Vacation? Well, a break anyhow... and a little rant about AP

Damp and drizzly start to the day-- I hope it warms up/ clears up soon. The dumpster arrives in about an hour. 

Today's Holly's first day of PreK summer camp-- she is so excited. She'll love having other kids to play with and things to do. I can't wait to hear about it all!

I am getting a very late start to my day. I slept 8 hours. Shortly, I will trundle off to the shower, then get breakfast. I'm not lazy, I'm working through mental and physical exhaustion. I need to remind myself of that. In three weeks, I'll be at the AP Summer Institute, and cooped up for an entire week of nerdiness that may or may not be something I need or desire. We shall see. Likely, it'll be the first nice weather week, right? 

I'm not really resistant to the conference; I asked to go, and I know it will be useful. But a large part of my asking to go is to be "the one" who actually went to get trained (others on our staff have not, nor will they). Why do I always have to be the over-eager student? And yes, it's ego-related. Not a good trait, I'm afraid. However, teaching AP will possibly be a real gut-check for me, and I don't want to fail my students or myself in this grand adventure. I honestly do not fully believe in the "magic" or cachet of AP courses- they are fine, as they go, but the high-stakes test and the elitism that clings to the AP designation are a little "precious" --at least I think so. I believe strongly in the dual credit courses, though. And I've taught those for 15 years, with generally good success. The instructor must possess at least a Masters' degree in their content area, and must submit their transcripts and so on, just to get their foot in the door. Then, there is oversight by the partner college, too-- and the syllabus must be accepted by the college in order to proceed. In short, unpaid adjunct faculty, with all the requirements intact. For AP, none of this is required. But yet, AP courses are "all that." It's a mystery why a class that ends in a high-stakes, one and done test that may well not result in college credit carries so much glow.

At any rate, I have three weeks to not get into the edu-drama. I can enjoy the summer, even if it's cold and wet.

Have a good day!

C