Tuesdays

Tuesdays are fast shaping up to be the busiest day in my week. The most obvious change from last semester is that we're now in AP season--the AP language and composition test is in May and I am determined to prepare my 17 AP students so well that they can write a timed essay in their sleep.

Of course, to reach this point will require a lot of practice and a lot of time. Since there is no official AP English class, the AP students from both Humanities and 6th period English have agreed to meet during lunch on Tuesdays. This is great and I really do feel like I can set expectations of my AP students that I couldn't set in an average class setting (and really, this has more to do with the fact that the AP students are there of their own volition than it does intellect or capability). Still, it does make for a busier Tuesday schedule:

My first period prep time (which I used to spend sitting leisurely outside on the picnic benches during warmer days) inevitably goes toward prepping for the day's AP session, which means that I need to make copies/finish prep for my other classes before school. Let's say my Tuesday starts at 8:00. I teach 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th, run my AP session during lunch (meaning I forego lunch myself), teach 6th and then 7th... well, it depends on the week. Last week, I had a meeting during 7th.

What this boils down to is that between 8:00 am and 2:38 pm on Tuesdays (and maybe even as late as 3:30), I have somewhere I need to be and something that I need to do. My first year of teaching felt busy, but I had 3 fairly quiet periods a day in the LRC. I guess this is evidence of how we grow: days like today would have crushed me two years ago. As it is, I'm tired and I don't feel capable of prep this evening, but I survived.

Teaching gets busier with every passing year, but a teacher's tolerance for busy-ness also grows. Thank God that this is the case! And, hopefully there's a cap on how busy it gets!