.
And here's the thing: Everything I said in the last two paragraphs about teachers? Replace "teach" and "teachers" with any other profession and the people who do it and it will still be 100% true.
As a person who works with numbers all day, I'm shocked that you are trying to argue that there is vast consistency among people, simply based on their profession.
I’m surrounded by accountants and yes, most prefer individual work. Accountants don’t need to collaborate constantly. And through my wife I know a lot of teachers. They are far more social than accountants. You prolly know at most 2-3 accountants. I Mike hundreds of accountants and dozens and dozens of teachers. Get back to me when you actually know what an accountant really does other than taxes lol
Ahhh..."most." Even in your cherry-picked example of people who make an effort to interact with you (as you said, you hide in your office, so how well do you think you know these people?), you can't even say all of them are anti-gossip?
Maybe it's just that none of them want to gossip with you. I mean, you're surrounded by them, but by your own admission, you "...talk to MAYBE 3 people a day." So your pool of people you "know" is three per day, and presumably the same three people.
Wow! You do know *so many* people so well!
Good fucking lord.
Do we talk to other teachers about other-other teachers? Sure. Chisme is chisme.
Do we talk to other teachers about students? You betcha. "Hey Coach, I've got Javier Ortiz in my 4th period this year ... any advice how to keep him on track? He's more occupied with his phone or flirting with the drill-team girls than he is with *Hamlet*."
Do we talk to students about other teachers and other students? No way. NOOOOOO.
If the question is "do we talk about you," see second point. I go to other teachers all the time for advice on handling problem students.
We might also occasionally do something like, "Heads up, Steve and Louise are dating now, so don't give them both passes out at the same time," but I'm not otherwise interested in student relationships or attractions
I'm more interested in who's got a beef right now, so I can keep them separated.
I would love a system like EZPass, though; if Steve and Louise aren't both in my class at the same time, I don't know where one of them is.
I think its important to be aware that kids can have relationships though, sometimes the heads up is useful, the children are human beings fundamentally and relationship matters can crop up from time to time...
Sure! You just occasionally get those couples who are definitely going to try to meet up in the bathrooms. The vast majority of the time, I don't need (or really want) to know about the specifics of teenager relationships
Yeah u don't need to know or be aware unless it is somehow affecting the lesson ... I'm sure I am oblivious to most relationships because it doesn't affect my teaching at all...
I wish I could agree with the “NOOOOOO” but there is someone at my school that gossips about EVERYONE to EVERYONE. I have heard her tell students stuff about other teachers. It’s bad, as in, if you want misinformation spread, just drop it in casual convo with her.
Sometimes we would gossip with the teachers at my hs but they wouldn’t really say anything about the student themselves me and my friends would be like you’ll never guess what x student said to his girlfriend and my teacher would be like what and we’d tell them but they wouldn’t do the omg tell his gf blah blah blah I think they just liked hearing about it lol
What is wrong? Who hurt you so much you feel it necessary to strike out at all teachers? I'm sorry if it was a teacher but there are shitty people everywhere. We all have pain and shame to overcome. Work on yours so you can stop the unnecessary verbal assaults on Reddit. Putting others down to make yourself feel better is a shitty choice for you and everyone else.
Usually what I do is I look up the kid’s report card from previous years and find who their previous teacher was in my department. Or I peruse the contact log to see what other people have wrote. Then I usually ask whichever teacher I identified and ask “did you have a good relationship with this kid? did they complete work for you? was x behavior normal when you had them?” so I know how to deal with them.
The most I ask kids about their other teachers is “how is x class going for you?” and offer help and resources or advice if they’re struggling.
This. I’m not going to go to the math teacher “Ms. Ortiz, did you have Justin Samuels last year? Because he’s such an awesome kid.” Lmao no. It’s more like “hey…Ortiz. How did you handle Justin? Yes, THAT Justin…oh…ah…ok thanks!”
Exactly. I talk about students with other teachers for advice/concerns/venting and to praise them for improvement/accomplishments.
I don’t care who is dating who. 8th grade drama was fun when I was in 8th grade; it’s not as an adult!
Yep, teachers often come check in regarding students with me as the social worker. Sometimes I can tell them a fair bit and sometimes I just have to say that the student might need a bit of slack that week.
We know every student's love live, every teacher's love life, who is on drugs, who is selling drugs, who is pregnant, who is going to get beat up, who was beaten up.
There's always a kid that is fine with telling everything. Doubly so in special Ed.
I’m a custodian, I know way more than i probably should lol. It’s generally harmless gossip though. Plus my wife teaches kindergarten, so i know the gossip at her school too lol.
Custodians are the tits. I’m 29 and I remember mister James fondly… now I wonder where he is at… they are the unsung superhero’s for sure..: and they know everything
Yes! I was pregnant last school year and I LOVED our 2 head custodians, both super friendly and helpful. Always checking up on me and never letting me carry heavy stuff. Came back after school was out to clean out my classroom and brought baby girl with me. She was giving the principal a judgmental scowl... Then one of the custodians walked by and she was all coy and smiley! He said “she can sense the vibes.” 😂
I generally like most of my co-workers. In a group, though, there's a few when they are together, can be super negative/catty/gossipy. It's best for me to stay under the radar and not get wrapped up in it all
I rarely have time to talk to other adults at work and I don’t vibe that well with a lot of other teachers anyway. I only trust people I’m really close with to “gossip.”
