Then They Put It In Writing

After the meeting, I received a detailed "summary" email from my supervisor.

It outlined everything I was now "expected" to do: be less strict, observe another instructor, and change how I manage my class.  In writing, it read like coaching. But to anyone paying attention, it was an attempt to document compliance and reiterate the meeting on their terms. 

Included in that email was something unexpected: a literal list of classroom management strategies. It appeared as though it had been copied from an article- maybe even something written for new teachers. Obvious, and just the basics. The kind of thing you might hand out to someone managing a group of five-year-olds.

I didn't need it, and they knew it.

But I responded professionally, as I always do.

I said, "Sure, I can do that."

--K