Just Get Out of the Way

I was in my classroom working on lesson plans when in walked my colleague in the math department. As a first year teacher, he is full of questions and ideas and has the ability to see with fresh eyes those situations that some of us just take for granted by now. His question this time had to do with filling out papers for the special education department. After we talked about what he should do and why, he remarked, “You know, at some point I hope to get back to doing what I am supposed to do.” I smiled the sympathetic smile of a paperwork weary comrade and watched him walk out the door. But his statement haunts me and leaves me to wonder: What is it that a teacher is supposed to do