We talked about differentiated instruction today in the morning, then had lunch at Jack's Deli, then listened to the lawyer for an hour, and then went to three mini-sessions. I led one on Standards-Based Grading. I don't feel like I'm an expert on it, but I have lived it for more than a year now, and I could talk about it for a while and help other teachers think about how they could implement it in the future.
Today was the day before school started. After a morning of professional development about differentiated instruction, I went to my room to get ready. Instead, I wandered around, helping people with computer problems, asking for help setting up my room, helping a teacher set up WebAssign, asking for help about a few students newly added to my classes, and helping a teacher get his head around Modeling Instruction. I love these chance conversations.
Tomorrow, I'll be trapped in my room, and I'll start taking pictures.
I'm ready. I taught AP Physics 1 and 2 last year in a double period every day (90 or 100 minutes, depending on the day). They did well. They were interested and thoughtful about the material. They did well on the AP exams.
I'm set. I looked through through all my materials, making some edits. I like most of my labs. Many of my questions I assign allow great discussions. I'm excited for this coming year.
I'm scared to make the commitment to a 180 blog and make it public. There are a lot of things I could improve. So I hesitated to start this blog. But I'm often ready and set before I feel ready and set.