Working on work.

At the end of this week, Thursday through Saturday, I am attending the AP conference. I am really looking forward to the conference and I am hoping to get some new ideas for AP Language. I already looked over the list to choose my sessions, and I think there are some that will give me some good information for my class. I got my AP scores back, so my wheels are turning on ways to improve my class for next year. I know I still have a long way to go as an AP teacher, so I am trying to put myself in situations where I am constantly learning. I love teaching the AP Language course, so I want to work to be the best teacher I can be for the course and my students.

Next year should be interesting. I have two classes that I already taught-- AP Lang and English 11-- and three new courses-- English 9, English 9 Honors, and Freshmen Seminar. I feel so lucky to be able to teach English 9 with Sarah and Becky. I think we will make a really strong English 9 team, so I am looking forward to planning out the year together. I am a little nervous to teach a totally new grade, it's been a while since I taught something totally new. Last year, I taught English 11 for the first time, but having already taught AP 11, I had a grip on the literature and non-fiction material. English 9 is totally uncharted territory, and it's the last core English class to add to my list. The classes I have taught to date are: English 10, English 10 Honors, English 11, AP English 11, English 12, English 12 Honors, Broadcast, and accelerated English. Next year, I will add Freshmen Seminar and English 9 and 9 honors to that list. I am glad that I have the opportunity to teach so many different classes, I think it really helps to know what other grades are doing, so you know what students have and have no covered.

So as summer moves on, I start thinking more and more about my approach to next year. Every year my one major goal is to be a better teacher. I know it's a broad goal, but it's something I strive to achieve. I think, in many little ways, I do get better, but I know I have a long way to go...and I know that even the day I retire there will be things that I could do better. So here's to doing better for 2014-2015.