Mrs. Flack takes over AP Biology

Mrs. Flack Sinopoli has taken over the AP biology class at the high school. She is teaching the class while Mrs. Farina, who usually teaches it, is out on maternity leave. Mrs. Farina is expected to be back October 29. However, this does not mean that Mrs. Farina is not in control of her classroom at the moment. She puts all grades into the grade book, and Mrs. Flack is in constant communication with her. Mrs. Flack is very grateful for Mrs. Farina’s dedication to her student’s education.

Mrs. Flack was able to take over the class because she is biology certified. Her integrated science classes were taken over by Miss McKnight. The integrated science classes are during the two periods where Mrs. Flack is teaching AP Biology. Miss McKnight teaches and grades the papers for Mrs. Flack’s integrated science classes. She follows Mrs. Flack’s directions precisely, and the students are doing very well.

More time is spent outside of school on AP Biology than on Mrs. Flack’s other classes, because there is a lot of material to grade and learn. Most of the concepts are not new to her; she learned most of it in college. It is just a matter of refreshing her memory. Because of the rigorous course, Mrs. Flack was hesitant about being able to effectively teach the material. She has never taught an AP class. The highest level she taught was called “gifted and talented” at Atholton High School in Columbia, MD. It is similar to an honors course at Hamburg.
Because of Mrs. Farina’s preparedness, she is confident and comfortable with the material. Mrs. Farina responds fast and makes a very strict, yet doable, schedule. All answer keys and background information were given to her, which allows her to give the best answer when a question is asked.

At first, she did not think that teaching an AP class would be a fun experience. She thought it would be more of an uphill battle. However, the way Mrs. Farina prepared it makes it exciting. It is a change in pace to work with higher level kids rather than freshman, and it is interesting to see the labs because in college or high school she never did anything like it. She is getting a new experience in the world of education.

Now seeing Farina’s organization, she wishes she was more organized for Miss McKnight. She realizes that when a person has not been teaching the same thing for a long time, it is harder to answer some of the basic questions. Especially when a child’s education depends on it. She is always readily available to answer Miss McKnight’s questions, as Mrs. Farina is for her.

After experiencing the class for a few weeks, she says, “The hardest part is remembering where to go during what time and juggling her clubs between two rooms.” Mrs. Flack is the junior class advisor. She has a big responsibility guiding the class officers in planning powderpuff, prom, and fundraisers. Often the officers do not know where to look for her because she is busy running between her room and Mrs. Farina’s. However, they are learning together and still planning effectively for the future. Mrs. Flack has managed her time and classes extremely well. It is truly a new experience for her.