Saturday morning reflection - the end is coming
Our seniors left the building yesterday.
They will be back next Friday for graduation rehearsal, then that evening will be their prom. But I will be gone that afternoon, heading for the 45th reunion of my original class at Haverford, where I am on the class committee.
They will graduate May 29, the day after Memorial day. School will be closed that day. The next afternoon is when my department is honoring me with a reception in honor of my retirement. That makes for a very short school week - 2.5 days of classes, although that Friday I get final fun projects and probably most of the takehome final essay exams (which officially are not due until the following Monday). That means June 2 will be the last Saturday I am still teaching students, because the by following Wednesday evening I will be in Providence for Netroots Nation.
There is no more new instruction. School days are a combination of time to work on those two remaining major deliverables, or looking at videos that we will discuss, but for which the students do not realistically have deliverables. I am also allowing time to study for high stakes state tests in other topics.
Even for sophomores, this week has seen interruptions of instruction for the last of the Advanced Placement exams, including the one for my class.
Next week sees the Maryland High School Assessments. Monday or Tuesday all of my 10th graders will sit for the exam in 10th grade English. My non-AP students will also perhaps sit for biology or Algebra. Because I am administering Tuesday's English exam, that day those students not being tested will be in the auditorium watching a play.
So this may be the last of my regular Saturday morning reflections, because the end is so near, although on June 2 I may at least reflect on the final fun projects.
They will be back next Friday for graduation rehearsal, then that evening will be their prom. But I will be gone that afternoon, heading for the 45th reunion of my original class at Haverford, where I am on the class committee.
They will graduate May 29, the day after Memorial day. School will be closed that day. The next afternoon is when my department is honoring me with a reception in honor of my retirement. That makes for a very short school week - 2.5 days of classes, although that Friday I get final fun projects and probably most of the takehome final essay exams (which officially are not due until the following Monday). That means June 2 will be the last Saturday I am still teaching students, because the by following Wednesday evening I will be in Providence for Netroots Nation.
There is no more new instruction. School days are a combination of time to work on those two remaining major deliverables, or looking at videos that we will discuss, but for which the students do not realistically have deliverables. I am also allowing time to study for high stakes state tests in other topics.
Even for sophomores, this week has seen interruptions of instruction for the last of the Advanced Placement exams, including the one for my class.
Next week sees the Maryland High School Assessments. Monday or Tuesday all of my 10th graders will sit for the exam in 10th grade English. My non-AP students will also perhaps sit for biology or Algebra. Because I am administering Tuesday's English exam, that day those students not being tested will be in the auditorium watching a play.
So this may be the last of my regular Saturday morning reflections, because the end is so near, although on June 2 I may at least reflect on the final fun projects.