Monday, April 6, 2009

Personal Vent: Preparing for the Exam & Audit

I know I often come across as very glib and silly when it comes to my own reading materials and what I do, but there is another side of me that hasn't been fully expressed. This evening (up until 10 minutes ago), I spent several hours pouring over my syllabus so that I could revise a previous syllabus that needs to be resubmitted to the AP board for approval. It's had me rather paralyzed, as I was really unsure about how to outline all I would be teaching over the course of the year. It's SO much work! The other thing that has had me flummoxed about this entire process is how much I have had to shift and change to meet the needs of my students! Just to make myself feel better though, can I please outline what I will have covered (in brief) so that I can at least say I've worked my A@# off?!?

  • "A&P," "Araby," "A Modest Proposal," "Yellow Wallpaper," "A Rose for Emily," & various other short stories and articles.
  • The Doll's House and Hamlet--both plays.
  • Don Quijote, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and The Awakening for novels, along with two "required" novels from the AP list--per term--for individual book reports, equalling nine to ten novels read.
  • Canterbury Tales, "Tyger," "Ozymandias," "Rape of the Lock," "Kubla Khan," "Digging," along with over twenty or thirty other poems brought together in a project.
These literary works don't even include the literary essays, historical documents, current events, and other pieces I brought into class to supplement & make timely all that we've read or done in class. Then top it off with literary, poetic, and writing terms that they have learned; papers, in-class writings, and projects they've completed; and practice exams, creative projects, and interviews I've held with them one on one. All this we've covered while balancing all that high school has to offer a student through clubs and extra -curricular activities.

Sigh...can I PLEASE just pass this silly audit and quit being paralyzed over the fear of it all? Wish me luck. I turn my revised audit in Monday or Tuesday.

Oh, did I mention that I teach another entire curriculum over World Literature??? I really love teaching, but have to say that after reviewing the year, it all seems a bit overwhelming!

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