I am really looking forward to the first cohort meeting that will happen this week. I am particularly excited because I really want to start collaborating about ways to increase technology and rigor in my AP classroom. As we get closer to December, I am starting to worry about how I can maintain a foot in the classroom, while also being at home with my newborn. Obviously, the little one gets the majority of my attention, but I don't want my classroom to suffer. I know that I have a substitute who is coming in and will continue to guide the students and keep them on track, but really I have to be sure that they have meaningful lessons that will help prepare them for their AP exam in May. I also have a goal of retaining students in the AP English program--which means I need to invest them enough to push them to take the next level of AP English.
As for my Seniors, I also want to collaborate with others about increasing the rigor and expectations of that class. In my one-on-one meetings with April, we've talked about how my senior class seems to want to take the road of least resistance. I can understand that mentality, but I can also see how devastating that will be for them next year. The option of having different types of assessment helped, but I need to figure out a way to make learning more individualized because they are relying on each other too much, and some are not putting in needed effort. I am worried that this is going to lead to me being even more frustrated and giving up on our path all together. This is not an option.
As I sit down to look at the data that I have collected in the past week (using Newsela--a current events site that measures for reading comprehension and inferencing), I realize that students still have a long way to go with their ability to read into a text. Students are so use to the surface level reading being sufficient that they struggle with the basic skill of drawing conclusions. I have got to continue to push them to grow in this area, otherwise they really won't have the basics to be critical thinkers in adulthood.
This is all for now, but I am hopeful that new ideas will be generating by Friday morning and I will see a clear path for investment, technology and rigor in the classroom!
I am glad that you are collecting real data on students' reading comprehension. We see students often have trouble understanding a variety of sources when researching their term papers at all levels. Research must truly be difficult if you not understand what you are reading. We do try and have a wide variety of sources so we can use easier sources for some students.
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