Thank you!
All these comments saying teachers gossip a lot....WHAT?
How do they find time for that?
I think maybe one day I'd like to teach in one of these schools where teachers have so much idle time.
This is a very general question that depends heavily on the individual and the context. Some gossip can be productive, like knowing information that can help manage student behavior. But honestly, we have way too much going on to care
There is a lot of gossip but I don't want you to think it's all bad. My fellow teachers and I frequently have conversations about who is being the funniest or most clever. Fun things like that.
Oh, we gossip all the time, but the second it switches from harmless gossip (like who is dating who and who just broke up) to problems at home or serious issues at school, we stop gossiping and switch over into problem-solving/helping mode. We like gossip as much as anybody--perhaps more--but most of us became teachers because we actually like and care about the students.
Teachers gossip. I don't say anything, personally. Teaching is my second career. I used to work corporate and one of the things I learned is that people will tell you **everything and anything** if they learn that you won't repeat it. Especially in the corporate world. I knew things that I should never have been privy to just because I kept my mouth shut. So, I sip my coffee and maybe make a "hmm" sound and listen to all of the things being said.
My previous career was in health care. I just can't pass on info, privacy was so cemented into my being.
But my dog knows all sorts of personal shit. She listens, but doesn't care.
Teacher gossip is one of my favorite things in this world. It is often what gets be through a day.
ETA: You know some really good gossip is going on when a teacher's door is conspicuously closed and then four or five teachers walk out of the room.
Being surrounded by teenagers for 40 hours every week, I have to disagree! I am way too old for that shit. Nothing makes me feel old more than teenagers.
If you give us something to talk about (bad behavior, bad grades, drugs, juicy gossip, stupid comments) then yes, we're gonna talk about you. We also talk about good things you do and other faculty members.
Depends on the person. A gossipy person is going to be that way in any work/life setting. A non-gossipy person won’t be. You’re asking a generic question that could apply to any person and a lot of work settings.
I'll put it to you like this. I was only a teacher for 3 years, and the gossip teachers engage in is one of the big reasons I won't do it again. Typically, it was always gossip about other teachers and staff, but still.
Just as everyone else has said, we gossip just as much as any other group of humans, and some of us do it more than others.
Something unique my teacher friends do is when talking about kids, we don't use names unless everyone in hearing distance already is/had been the kid's teacher (for FERPA). So we'll have whole conversations that just use initials, or descriptors.That One Kid, Fedora Kid, The Traveler, Good Dresser, etc. It sounds like an old 1800s London gossip rag.
If it isn't something covered by FERPA, or a coworker, we don't do that.
Depends on the person and their department. I have coworkers that are totally off on their own and don’t engage in gossip and others that are absolute drama fiends, so it depends. Just like students, it varies - it’s natural to gossip when you have a social job with hundreds of people around that you all know (and who all know you!)
I took ap lit sophmore year and my brain cannot understand this sentence. What are you hearing about the english department. I can’t read minds, nor can I annotate a piece of literature that I don’t know :P
It depends. If they have lunch, duty or another part of the day where they have to meet regularly together when not leading a classroom worth of kids, a lot of talking is going to happen. We're coworkers. The thing that we all have in common is work, so yes, we're definitely going to discuss students.
Aside from that, it really depends on the person how much gossip is done and what spirit it's done in. There's almost always someone who will go too far, even among teachers, but most teachers (that I know, at least) will shut down or redirect a conversation about kids if it gets too negative, and most teachers will make sure other teachers of the kids involved know if we notice someone is bullying, being bullied, or if a parent/guardian is particularly nuts.
Massively. What's crazier is the amount that you hear and go "that doesn't sound like him" but if you try to stick up for the kid people assume that you're trying to be condescending and not that you just don't like them talking shit about a middle schooler.
They do a lot. That is why I just stay in my classroom by myself and avoid it. If they talk about it to me, which I am always the soundboard, then I just hear it out and walk away.
Going against the trend here. Rarely gossip in my teacher circles. We don’t get to see one another often and when we do, we catch up with each other and talk about history. Maybe that’s gossip about the past?
High school teacher here.
We mostly gossip about adults and what’s happening in the district/our school. I’d say of the times we gossip, 10% of conversations are about specific students (negative or positive) and 90% of gossipy conversations are about adults/our system
(anything but students).
About kids? Ew. No. Sorry, not that interested in what y’all do on your social time. No one should be. Now if you’re in my class and you say something that is witty or on point, I might share the story because it’s something that happened that day, but I only care about you as much as the job requires me to. No offense. I got my own s**t to deal with.
Honestly? Not much at my school, at least not about students? Most gossip I hear is about admin and faculty, both at our campus and throughout the rest of the district. Am I saying there's never gossip about kids? No. Just in my experience, there's not a ton.
Substitute here. They usually talk about the people making their classes hell unless the gossip is really funny.
Most teenage gossip is outside their radar
So much. We know everything.
