Dear Teacher, Don't Give Up!

Dear Teacher, "Don't you trust me to make good decisions in my classroom?" I don't know about you, but there was a time when I both wanted and didn't want to know the answer to that question. This was especially true when it came to a particular principal I was working under. In my case, I never had to face an interrogation of my practice. Instead, what I experienced can be described as a looming, lurking specter of disapproval. When I was on campus, judgment felt like it was laying in wait around each corner. And even though I did not get called into the front office, nor did I ever get written up, what I experienced internally--both mentally and emotionally--bordered on the oppressive. I know that I am not alone in the experience of being under the watchful eye of a distrusting administration. As a very young first grade teacher, my good friend Nancy Erwin found herself in a classroom where she was watched very closely. Hired by a district that was working to improve certain metrics, not only did she have