Hi! As my title states the lead teacher in my classroom isn't engaging with the students in our classroom and I'm feeling like the only person in the room sometimes. We have three teachers in my classroom, 1 lead and 2 associate teachers (I am 1 of the 2 associate teachers)

The lead teacher has been working at the childcare facility for over 15 years and they are very popular among parents at the school and are well known and loved in the community.

I've been working with them for closer to three years now and have become so tired with how little they actually do in the classroom as a lead/ I'm starting to doubt I actually know what a lead is supposed to do in the classroom because this teacher is a terrible example. Their engagement in the classroom gets worse and worse each year. They spend a lot of time on the computer (not sure what they are EVER working on) and they leave the classroom very regularly without communicating where they are going/ when they they will return. I respect needing to take a minute to step out if you are taking a phone call, needing a minute to talk to a coworker, or just stepping out to escape the noise but would greatly appreciate a heads up. It can be very frustrating.

Because this teacher isn't participating in the classroom much, more responsibilities land on me. I'm the only teacher in the room who leads activities, puts out games and toys, and helps with transitions (clean up time, getting lined up to go outside etcetera)

I have a really hard time talking to people when I know the subject may become a point of conflict, so I just keep my head down and keep working/ providing the best care I can for the children in the classroom but I'm at a loss. I don't know who to really talk to and I've convinced myself this only way I can be happy at this job is to move to a different classroom. Does anyone have advice?