Observations

Being officially observed is one of my greatest worries as a teacher.  It stresses me out.  In the past I have had observations that were amazing, but I also spent the last two years just being criticized and put down for how I teach.  So I didn't know what to expect when I was signing up to be observed.  I chose a math lesson that I felt the students would catch on to easily and that would be easy enough to also have observed.  The lesson contained management of space, behavior management, time, management . . all the things that for the past years I have been told I don't know how to do.  After all the books I have read and videos I have watched and people I have talked to I felt that possibly I wasn't as bad at it as certain people in the past thought.

So in my eyes the lesson went well.  My kids were awesome, the lesson pace was good, and it didn't fall apart.  In my eyes it was a great lesson.  A few days later, as per requirement, I met with my director to see what she thought.  Gosh were my nerves going crazy.  She starts the meeting with the following comment, "You have such a nice class."  I let go a deep breath and relaxed instantly because all she had to say was that it was an awesome lesson and she applauded me in already knowing what I would change and didn't really need to give me anything to work on.  She has been known to rip people apart and have people re-do their observation so I was pretty much flying the rest of the day after this meeting.

It is SO nice to finally be at a school were I am recognized as a teacher who knows what she is doing.  Love my school in the past but nothing feels better than being here with people who support me.