The Evaluation Song

(Sung to the tune of Waltzing Matilda)
No matter how many years we’ve been in the classroom, the prospect of a supervisor coming to observe can trigger all our latent -- or not so latent -- fears of inadequacy. “I’m still not good enough. Maybe I was never meant to do this in the first place.”

E-valuation! E-valuation!
My supervisor is coming to see
If I’m managing my classroom
and sticking to my lesson plans.
My supervisor is sizing up me.

Won’t yell at kids.
I won’t get impatient.
Won’t do the things
I might do when alone.
Well, I’ll tap dance and bring out
my most successful lesson plan.
I’ll show her how I’ve profess’nally grown.

What if the kids all start misbehaving?
What if the lesson I’ve planned is a bomb?
Well, my mother once said
I should never be a teacher.
Well,My supervisor might be like my mom.

I’m getting nervous.
Do I deserve this?
I’m having trouble sleeping at night.
There are so many other jobs
that might be much less stressful.
Oh, maybe, just maybe,
my mother was right!

Oh, supervisor, what will you write up?
What will you put
in my permanent file?
Well, I might as well start now,
looking through the classifieds.
Finding my next job
might take me a while.

E-valuation!
E-valuation!
My supervisor has come
and she’s gone.
It was fine; not the worst,
not the greatest --
but it’s over now.
I’d like the rest of the day off for fun.