AP Reading is Completed

Sorry for the Glitch...

Sorry that I did not live up to my blogging promise from the reading this year. I had a glitch with my laptop that was not repairable until I returned home. I didn't mean to leave you hanging...sorry!!!! The picture to the left is one of the incredible sunrises on Daytona Beach. The majesty of these events seemed to be outdone with each and every new day.

The reading went very well this year. We finished the entire project about 1/2 day early! Now that is smooth work. The thousands and thousands of essays were completely graded and we had an afternoon to enjoy the beach and the local shops and restaurants.

Monday was a bit of a sad day for me. My schedule for the next couple of years will not allow me to return to the reading, so I had to spend some time saying good bye to friends I have enjoyed for the last 8 years. I must say that life long friendships are developed at the AP Readings. I continually communicate with three or four people in particular that I have graded with over the years. Even this year, in my last year, I met some very interesting people that I really regret not getting to know over the years.

Again this year, as every year, the informal sharing with some of the best teachers in the nation was a real privilege. You would think that after 25 years of teaching I would know it all (ha ha) but again this year I picked up several great ideas for teaching AP from conversations in the evening. I would really like to try some of these ideas next year, and I will give you some specifics on them at the start of the year in my early blogs and then let you know how they work out as time goes by.

I did meet several Hippocampus Government users at the reading this year. I enjoyed hearing their feedback, both good and bad, and intend on passing the information on to MITE. One user in particular was an old friend from the Colorado grading who wasn't aware I was involved with Hippocampus and had not been a reader of my blog (HMMM!) She was telling me how great Hippocampus was and shocked to hear I was involved with it.

In general, the food was great this year. Grading AP can be a bit like being on a cruise...they really feed you and if you aren't careful you can gain a ton during the reading. On Monday night to celebrate the completion of the reading we had a Prime Rib dinner complete with all the trimmings including incredible cheesecake for dessert. The travel arrangements this year were the smoothest since I have been doing AP Reading...all arrangements were made online and the travel service really outdid themselves on getting the best flights for us.

Rumor has it that we will be in Daytona Beach for one more year. Next year the Comparative Government Reading, which has traditionally been with US Politics, is moving to Kansas City. Rumor also spread that in two years APGOPO will join them there...this is totally unofficial so don't bank on it, but many readers would like to try a new local just for the change of scenery. KC is a great town with tons to do in the evening! We will have to see. Again, this is speculation, nothing official on APGOPO was said by ETS.

I hope you all enjoy your summers. I expect to begin this blog back up in August, so look for new entries then. I intend on doing a great deal of bike riding, camping, fishing, reading, and relaxing and getting my reserves filled for another great year of teaching. Until then.......