"Alias Paine"

[RJNorton]

I retired 18 years ago, so just the fact that I was once a classroom teacher is a rather vague memory. When I began teaching I simply inherited the classroom and textbook which the departing teacher had used. But when it came time to pick a new one, the teachers themselves (at least in the district where I taught) had a good deal of input. We met with salesmen from several textbook companies, and we selected the book which best met the curriculum and teaching methods we used. Textbooks come with an array of supplementary material (worksheets, tests, activities, teaching suggestions, etc.), and these were also examined carefully for usefulness in the classroom. When I say "we" I mean two people - the other fellow who taught Anerican history and me. I know the principal gave us some sort of checklist when it came to textbook selection, but it was so long ago I do not recall its details. I am sure we had a budget that we had to stay within, but I do not recall those details either. Additionally, I don't recall what the "higher ups" did with our textbook selection; did they look into it(?)...I do not know. All I remember is we got the book we picked. Wish I could recall the whole textbook selection process in greater detail, but this is all I remember now.