Frustration

I've been appointed "leader" of the Algebra 2 team this year. In the past, this position has required little leadership except passing along papers that come from the central office. I was expecting much the same this year.

Imagine my surprise to learn that several on my team (3 of them) haven't taught the subject before and were expecting me to teach it to them!?!?! Now, this is pretty shocking in itself, but it gets worse.

At least one (and perhaps more) apparently think that I am too gruff and short with them when they ask me questions and give off an "attitude" of "You should already know this." Here's the deal...

We teach 6 of 8 periods a day. One period is lunch and one is conference. My class average size is 30, so that makes 180 (give or take) students. I teach two subjects, one of which had a "revamp" on the curriculum over the summer and came out a complete mess. Unfortunately, that is the one that is new to me, so I am not only failing in being an effective teacher, but I'm also NOT learning anything about the course.

The course that I am "leading" hasn't been changed much in the past three years. It's good, solid, and the kids learn a LOT. It's all laid out on a CD along with pacing, standards, and supplementary materials. In addition, we also have a textbook that we can refer to if we need some teaching advice and approach strategies. Apparently, these other teachers are expecting me to write out everything that I do and say so they can emulate it. Flattering as that might be, it's simply impossible. Most of what I do, I don't think about in advance. I can't possibly tell them what I'm doing.

One of them (at least) seems to think that I'm not doing a spectacular job with this leadership position and rather than talk to me about it, she is going to the department chair who later relays the message to me with no hope of knowing who thinks this or what incidence is being talked about. I have no way to know why she thought I was being snooty because I haven't a clue when I was being snooty. The only thing I can figure is that she mistook my silence after making a statement for having a condescending aire. I typically make a statement and then shut my mouth to allow the person to whom I'm speaking to process the information. I find it frustrating when I am trying to understand something and the person "explaining" it won't shut up and let me assimilate the information.

I'd like to know who I should talk with about this so I can clear the air. It is very frustrating to know that there is a problem and not know how or with who to deal with it.

I'm about ready to start looking for a new position next year. This nonsense is getting ridiculous.