I smell a rat

I think there is a little light in the administration building that starts flashing when I begin teaching on a Monday morning without having my lesson plans written. I've only decided to wing it about three times this whole school year and someone from the district shows up to check for lesson plans every time. It’s getting a little weird. I think there might be an informant living under my own roof. I bet its the Munchkin, though my husband says don't underestimate the Bean. She's only two but she is sometimes just a little too cute and innocent looking.

When I moved out here I found it surprising that actual District administrators come through periodically to check our work. Their unannounced walkthroughs are a way of making sure our school administrators are enforcing district teaching expectations. It's good that they have specific expectations of teachers and that they take steps to ensure the kids are getting a good education. I once taught a whole year with only one five-minute observation. And while I've always tried to do my best by my students, I know there are poor teachers out there who don't feel any pressure to improve because no one is holding them accountable.

It helps that what they expect from us isn't absurd. What they want to see is mandatory student engagement, high level questioning, vocabulary and other stuff that just amounts to best practices in my book. Oh, and they want complete lesson plans on my desk. I better go get on that...