September 6, 2007

This is unfortunate. A new teacher to our department will not be coming back to work with us. Apparently he decided after his first week that he would not work at Leesville. His reasons are have not been made public so I do not know. But I will say one thing, Leesville is a very difficult place to work. It is difficult because it is a very pressured environment. There is such an emphasis on excellence that it could be overwhelming to someone not used to it. To tell the truth, I don't have anything to compare it to. I have never taught full time at any other school, but I can feel, even as a veteran, that there is always the pressure to do better and to exceed expectations. However, there is such a strong support system in our department. We all work together to make sure that nobody feels like they are alone. But sometimes, there is still too much pressure. For example, once the word was passed on to us today that he would not be coming back, every teacher rallied to volunteer to do something to keep his classes afloat. From grading papers, planning lessons, covering classes, it will all get done until a replacement is found. That is what I like best about our department, we are all there for each other. We all pull together to help each other out. I couldn't see it any other way. I enjoy my colleagues and am grateful for them.

Today Evan left school shortly after arriving, he got sick in class. He got sick a few times at home before settling down, but he is still nursing a fever and dizziness. There is no worse feeling than seeing your child sick and feeling terrible. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow morning, but if he continues the dizziness he will go to the doctor.

Today's Headlines:

Easy A's for Wake Teachers? (News and Observer)
More results from Wake County's Audit. It appears that administrators are not critical enough when evaluating teachers. I must admit, in my 11 years teaching at Leesville, I have only received 2 comments that were critical of my teaching performance. Honestly, I think I am a good teacher, but am I so good that only twice have I done anything worth criticizing? Perhaps teachers are evaluated lightly. On the other hand, do I want something else to worry about? Yet, some constructive criticism every once in a while could be a good thing. To the defense of the administrators, observing teachers is just one responsibility. Admittedly, there are far bigger fires to put out on a daily basis. With a 30:1 teacher to administrator ratio, observing teachers can be a daunting task when every teacher is observed at least twice and some as many as four times. I am not sure that there is an easy answer. Administrator certainly have their work cut out for them as it is.