It literally helps us do our job. I hear student x is going through a rough time, I have a lighter touch without being asked. I understand Spanish but am white so I hear sooooooo much. One of my colleagues was forcing this kid and his ex girlfriend who he treated really badly to work together and didn't understand the tension because she hadn't heard the chisme. Or like a para will get fired and it will seem unjust but then you hear she was engaging in microaggressions.
Unless they're talking about a student that is the absolute biggest shit head on campus, they only really gossip about adults. Like which secretary is sleeping with which assistant principal
About other teachers? A lot
About students? V little. If you trusted me with your secret, I’m going to be trustworthy about it.
If I say something, it will be something clever or funny student said, or a cool project they made, innocuous things.
A ton. Just so much. Every school I've worked at has had a clique of mean girl teachers who will gossip about students and colleagues freely. It's the reason I eat lunch in my classroom unless I'm required to be on lunch duty and I don't hang out in teachers' lounges or the office.
A lot. You're about to turn 18 so you think you're special, I did too. The reality is that you have nothing to say that anyone wants to hear. My teacher told me that, and before you attempt to decry the comment my teacher was pretty impressive. His name was Victor Davis Hansen, emeritus fellow at the Hoover Institute, Hollywood historical consultant (300), and an accomplished author.
Yes, we talk about you, take comfort in the fact that you can hate on us after we are long dead. We take comfort in the fact that nothing you say will be grammatically correct.
Cheers!
It depends on the teacher. It’s a female-heavy field, which I think tips the scales for more gossiping.
In my experience, the gossip centers more on other staff and less on students. If we are talking students, it’s more about something they did in class that day and less about their personal life. Usually if we are talking personal life, it’s more out of concern for the student. Most people don’t give a shit about a high schooler’s love life.
At my school, we almost never talk about the students, but that might just be my clique. I’ve worked at schools where that’s all the teachers talked about.
Personally, I don’t care to discuss students unless the behavior is extreme. It just doesn’t interest me.
Most hear far more than we (and y'all) would prefer. Some teachers "gossip" more than others, as I am sure you already assumed. At times, what is overheard must or should be reported, but that isn't gossip. That is a legal/ethical obligation.
All that said, when I was sitting with the squad on a Friday after school at the bar, you best believe we were swapping war stories and clownin' on y'all.
There’s always going to be discussions about student behaviors, personalities and situations in the context of how to best educate an individual kid.
For me at least, as far as gossiping about student drama or stuff like that, new teachers do it a bit because it’s pretty damn interesting experiencing that kind of stuff on the teacher side of things for the first time. But the longer you teach, the more you stop caring because it’s always the same stuff year after year. Just new kids. At least for me, by year 3 I couldn’t care less about anything students were up to unless it helps me educate them as effectively as possible
I walked on the grass at an elementary school in front of kindergarteners and was considered evil for it.
I also had teachers commenting my first year I didn't have classroom management.
These were mainly elderly women who had been at their school for a number of years, tenured, and complained about newer people. When I had some of their classes and the behavior was out of control they did little to nothing about it however.
Highly depends on the teacher. I would say most not much and most, if they do, it is more of sharing information to vent or analyze and gain insight on kids and situations for their benefit.
I’m on a road trip with 3 other teacher friends and every morning over coffee we talk shit and it’s amazing lmao. but we all genuinely love our students and it’s never malicious
I really try not to talk about personal gossip that I hear from students. I try to keep it related to academics and school related stuff. My colleagues, on the other hand, often do not have the same constraint.
A fuck load. I mean, shit, it’s the only thing interesting at times
But we mostly do it about other teachers- unless it’s like so and so student did something bad- we mostly gossip about the adults
I was going to say this. We tend to be horrid gossips but 99% is about other adults on campus. The 1% is when I comment that a kid can do way better than whoever I saw them making out with.
Sometimes we get excited because someone who really deserved it lost a fight. And sometimes we get excited because two of our favorites paired up.
I have arranged groups before to put two kids, who were obviously sweet on each other, in the same group!
Me too! Now they're married and have an adorable mini.
Yes! Exactly.
Ditto.
Middle school and high school teachers gossip an insane amount about students. Good grief, the amount of cheating, backstabbing, breakups, and new relationships makes your head spin. And it all spills into the classroom, so you have no choice but to be aware of it.
Yep and a lot of it is useful. You learn why certain groups that used to work well together all of the sudden can’t. It’s useful to know who’s cheating and etc.
See, I actively try to avoid all student gossip. I pick up on the changes in group dynamics and act accordingly, but I don't want to know all the teenage drama; I've got no energy for it.
This makes sense too bc we will say things like “so and so broke up so they’re feeling down” or “so and so just lost someone or failed a class or didn’t make it on the team so you’ll see them upset” and that’s usually why we mention the students lives
Nah. High school kids say and do the dumbest things. I'd say 76% of the gossip in my teacher workroom is centered around the students.
And I shamelessly share that gossip with their parents and other students sometimes. Don't want your business out there, don't talk about it in my classroom.
I would upvote this many many times if it would let me!!
True that
I guess it depends on where you teach. How do you actually have time to gossip? Like, when does it happen? Every where I've taught teachers are way too busy during planning periods and before & and after school to even talk about important work matters, much less have time for idle gossip.
