I'll Be Back!

Please forgive me...One of the great things about teaching where I teach is there is a great amount of flexibility in what I do. That flexibility allows me to teach the way I feel is best for my students, to cover what I feel is most relevant, to assess what I feel is most important.

That flexibility, however, has one or two drawbacks, one of which I am dealing with right now. It is almost time for exams, and I need to create two exams. Now I could choose to recycle questions from previous tests, and I suppose that would be the easiest thing to do. But I choose not to do it that way because it fosters this attitude in the student that all they need to do is study questions from previous tests to do well on the final, and that, to me, does not demonstrate comprehension of, or the ability to synthesize and apply, the material.

What that means is that for the next couple of days, I may not be able to post any entries to my blog, and I feel terribly about that. I am enjoying this process, as seeing my thoughts in the blogosphere causes me to really think about the issues that I'm writing about. It is causing me to be a little bit more reflective and intentional.

What that also means is that I really ought to rethink my philosophy of not recycling questions! I'm exhausted! But if I am able to return before Monday, I will consider it an honor and privilege for myself...In any event, I will return no later than Monday, Dec. 11th.