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posted by:
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Mary Bing
on November 24, 1998
at 2:54PM
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subject:
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A 'Tweener by Any Other Name...
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Hello Everyone,
It is encouraging to know that there are other teacher leaders out there
grappling with the same issues as those of us in Delaware.
We are called Coalition Science Specialists. We are released from the
classroom and located in an office or some reasonable facsimile.
It is amazing how the teachers with whom you taught, suddenly begin to
treat you as they would an administrator. Many teachers are uncomfortable
when another adult is present while they teach.
It does no good to tell your colleagues that you are not evaluating them.
Since you are no longer a classroom teacher, then you must be an
administrator. You've crossed that line; you've gone to the other side.
You're certainly not an administrator, but you are no longer a classroom
teacher. You're somewhere in between, a "tweener." Your goal is to help
teachers do what they do better--teach.
This position can be very effective, but the process of having teachers
accept you as a resource and not a source to be avoided is very slow.
This is my second year as a Science Specialist. Before accepting this
position, I was a lead teacher, a liaison between my grade level and the
resource center.
When our NSF grant ends, will my position still exist? I don't know the
answer to that, but I can tell you that I recently registered for a spring
class necessary for my administrative certificate. Maybe I will return to
the classroom where my heart belongs. But for now, I remain...
somewhere in-between.
Mary C. Bing
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