Today was the last professional development day of the year. The teachers were promised that from 8-8:30 "breakfast would be served." Some teachers were naive enough to think that this actually meant coffee, bagels, donuts, maybe some juice. It had been that way in most every other school. So teachers strolled into school today and found that to Principal Sappenbottom, "breakfast" meant few boxes of bagels which were gone within 5 minutes. Forget the coffee, plates, napkins, or anything else that might be construed as coming along with "breakfast."
Usually in the June PD day the principal of the school has a morning meeting with the entire staff. Principal Sappenbottom is Not That Kind of Principal though! Instead all teachers were told to report to their departments for department meetings.
From 8-2:30 teachers sat in the same rooms with their Assistant Principals going over the two big buzzwords: Common Core Learning Standards and the New Evaluation System. The teachers got rather contentious about the New Evaluation System, except for one snot-nosed teacher who said, "I don't believe I'll be targeted by this evaluation system and everyone who is targeted probably deserves it anyway." This led to some more commotion, which the AP tried to squelch. If this were a classroom one could say the class was out of control, with teachers shouting at each other, shouting at the AP, the AP trying to explain everything using a powerpoint he admitted he just got from the DOE that very morning, and the "excessive use of electronic devices." Teachers were on their computers, on their phones, iPads, some were doodling or playing games, others were just texting. One was writing a poem. The AP gave a dirty look to the teachers on their phones but totally ignored the teachers who were having a shouting match in the corner of the room.
In the middle of all this we noticed Principal Sappenbottom was at the back of the classroom. "Just wanted to see how everyone was doing," she said blandly. No one bothered to ask Principal Sappenbottom about the New Evaluation System since everyone knows she is just Not That Kind of Principal who answers questions. But to be on the safe side Principal Sappenbottom slipped out after about five minutes. "I have to run!" she said before anyone could get started with her. I saw my AP visibly grimace.
At the end of the day teachers walked out and saw Principal Sappenbottom resting peacefully and chatting with her secretaries. She looked content. It was another day in which she did absolutely nothing.
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