I guess you could say I had a depressing day at work. Never any clear, targeted, constructive criticism – just vague allusions to shifting priorities and changed class assignments. Am I just overreacting, being insecure? I don't know. But I left work today feeling strongly that under no circumstances would I renew my contract – and it seems pretty clear to me today that they had no plans to seek such, either.
What's going on? I wish I could say. I don't know. The only behavior-specific criticism I received today was that I had failed to avail myself of the computer-based instructional materials created for the Passage Memorization curricula. I had test-driven it in January, and dismissed it as cumbersome and uninspiring to students.
I hadn't realized the administration had had their hearts set on it – they certainly didn't seem to have invested in the appropriate material technology to support it. Had I been "ordered" to use it? I definitely remember a "strong suggestion," but I also recall making a strongly argued case against continuing with it, which was received with mild-mannered acceptance – which I read as a deferral to my opinion. Now I learn that they were displeased that I'd rejected their request.