Work

In the past two years I have thought a lot about my career. I started my own business and found out that I missed teaching too much. Just like being a lab scientist WASN'T for me, I realized that working in schools and with kids IS for me. So last year I got back in the classroom and managed to acquire an administrative position where I would head the summer academy. It was a big deal for me since I was new to the school yet still got selected.

So the reality is that, while I'm not the head of a division, I am more than a teacher. Probably somewhere between department chair and dean in terms of the hierarchy. For some people, this change in my position immediately changed how they treated me. All in all though, it has just been an opportunity for me to take on more responsibility and get my foot in the door.

This week however, I think I might have come to the point where I have to flex my muscle. Currently there are four sections of AP Biology. I teach two and my colleague teaches two. Next year there will only be three sections. This means that one of us will get one and one will get two. We both want the two sections of AP. I'm sure that some of our reasons are the same: it is nice teaching the top kids and having your class basically "end" about three weeks before the end of the school year. I have the added reason of needing a little more down time during these weeks as it is crunch time for the summer school.

In private conversations, the other teacher mentioned that she thought it would be easy for her to get the two sections because she had seniority. Hmmm. I mentioned that this issue would be coming up to the Assistant Head of School/my mentor and gave him all my reasons for hoping I could get two sections. I also asked if he thought it was worth it to peruse it though as she did have seniority. He immediately said that it made complete sense that I should get the two sections based on my all-school responsibilities. He also indicated that he would tell my department chair that this needed to happen.

There has been no fallout yet. We actually haven't even officially scheduled classes yet. I'm still not 100% comfortable with being "above" some people on the ladder though. I'll get there, but it is awkward for me. This co-worker has made it perfectly clear that she has no aspirations to be in any kind of administration, and, to some extent, I feel like she has made her own decisions. If she doesn't want to be the boss, then she has to deal with the reality that people will leapfrog her despite how long she has been somewhere.

I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill.