Hey, everyone - I have bad news and I have good news.
The bad news is that it's gotten rather late and I probably won't be able to begin the sector creation process tonight as originally promised
The good news is that I had my post-observation briefing with my principal today, and I passed with flying colors ! Seriously... of all the points I was being assessed on, I met or exceeded standards on all of them, except for two, one of which my principal said he was sure I was doing from the general context but didn't actually observe (and thus couldn't properly sign off on) and another which nobody manages to show in observation, because it's got to do with how you interact with the family. Two "not observeds" are well within the bounds of passing, so... my assessment is done for the year!
At the risk of TMIing you all - ah, what the heck, you were all there for it - last year went completely insane starting about now, when I had my first round of observations, and I bombed. From there, it was a sharp descent into an endless round of late nights, hard work, rewritten lesson plans, and insane stress.
The funny thing is, while I learned a lot about where my teacher game was weak, I'm not really doing a lot different this year. Some of the bits and pieces are different, but the basic ideas are the same. I guess some principals just don't know how to appreciate quality teaching when they see it... :rolleyes
Anyway, the point is that I'm confident that this year is not going to be a disaster. I might get reassigned or laid off - that's inevitable in my line of work - but I know I won't be worked to death and then run out of line on a rail.
So this time, there will be no mysterious disappearances...