Observe Me Freak Out

If you're a teacher, aide, student, or parent, you know how crazy the first several days of school are. Students get lost, they cry, and they wander aimlessly until someone shows them the ropes. Class schedules are hopelessly muddled, and announcements constantly interrupt what little cohesiveness you have in a modified, fifteen-minute class. Students straggle in late; messages arrive from the attendance office; lunches are hand-delivered to forgetful seventh graders. All is chaos and destruction until... YES! Around about third period, in comes an administrator with a laptop, ready to give you your first observation for the year! If you are a first-year teacher, you panic. You know there is no way that observation is going to reflect anything good about you, your methods, your rapport with students, or your ability to teach. It will show you to be a complete ignoramus who should never have thought about going within 1500 feet of a school.

If you are a veteran teacher, of course you know that anything the administrator says about you will be meaningless. You also know that this observation will go into your permanent file and follow you all the days of your professional life. You also know that you are a consumate actor, one who can convince even the most reluctant student, or the densest administrator, that you not only are in control of the situation and that you are a Top Expert in your field, but that there is nothing in the world that you enjoy more than teaching!