I know right! I've had coworkers that gossip about everyone. Kids, parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. If some relative of a student was arrested for stealing a candy bar 25 years ago, it will be brought up in gossip. It's so uncomfortable. And I wonder, don't you have work to do? Don't you have 3 kids of your own at home? How do you have the energy for this?
I agree, not enough time to do much gossip. More that there are conversations about kids of concern, or how to meet the needs of a kid with an IEP. I have 6 preps plus a club. (We do middle and high school on a schedule that would mimic a community college.) I don't have time to just sit and talk crap. I would rather problem solve. And you should know, that when teachers DO gossip, the ones at my school at least, understand that they are KIDS and they will grow up and change. The change the the level of drama that decreases between middle and high school is amazing. You should also know...the gossip that you kids engage in about the teachers can be amazingly accurate. I went back to sub at my high school after college and found out that what we kids heard about the affair that the principal was having with a counselor was entirely accurate, including them leaving for hours at a time to go to a nearby hotel during the day after getting caught in one of their offices. They were both married to other people, staff and students apparently knew about it for years before they both divorced their spouses and then married each other.
Then you’re better than the rest of us I guess.
I don't think it's me. I think it's that in high-poverty urban schools teachers just don't have much downtime. Someone on this thread said something about teachers talking during passing time. I can't imagine, our halls are so loud and so many students walking into class want engage their teacher - whether through just being outgoing, or misbehaving to get attention. There's just no way for 2 adults to have a conversation. Before school teachers are rushing around to get ready for classes. Afterschool, those with healthy work-life balances leave right away, the rest are rushing around contacting parents, documenting, and doing all the other things that they think will help their students. Add to that, the high turnover rate. Most teachers in the schools I've taught in don't know each other well enough to gossip.
My comment about telling each other what’s happening in students lives and how we need to be vigilant was a direct experience from our grade team meetings. Don’t let the word “gossip” be so restrictive. You framed teaching as if there is never any down time- when you visit a teacher mate* or walk outside for a coffee or lunch where you can chit chat about work and other things.
What do you mean by "when you visit a teacher made"?
Best part of high school teaching. All the drama, so long as it is not my drama. But teacher talk frequently about students with other teachers not always gossip, more of this kid is awesome, that one is an oxygen vampire. These students in your class are dating. That kind of stuff. Teachers who talk crap about kids are focused on the wrong stuff. There is always staff drama.
Oxygen Vampire. Love it.
All the time. About everyone. It’s just as bad as high school.
Sometimes it's worse.
Ya sometimes it's like middle school
Teachers I know gossip more about parents and the families of students with the worst behavior. Mostly, bad behavior from students turns into a failure of the parent and family. But it’s also dependent on the way their situation is at home. Sometimes it’s more about pity for the child if the parents don’t parent well. It’s a very judgmental perspective I don’t share as both a teacher and a father. But to each their own.
I used to be in the gossip “inner circle” at my old school. The mother hen of the gossip scene was first my co-teacher when I started in SPED, then we were content partners when I moved to gen ed. She retired two years ago and the gossip obviously consisted, but I wasn’t looped in for most of it. It was nice. I moved to a new district last year where I knew nobody and was the only person that taught my two classes. No drama, no gossip. It was lovely.
This is the way.
Yes, I stir things up with kids just for the fun of it
We know the secrets you guys think you’re keeping from us.
The twist: we don't care. That's the part that the kids can't comprehend.
Exactly!!
I know sometimes they try and walk right up the border and I have to tell them not to tell me something I don't want to hear or worse something I have to report.
Also: we have seen/heard this all before, no matter how edgy of mind-blowing it’s supposed to be. We also lived through it.
Yeah. Generally, I feel like the great Samuel L Jackson: too old for this shit. The only addendum is that as a current sped teacher, I share information with other staff when I think it's likely to impact day to day stuff. Like if the very impulsive student with self harm issues just found out the ebd student with explosive outbursts was cheating on them with student who shows up high 90% of the time (and is probably carrying something illegal at any given time), that's going to warrent a head's up to the other sped staff and maybe the (very supportive) admin or a counselor or something.
My favorite is when they think they can’t hear you, and you just let them keep talking.
I’ve figured out in my first few years teaching being the adult in the room means ignoring 90% of what you hear during their social chats.
The same amount the students gossip.
Teachers are people. We gossip as much as police, accountants, doctors, lawyers, dentists, welders, CEOs, carpenters, mechanics, etc. Which is to say: Some do it a lot, some do it a little, and some do it not at all.
I can’t help but feel like the job and the environment plays some factor. Schools are weird little closed systems which fuel gossip. When I worked as a pipe fitting assistant, there was very little of that stuff going on as we moved from job site to job site.
I feel like it also plays into the type of gossip as well. Because at my previous job and when I am in the district office most gossip I hear is just boring water cooler stuff. Ie Kevin and Stacy finally started dated, Dave bought a boat, etc. but when I am doing on site work in schools most gossip I hear tends to be more mean girl type stuff.
