Maybe I'm just tired. . .

I was a bit put off by the vintage photo of Julie Jensen on our reading for last night, but I quickly moved past that. I appreciated the history lesson, and it made me wonder why we are still fighting the testing versus teaching and learning battle. Then, this morning, I read in the local paper that our schools are creating a new position at each high school that will take some responsibilities from the assistant principals. Oh good, I thought, they can focus more on collaborating with their teachers. . . then I read the quote from school-board-member Bruce Renner, a former teacher, who said that this would allow the principals to do a better job "monitoring" classrooms. That word affected me like nails on a chalkboard. [It might have been "monitor" rather than "monitoring," I don't have the paper in front of me.] Maybe I just don't get it, but I don't need a monitor, thank you very much. I need a colleague who is an instructional leader, someone excited about teaching and learning with me and our students. I'm tired of walking into the building wondering what I did wrong yesterday and what new expectation will be placed on me today. Maybe I'm just tired.