My Formal Observation

So, twice a year we get Formal Observations. An administrator meets with you (Pre-observation conference) to discuss what you're going to teach, you both decide on a day and class period for them to come. They come and observe you (Formal Observation) and then within the next few days, you meet again (Post-observation conference) to discuss what was good and what was bad. You both sign it and it goes into your permanent file.
Last Tuesday, I got a note in my box from Principal that said she had forgotten all about Observations and didn't realize they were due April 1st. She said she would meet with us immediately to get them finished. She was then out of the building on Wednesday and Thursday.
Friday morning, I asked if I could speak with her. I told her that the lesson I had planned was necessary for the whole class to see and if attendance was low (it was the Friday before Spring Break, and raining) that I would have to do something else. I explained I didn't want her to come in on something like a game of Geography Bingo and be annoyed that I wasn't following curriculum.
At first, she insisted that she wasn't even the one who was supposed to observe me. I told her that I had received her note. "Well, I don't think it was me, but I'll check. Either way, don't worry about it. I've got so much stuff on my plate right now..." She then told me that if I wanted to be observed AFTER spring break, I could do that, but I would have to sign the form and pre-date it. I said that was fine.

I walked down to my classroom. I spoke with my classroom neighbor, Mrs. Allen. She said Principal had walked into her room yesterday, didn't say anything, and left after 10 minutes. She said, "I guess that was my observation?"

During 2nd period, Principal walked into my classroom with her official papers and sat down. My 7th graders were doing an AWESOME lesson, if I do say so myself. They were working in groups creating posters. When she walked in, they asked her questions and tried to include her in the activity. They explained to her what they were doing and why they were doing it. She laughed for a minute with them and then immediately asked for a lesson plan. I didn't have one. Yes, I am supposed to have them everyday. I don't. I'm not apologizing for it. It's a rule. I get it. However, had I known I was going to have my FORMAL OBSERVATION, I would have written one. She got angry. She left after 10 minutes.

After school, we had our Post-Observation Conference. She also invited Mrs. Allen in and we had ours together. She started with me. "Your kids were engaged, but you had no lesson plan. You didn't have IB stuff up on the walls and you didn't incorporate IB ideals into your lesson. Sign here.You can go, I'm done with you."

Mrs. Allen interjects and says, "No, I heard her evaluation, she can stay and hear mine."

Principal takes out Mrs. Allen's. "Your kids were engaged, you were teaching [some math terminology]. I have nothing negative to say about you."

Mrs. Allen: "Well, to be fair, I don't have any IB stuff up either."

Principal: "Oh, okay..."

Mrs. Allen: "...So, go ahead and put that down there."

Principal: "Well...okay."

She also didn't have a lesson plan, but that didn't matter because Principal didn't even ask her for one. She also stayed in my room for 10 whole minutes. How does she know if I included "IB ideals"? (I didn't, but she doesn't know that.)

This has been bothering me ever since Friday. Here's the thing. Nobody in the building knows that people are treated differently in the building better than I do. I'm one of the few that goes from favored to hated on a regular basis. Most people just stay in their assigned category forever. I've just never seen it done so completely obviously before. I mean, in the same room! And Mrs. Allen has been my classroom neighbor for 3 years now. Principal has to know we talk to each other ALL.THE.TIME. How could she think that kind of doublespeak was going to go over?

Several other teachers told me that I should go talk to her since it was upsetting me so much. This principal, while she is still a crazy administrator, wasn't so before she became principal. When she was an assistant principal last year, I used to talk to her all the time. We got along very well.

I didn't talk to her, but I did end up writing her an email (passive-aggressive, I know) saying that I know it's not some type of formal complaint, but I was really hurt by her actions. She wrote on my FORMAL OBSERVATION that goes in my PERMANENT FILE that I didn't have a lesson plan, and yet nowhere on there does it say that it was an unscheduled visit. That makes me look at best defiant and at worst incompetent.

Meanwhile, she has loaded me down with preps and responsibilities (which go against my contract) and I have continued to work hard under pressure that would make most people would just give up. She KNOWS me. She's known me for five years. She KNOWS that I will never give up on my kids and just because I didn't have a lesson plan doesn't mean that I haven't been doing awesome lessons.

Ugh, Thank you Jesus for this Spring Break and it's wonderful timing.