From One Hurdle to the Next.....Lurching Along

Have you ever been in a situation where you are fully aware that a task has to be completed and yet you are also fully aware that if you complete that task you will be very disappointed?  Well- that’s where I am currently.  I made it through mid-term exam scheduling hell and now am on to the next hurdle of completing my walk-throughs for tenured teachers and second and third observation cycles for the non-tenured bunches.

Walk-throughs are an interesting notion…they are unannounced and yet I go out of my way to attempt to schedule them for times I feel would be beneficial to the person I am observing.  What have I discovered?  Well, 1) I have discovered that the first formal observation (which was announced, may I add) was great! I was able to see my team in action, demonstrating their abilities to the hilt and it gave me a wonderful feeling of knowing that our students are in very competent hands. And 2) Unannounced walk-throughs have given me another glimpse into the classroom altogether.  Now don’t get me wrong- I was in the classroom for fourteen years and completely understand the notion of days gone horribly wrong…but to see that in more than a couple of classes, on separate occasions,  has taken me off guard.

What can I say when I go into a classroom to observe an employee and they don’t realize I am there and are braiding hair and having discussion not at all relating to the content they are intended to support? How do I word that in their observations? What do I do when a co-teacher arrives ten minutes late to a class with a cup of coffee in her hand and tries to act nonplussed when she realizes I’m in the room WAITING for her?!  These are just a couple of vexing examples I can provide, but it leaves me deflated and cynical. 

I know that these educators are competent and dynamic, I witnessed it on the first “dog and pony show”…but how have they become so lax in their preparation and planning? Is it because they feel that as a first year administrator I won’t call them out on this behavior?  Is it because I used to be their peer that they feel they don’t have to be as alert and prepared as they had to be with other supervisors? Or is it that the prior supervisors have allowed this behavior to exist and now it’s the status quo?  If anything, I know that I am more observant for these reasons and perhaps they don’t realize that…

So, as I lurch forward with these walk-throughs,  I will be sure to make my opinions of their most recent behaviors known and reinforce my expectations for them.  Here’s the part that my fellow administrators can tell me that they “told me so”.  And just when I get so frustrated that I can’t take it anymore, we have a break where I can regroup and plan for their return…

Until next time,

Caroline