Katybee

Good for you. You probably wouldn't have been at your best. Our state has gone to a different evaluation system that puts the admin in our rooms with an iPad 6-8 times a year doing evaluations. Every single one of them is a "drive by" meaning we have no idea when they happen. Our principal was great at hitting us on Friday afternoons or right before holiday breaks. The other part (50%) of our evaluation was kids' test scores. That was rough when kids who hadn't been in your room all year were included into your score. Lots of crazy stuff happening and many of my colleagues were in tears far too often. The number of "specialists" that were sent into to improve the district scores meant more weekly meetings and paperwork that went on for days. We were also observed monthly by a team of roving administrators (8-10) that were out looking for best practices and then discussed your lesson at length. While I didn't love the new observations, I knew my kids knew their stuff and was pretty confident. Last year when they gave us all iPads to teach a new writing curriculum I knew I was out. For me, teaching is natural and give me a set of standards and let me go. Nope, the new curriculum was scripted and kids sat at their seats for 45 minutes and had 15 minutes of small group where they had to write the same genre for nine weeks. It was painful.

I saw so many teachers get out of the profession. My boss was so hot and cold it made your head spin, and we had a system of letting others know not to go near the office. She told my teammate who was having a baby that the child would ruin her career and she had options. Who says that? When my teammate started looking outside the district she was told she would never get another job because my boss would make sure of it. At the end of the year my boss resigned. The staff loves the new principal. It is amazing how much your principal can control your happiness.