First person: Watching the clock: Make it to the end of the year without messing up

Abstract

Math coach Steven Goldman compares working the timer and scoreboard at a local basketball game to teaching. His mission as the clock guy is not to mess up. That means he avoids doing anything fancy or learning what any of the buttons do beyond the ones he needs. When he worked as a long-term sub for a colleague’s paternity leave, it would have been easy for him to have the same attitude. By trying to create new materials, Goldman risked making mistakes — and eventually he did. As a teacher who was new to the school, this mistake had the potential to carry higher consequences that it would for a veteran, making the temptation to simply watch the clock even greater.