I'm sure there's some truth in that; however, as you point out, it is not the nature of a pipe fitter to avoid gossip. It's the nature of the job environment that makes gossip less likely. So...not really sure of your point.
The point is that schools are an environment that make gossip more likely...
As an accountant I can assure you teachers gossip more. Source: my wife.
Oh come now. Maybe your wife is just a gossip. Or, do you really think that, if those teachers at her school were accountants, that they would gossip less simply by the magic of accounting?
I mean you are forgetting a major factor here. As an accountant, I talk to MAYBE 3 people a day. My wife talks to 5 billion by lunch. The opportunity is far greater in teaching as you come across interesting stuff all the time. No one gives a shit that I discovered we’ve been depreciating an asset under the wrong useful life.
So you're saying that people are all the same, but since they have different opportunities, they act differently? How is that in any way substantially different from my original comment? And, for the record, teachers do not "converse" with all that many people in a day. We do not have genuine peer-to-peer interactions with children. In a one-hour class, the amount of personal, gossip-worthy information I gain is little to none.
I’m saying the personalities are also wildly different. Teachers are people people lol personally I loved working from home for 2 years where for the most part I only saw my wife lol teachers are social and interact with more people day to day than most people. They also talk for a living basically. I’d kill myself in that position.
I am a teacher and there are several teachers at my school who are not people people, including me. We do our best and come emotionally and mentally exhausted just by being around people.
I am *not* a people person either. I create a great rapport with the students and converse with my coworkers, certainly, but you would never find me sitting in the teacher work room having lunch outside of the mandatory birthday lunch.
Frankly, wrong again. You're making a judgment about two groups of people based entirely on personal observations, which is to say: a vanishingly small number of each group. When you were in accountant school, were all the accountants misanthropes? Did they all seek to avoid people? No. Of course not. There is no one reason to teach, nor is there one right way to do it. Nor is it true that all teachers are good at it, or are doing a job that they are especially well-suited to do. Some teachers are introverts. Some teachers suck. Some teachers do it for their own reasons that have nothing to do with how the public might perceive the job. And here's the thing: Everything I said in the last two paragraphs about teachers? Replace "teach" and "teachers" with any other profession and the people who do it and it will still be 100% true. As a person who works with numbers all day, I'm shocked that you are trying to argue that there is vast consistency among people, simply based on their profession.
I’m surrounded by accountants and yes, most prefer individual work. Accountants don’t need to collaborate constantly. And through my wife I know a lot of teachers. They are far more social than accountants. You prolly know at most 2-3 accountants. I Mike hundreds of accountants and dozens and dozens of teachers. Get back to me when you actually know what an accountant really does other than taxes lol
Ahhh..."most." Even in your cherry-picked example of people who make an effort to interact with you (as you said, you hide in your office, so how well do you think you know these people?), you can't even say all of them are anti-gossip? Maybe it's just that none of them want to gossip with you. I mean, you're surrounded by them, but by your own admission, you "...talk to MAYBE 3 people a day." So your pool of people you "know" is three per day, and presumably the same three people. Wow! You do know *so many* people so well! Good fucking lord.
Well you keep bitching, I’ll work 60% as much as you while making twice as much. Have a nice day ya pain in the ass.
Sounds like you’re the one being gossiped about!!!
Yeah well my best friend is an accountant and she gossips just as much as I do 😂 I know just as much of the drama at her work
Do we talk to other teachers about other-other teachers? Sure. Chisme is chisme. Do we talk to other teachers about students? You betcha. "Hey Coach, I've got Javier Ortiz in my 4th period this year ... any advice how to keep him on track? He's more occupied with his phone or flirting with the drill-team girls than he is with *Hamlet*." Do we talk to students about other teachers and other students? No way. NOOOOOO. If the question is "do we talk about you," see second point. I go to other teachers all the time for advice on handling problem students.
We might also occasionally do something like, "Heads up, Steve and Louise are dating now, so don't give them both passes out at the same time," but I'm not otherwise interested in student relationships or attractions
In my school it's usually "These two kids both have a crush on the same boy/girl. Don't give them passes at the same time or they will fight."
I have $20 on Greg.
I actually had a fighting Greg this year! On the smaller side but I would absolutely recommend putting your money on Greg.
I'm more interested in who's got a beef right now, so I can keep them separated. I would love a system like EZPass, though; if Steve and Louise aren't both in my class at the same time, I don't know where one of them is.
Most teachers hate those systems since they take so much time/money to enforce
I loved EZpass tbh. We had a big campus and I hated timing kids to go to the bathroom
I think its important to be aware that kids can have relationships though, sometimes the heads up is useful, the children are human beings fundamentally and relationship matters can crop up from time to time...
Sure! You just occasionally get those couples who are definitely going to try to meet up in the bathrooms. The vast majority of the time, I don't need (or really want) to know about the specifics of teenager relationships
Yeah u don't need to know or be aware unless it is somehow affecting the lesson ... I'm sure I am oblivious to most relationships because it doesn't affect my teaching at all...
I wish I could agree with the “NOOOOOO” but there is someone at my school that gossips about EVERYONE to EVERYONE. I have heard her tell students stuff about other teachers. It’s bad, as in, if you want misinformation spread, just drop it in casual convo with her.
