the first weeks back

it feels like my first year all over again.
walking on eggshells, not knowing who to trust and who not to, so trusting no one, keeping my head down and trying not to cause any problems or make any noise. so much for the high ground i thought i'd gained by doing a good job last year. i've been knocked down from that pedestal this year and it's been made abundantly clear to me.

18 classes a week. the entire school. nearly 500 students a week. 25 teaching periods, and no group during extended day, just the mandate to fix all technology. what about the teachers who have new equipment this year and have no idea how to use it? no collaboration periods, training time, or push-in periods. we're all on our own. the priorities are unclear, but we know what they are not.

and my friend, a veteran teacher, experienced and so close to retirement - she's got the same 25 resource room periods with the low-performing kids. last year she worked with the 3's and 4's too, reading with them, boosting them. this year Principal Status Quo just wants to raise up the 1's. forget about the smart ones, they're fine where they are. IEPs are not in order, CTT classrooms with only one teacher, brand new teachers all over the place. oh, and teacher's college PD just for the 3 favorite ELA teachers - nobody else. we need to save budget dollars, you know.

and need i mention the new TFA hire? not even a year of experience, but somehow a better match than any one of those hundreds of ATRs who could bring so much to the school. but those people know their rights and won't be pushed around the way PSQ can with the newbies.

some equipment in the lab is malfunctioning. it's not under warranty, and is at least 5 years old, so i asked for some replacements and have so far been ignored.

i'm looking outside the system.

i've tried and i don't think i can take another 9 months.