keeping my job

My job is very vulnerable this year. As a first year teacher, I am only given a temporary certificate. And under that certificate, I have to jump through a variety of hoops in order to be recommended for a full certificate.

I have jumped through most of those hoops already. I took 3 state exams, took 18 credit hours of graduate classes, turned in piles of paperwork and had numerous observations by supervisors, mentor teachers, and both principals.

But there is one thing left. One major thing. In Texas, it's referred to as the PDAS and basically it is the Year-End Evaluation. My Asst Principal comes in to observe me teaching for a total of 45 mins. There are 8 areas she's observing, and this evaluation goes in my permanent file. At this point, it is literally the only thing standing in my way of getting a full teaching certificate.

She came in for 20 minutes today to start the observation. She wasn't getting what she needed, so she said she will come for the remaining 25 minutes tomorrow... I am literally in the midst of being evaluated, which we already establish is imperative for my career.

So in the midst of being evaluated, I thought it might be a good thing to go out to dinner with her and another teacher. I could get some good quality-time in and maybe talk about my class project and make her laugh and in general suck-up. It wasn't planned. She and the other teacher saw my car still at school at 6:30 tonight and invited me. But I went, thinking it would be a good opportunity.

They arrive first and they are talking about her recent break-up with a guy. She is explaining the situation as the other teacher is trying to give her advice. They ask me for advice, and in my best Teresa voice say "Have you ever read the book, He's Just Not That Into You?"

And as soon as I said it, I knew it was a mistake. Especially after she leaned over to the other teacher and said something about my PDAS evaluation and laughed.

Yikes.

I was able to exlain to her the reason I recommended the book was because it was mostly about women not wasting their time on men that don't deserve them. And well a few jokes and stories later, I think I was able to recover. But oh man, did I put my job on the line tonight, lol.