I find my heart a little lighter this evening. And it's probably for a very silly reason.

I wonder if you remember that months ago I mentioned that this is my year to be formally observed and evaluated by the administration of my school.

This should not be all that stressful for me. I mean, after all, I've taught for 19 years. What are they going to do, fire me?

Not to mention that I've received numerous commendations from my division administration, often after parents have contacted them with glowing accounts of my teaching.

Why do I still - quite literally - lose sleep over this?

My principal is my friend. He and I share a laugh at least once a day, often more. Why do I burn up with nerves, my face red and my shirt sticky, when he is sitting in my desk, watching me teach?

There really is no reason for all of this silliness.

The good news is that today, I experienced my last observation - for the next four years, anyway.

My lesson went really well. The students, thinking that he was there to observe them instead of me, behaved extremely well. Almost too well. My principal was taking down data on my classroom management skills, and there weren't any situations to manage. Still, that's a nice problem to have.

We met after the lesson to "debrief", and he spoke about how my voice compelled people to listen when I speak. He spoke of a mutual respect that was evident in my class. He spoke of how the lesson flowed calmly and naturally.

As he spoke of all of this, all I could think about was how well I would sleep tonight.