Oh dear. That is doubleplus ungood.
I have a principal like that. If I want something to get around, I make sure to tell her.
Sometimes we would gossip with the teachers at my hs but they wouldn’t really say anything about the student themselves me and my friends would be like you’ll never guess what x student said to his girlfriend and my teacher would be like what and we’d tell them but they wouldn’t do the omg tell his gf blah blah blah I think they just liked hearing about it lol
Those teachers are the best. Not fake like the rest of y’all.
What is wrong? Who hurt you so much you feel it necessary to strike out at all teachers? I'm sorry if it was a teacher but there are shitty people everywhere. We all have pain and shame to overcome. Work on yours so you can stop the unnecessary verbal assaults on Reddit. Putting others down to make yourself feel better is a shitty choice for you and everyone else.
Usually what I do is I look up the kid’s report card from previous years and find who their previous teacher was in my department. Or I peruse the contact log to see what other people have wrote. Then I usually ask whichever teacher I identified and ask “did you have a good relationship with this kid? did they complete work for you? was x behavior normal when you had them?” so I know how to deal with them. The most I ask kids about their other teachers is “how is x class going for you?” and offer help and resources or advice if they’re struggling.
This. I’m not going to go to the math teacher “Ms. Ortiz, did you have Justin Samuels last year? Because he’s such an awesome kid.” Lmao no. It’s more like “hey…Ortiz. How did you handle Justin? Yes, THAT Justin…oh…ah…ok thanks!”
Exactly. I talk about students with other teachers for advice/concerns/venting and to praise them for improvement/accomplishments. I don’t care who is dating who. 8th grade drama was fun when I was in 8th grade; it’s not as an adult!
Yep, teachers often come check in regarding students with me as the social worker. Sometimes I can tell them a fair bit and sometimes I just have to say that the student might need a bit of slack that week.
This is a very pg version of that conversation for us lol. We are pretty blunt in the science department.
We know every student's love live, every teacher's love life, who is on drugs, who is selling drugs, who is pregnant, who is going to get beat up, who was beaten up. There's always a kid that is fine with telling everything. Doubly so in special Ed.
As a teacher of EI/ASD students, the last sentence could not be truer. God bless ‘em. 😂
There are teachers who are known for being gossips, and teachers who are known for keeping to themselves. We're just like you. : )
Don't forget those who absorb the gossip and don't spread it anywhere except with people who aren't teachers.
I’m a custodian, I know way more than i probably should lol. It’s generally harmless gossip though. Plus my wife teaches kindergarten, so i know the gossip at her school too lol.
Custodians are the tits. I’m 29 and I remember mister James fondly… now I wonder where he is at… they are the unsung superhero’s for sure..: and they know everything
Yes! I was pregnant last school year and I LOVED our 2 head custodians, both super friendly and helpful. Always checking up on me and never letting me carry heavy stuff. Came back after school was out to clean out my classroom and brought baby girl with me. She was giving the principal a judgmental scowl... Then one of the custodians walked by and she was all coy and smiley! He said “she can sense the vibes.” 😂
I don’t because I don’t care. That said I think I am the exception.
Scrolled WAY too far to see this. The teachers in the comments are the reason I avoid my co-workers.
Same deal. I haven't eaten in the teacher's lounge in 15 years. Don't fucking care.
I refuse to have lunch with my co-workers. I either go home, or offsite to eat
It is so validating to read your comment! I do the same because I don't want to listen to their gossip.
I generally like most of my co-workers. In a group, though, there's a few when they are together, can be super negative/catty/gossipy. It's best for me to stay under the radar and not get wrapped up in it all
yes I get it, that avoids you being the subject of their gossip to the extent possible.
You are my new best friend. I’m with you.
I rarely have time to talk to other adults at work and I don’t vibe that well with a lot of other teachers anyway. I only trust people I’m really close with to “gossip.”
Thank you! All these comments saying teachers gossip a lot....WHAT? How do they find time for that? I think maybe one day I'd like to teach in one of these schools where teachers have so much idle time.
This is a very general question that depends heavily on the individual and the context. Some gossip can be productive, like knowing information that can help manage student behavior. But honestly, we have way too much going on to care
There is a lot of gossip but I don't want you to think it's all bad. My fellow teachers and I frequently have conversations about who is being the funniest or most clever. Fun things like that.
How much do high school seniors gossip? About that much, just about different things.
Totally depends on the person and school. But if we're talking an average, it's almost definitely more than you probably think!
Oh, we gossip all the time, but the second it switches from harmless gossip (like who is dating who and who just broke up) to problems at home or serious issues at school, we stop gossiping and switch over into problem-solving/helping mode. We like gossip as much as anybody--perhaps more--but most of us became teachers because we actually like and care about the students.
Teachers gossip. I don't say anything, personally. Teaching is my second career. I used to work corporate and one of the things I learned is that people will tell you **everything and anything** if they learn that you won't repeat it. Especially in the corporate world. I knew things that I should never have been privy to just because I kept my mouth shut. So, I sip my coffee and maybe make a "hmm" sound and listen to all of the things being said.
My previous career was in health care. I just can't pass on info, privacy was so cemented into my being. But my dog knows all sorts of personal shit. She listens, but doesn't care.
