Competence

Ingrid (the new manager) has observed my classes three times now, as I recall. Could be four, but I think it's been three. The first few times she had some good feedback for me, so I took her advice and made the changes she recommended. Things got easier. I made additional changes that seemed like good ideas to me on my own. Later feedback indicated that they made sense to her too. Things got easier again.

Basically, work is much more doable now, and I feel like an honestly competent teacher. After today's observation Ingrid showed me her notes, which basically said, "Ben is a competent teacher with a well-disciplined class and a powerful classroom personality. I won't need to observe again for the foreseeable future." This made me happy.

In less fun news, my knee is giving me trouble for some reason. It's got an aching pain that's occasionally a stabbing pain deep inside, on the back side of the knee. I bought a brace tonight that I'll start wearing to work (lots of standing around) and when I exercise. Hopefully it'll get better on its own. If it's still giving me hell in two weeks, I'll see a doctor.