The Curmudgeon is Me

With the completion of another bout of annual training and testing, I am certified to score my students' presentations in AP Research and AP Seminar. And, over the past few years, I have definitely become a curmudgeon in some of my online professional groups, like the AP Capstone online groups.

For example, if a post begins, "Hi, I'm a (# years experience) teacher to the subject, and wanted to try (insert their original idea or method here) to teach this source/concept. Has anyone tried this before? And if so, how have your experiences been?," I am quite likely to take a favorable view of the teacher' ask, and their attempt to try something out of their comfort zone. They're putting the work and the research in, and tapping the resources they have available with integrity. Cool. "Hey there! Here's what I have done in my experience, and here are the pros and cons that I have run into. How can I help? Please keep me posted as to how it works out for you, what you want to change after you're done, and best of luck!"

However, when the post begins, "Does anybody have a slide deck for teaching (insert source/concept here)?"

Dude.

I don't care if you're the world's classroom messiah. You are freeloading. And how would you view your students if they would do the same? These are research courses, where we are teaching the processes of academic research. Is that modeling the behavior that you wish your students to emulate?

Put in the research. Own your knowledge. Be the student you wish your own students to become.

I have become that curmudgeon of a teacher.

And I am quite alright with that.