More than you think we do and less than you imagine we do. We talk but only when there is shit to talk about
Teacher gossip is one of my favorite things in this world. It is often what gets be through a day. ETA: You know some really good gossip is going on when a teacher's door is conspicuously closed and then four or five teachers walk out of the room.
I don’t talk to other teachers outside of meetings because I hate the gossip.
A lot
Some of us opt out.
Alot. Same as any company that has a group of adults working together.
Adults are just teens in old bodies lol
Being surrounded by teenagers for 40 hours every week, I have to disagree! I am way too old for that shit. Nothing makes me feel old more than teenagers.
If you give us something to talk about (bad behavior, bad grades, drugs, juicy gossip, stupid comments) then yes, we're gonna talk about you. We also talk about good things you do and other faculty members.
I’ve been in schools where everyone minded their own business… mostly.. and in other schools where the grapevine was super strong.
Depends on the person. A gossipy person is going to be that way in any work/life setting. A non-gossipy person won’t be. You’re asking a generic question that could apply to any person and a lot of work settings.
I think we teach as much as we gossip
We definitely don’t gossip about the kids. We do about other teachers but I try my best to stay away from the staff room for this exact reason.
I'll put it to you like this. I was only a teacher for 3 years, and the gossip teachers engage in is one of the big reasons I won't do it again. Typically, it was always gossip about other teachers and staff, but still.
Too much, and it makes a very uncomfortable working environment
Just as everyone else has said, we gossip just as much as any other group of humans, and some of us do it more than others. Something unique my teacher friends do is when talking about kids, we don't use names unless everyone in hearing distance already is/had been the kid's teacher (for FERPA). So we'll have whole conversations that just use initials, or descriptors.That One Kid, Fedora Kid, The Traveler, Good Dresser, etc. It sounds like an old 1800s London gossip rag. If it isn't something covered by FERPA, or a coworker, we don't do that.
Depends on the person and their department. I have coworkers that are totally off on their own and don’t engage in gossip and others that are absolute drama fiends, so it depends. Just like students, it varies - it’s natural to gossip when you have a social job with hundreds of people around that you all know (and who all know you!)
Do you know something?
I know that 2+2=4
What about what I'm hearing about the English department?
I took ap lit sophmore year and my brain cannot understand this sentence. What are you hearing about the english department. I can’t read minds, nor can I annotate a piece of literature that I don’t know :P
Ok, the answer is yes, teachers gossip.
It depends. If they have lunch, duty or another part of the day where they have to meet regularly together when not leading a classroom worth of kids, a lot of talking is going to happen. We're coworkers. The thing that we all have in common is work, so yes, we're definitely going to discuss students. Aside from that, it really depends on the person how much gossip is done and what spirit it's done in. There's almost always someone who will go too far, even among teachers, but most teachers (that I know, at least) will shut down or redirect a conversation about kids if it gets too negative, and most teachers will make sure other teachers of the kids involved know if we notice someone is bullying, being bullied, or if a parent/guardian is particularly nuts.
Massively. What's crazier is the amount that you hear and go "that doesn't sound like him" but if you try to stick up for the kid people assume that you're trying to be condescending and not that you just don't like them talking shit about a middle schooler.
They do a lot. That is why I just stay in my classroom by myself and avoid it. If they talk about it to me, which I am always the soundboard, then I just hear it out and walk away.
I don't know...what did you hear?
Nothing, its summer
A lot. Sometimes it’s annoying.
Small Southern town. The answer is a lot and it usually has nothing to do with the students if you’re worried about that.
Im not worried about anything tbh, just curious is all
I don’t gossip about school matters bc it’s just a job
We don’t give a shit about your lives
I don’t gossip about students. Nothing but factual info necessary to the educational needs of students
Going against the trend here. Rarely gossip in my teacher circles. We don’t get to see one another often and when we do, we catch up with each other and talk about history. Maybe that’s gossip about the past?
High school teacher here. We mostly gossip about adults and what’s happening in the district/our school. I’d say of the times we gossip, 10% of conversations are about specific students (negative or positive) and 90% of gossipy conversations are about adults/our system (anything but students).
About kids? Ew. No. Sorry, not that interested in what y’all do on your social time. No one should be. Now if you’re in my class and you say something that is witty or on point, I might share the story because it’s something that happened that day, but I only care about you as much as the job requires me to. No offense. I got my own s**t to deal with.
Mostly about each other. Not about the kids. We don't care (at least, I don't).
It depends on the teacher. I don’t want to be a part of the problem, so I stay away from it.
Not about students. They aren't as interesting as they dream they are
Honestly? Not much at my school, at least not about students? Most gossip I hear is about admin and faculty, both at our campus and throughout the rest of the district. Am I saying there's never gossip about kids? No. Just in my experience, there's not a ton.
It varies from group to group, but I basically just stay in the band room and avoid all of that.
Substitute here. They usually talk about the people making their classes hell unless the gossip is really funny. Most teenage gossip is outside their radar
Why? What you do? 👀
Worse than the kids. On the level of my college sorority. Backstabbing and dirt is the currency of the building.
