It's July Fourth. In the midst of the flag waving, the baton twirling, the pageantry of the parade, and the sonic booms of fireworks I do know that tomorrow is AP Exam Score day. I am going to tell you a little secret. I am part dread and part glee. I know my kids worked their butts off this year. I fell really good about the work we did this year. I know this in spite of tweets from College Board that the scores were not as good as last year. I still feel good. But then again, I don't. There was that tweet from Trevor Packer. And I know I felt this way last year, too. And I am really nervous about those AP test questions. I have ran into quite a few scorers who told me that College Board was not accepting things that we all felt they should (especially on the Supreme Court, which was Q1.) So, again. I am nervous and gleeful at the same time. I figure there is no time like the present to quickly talk about how to receive your scores. What did I actually contribute this year?Start with what you did. It doesn't have to be an elaborate reflective essay about the things you did well, but you should be able to point out what were things that made your class different from the experiences of the 23,900 other students nationwide. I think it is important to think critically before and after about your strongest suits as a teacher. The units you did well, your classroom organization, the time you spent reviewing, how you teach FRQs, how you established relationships with students and got them over the hump, your pregame breakfast and Team AP Gov teach-shirts you made your kids wear. The field trips, the review sessions. This is what you can amplify. Then think critically about what you can improve in this hodge-podge. Sometimes you may know with precision what works and what does not, you have those exit interviews and letters of thanks and surveys to help you. You have test scores. You have anecdotal moments where you know a kid got the content. Now, remember something critical. This is what every single other teacher out there in governerdland could control. In reality, it's not a lot. Don't believe me? Let's think about what you can't control. What did others contribute this year?Here is just a short list of things that you had to overcome. I know that there are some things we can all try to influence, but let's be honest. This is all beyond our explicit control. And one more thing: The list is not all inclusive.
I mean, let's be real. This list could get a lot longer. If you are so inclined, keep adding. But at the end of the day, when folks start popping off about how well or not well their kids did, I just want you to remember that any progress you have should be done in the shadow of a 49% pass rate and a confluence of factors external to your classroom. You have NO IDEA WHAT THEIR CLASSROOM WAS LIKE THIS YEAR. Successful or not tomorrow, swing back around to what you did. Where are your victories? What can you fix? And be proud of your hard work. It's an art, and you have just finished one masterpiece, with many more to come. Happy Fourth of July.
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Jen's bookshelf: nerdcation
I want to start by thanking Mr. Snowden and Mr. Greenwald for their uncompromising dedication to giving the NSA violations air time and transparency.
I wanted to share some of the most important things I have learned from this book bef...
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nerdcation
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nerdcation and to-read
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nerdcation and to-read
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nerdcation and to-read
AuthorI lovgov. LOVE IT! I love teaching government, learning about it, debating, discussing, asking questions about government. And not the standard boiler plate questions, but the hard ones that are NOT in the books. Archives
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