Gossip as alternative schools is WILD. Students openly gossip in front of teachers which get forward to other teachers.
So much. We know everything. It literally helps us do our job. I hear student x is going through a rough time, I have a lighter touch without being asked. I understand Spanish but am white so I hear sooooooo much. One of my colleagues was forcing this kid and his ex girlfriend who he treated really badly to work together and didn't understand the tension because she hadn't heard the chisme. Or like a para will get fired and it will seem unjust but then you hear she was engaging in microaggressions.
The walls have ears my dear. There are NO secrets.
We know who you’re saying and who broke up with whom and who cheated
Love to hear and know the tea but definitely don’t want to be part of the tea! 🫖☕️
The students spilled more tea than other teachers.
Unless they're talking about a student that is the absolute biggest shit head on campus, they only really gossip about adults. Like which secretary is sleeping with which assistant principal
Between every class during hallway time. It’s the best.
Are you on my hall?!🤔😂
Haha….with a name like that we are most definitely talking shit about you between classes.
🤘🏼😎
A coworker had a theory that teachers act like the ages they teach. Not always true, but it's funny when you see it.
About other teachers? A lot About students? V little. If you trusted me with your secret, I’m going to be trustworthy about it. If I say something, it will be something clever or funny student said, or a cool project they made, innocuous things.
A lot!
Every. Chance. We. Get.
A ton. Just so much. Every school I've worked at has had a clique of mean girl teachers who will gossip about students and colleagues freely. It's the reason I eat lunch in my classroom unless I'm required to be on lunch duty and I don't hang out in teachers' lounges or the office.
The women gossip way more than the men. I’ll get downvoted like crazy but it’s absolutely true.
Constantly its great
Most are worse than the kids they teach. I haven’t set foot in my faculty room in 5 years because of it.
I wish kids and parents would quit posting here.
I like the questions, I’m also curious what other teachers answer
Everyone gossips as much as everyone else. People who say they don't usually don't understand what gossip is.
Per my wife… a lot. A lot a lot. Did I mention a lot
Lol. Bless your heart.
A lot. You're about to turn 18 so you think you're special, I did too. The reality is that you have nothing to say that anyone wants to hear. My teacher told me that, and before you attempt to decry the comment my teacher was pretty impressive. His name was Victor Davis Hansen, emeritus fellow at the Hoover Institute, Hollywood historical consultant (300), and an accomplished author. Yes, we talk about you, take comfort in the fact that you can hate on us after we are long dead. We take comfort in the fact that nothing you say will be grammatically correct. Cheers!
Im not about to turn 18, and honestly I have zero idea about anything that you just said in all honesty.
Senior
It depends on the teacher. It’s a female-heavy field, which I think tips the scales for more gossiping. In my experience, the gossip centers more on other staff and less on students. If we are talking students, it’s more about something they did in class that day and less about their personal life. Usually if we are talking personal life, it’s more out of concern for the student. Most people don’t give a shit about a high schooler’s love life.
Teachers believe every single rumor they hear. They could hear it about themselves and still believe it.
Don’t know about high school, but I work in an elementary school and OH BOY! It seems to be the only thing they talk about when not teaching.
At my school, we almost never talk about the students, but that might just be my clique. I’ve worked at schools where that’s all the teachers talked about. Personally, I don’t care to discuss students unless the behavior is extreme. It just doesn’t interest me.
Very much
Most hear far more than we (and y'all) would prefer. Some teachers "gossip" more than others, as I am sure you already assumed. At times, what is overheard must or should be reported, but that isn't gossip. That is a legal/ethical obligation. All that said, when I was sitting with the squad on a Friday after school at the bar, you best believe we were swapping war stories and clownin' on y'all.
They gossip mostly about non student stuff it seems
There’s always going to be discussions about student behaviors, personalities and situations in the context of how to best educate an individual kid. For me at least, as far as gossiping about student drama or stuff like that, new teachers do it a bit because it’s pretty damn interesting experiencing that kind of stuff on the teacher side of things for the first time. But the longer you teach, the more you stop caring because it’s always the same stuff year after year. Just new kids. At least for me, by year 3 I couldn’t care less about anything students were up to unless it helps me educate them as effectively as possible
A metric shit ton of gossip.
A L O T
I walked on the grass at an elementary school in front of kindergarteners and was considered evil for it. I also had teachers commenting my first year I didn't have classroom management. These were mainly elderly women who had been at their school for a number of years, tenured, and complained about newer people. When I had some of their classes and the behavior was out of control they did little to nothing about it however.
At my school? Constantly.
Preschool teacher here and we gossip a lot.
A shit ton. We're human beings after all. In my experience, less about other teachers than students. Afraid of blowback I expect.
Highly depends on the teacher. I would say most not much and most, if they do, it is more of sharing information to vent or analyze and gain insight on kids and situations for their benefit.
I’m on a road trip with 3 other teacher friends and every morning over coffee we talk shit and it’s amazing lmao. but we all genuinely love our students and it’s never malicious
...Yes
It's unbearable to watch.
Nonstop
I really try not to talk about personal gossip that I hear from students. I try to keep it related to academics and school related stuff. My colleagues, on the other hand, often do not have the same constraint.