If you're going to read anything today, you should read Amy Harmon's article on teaching evolution in Florida. I haven't taught high school, but I've had similar experiences teaching evolution in an introductory level college course.
Evolution shouldn't be this hard a subject to teach, but it is. It could be worse, of course. Keeping it from getting worse is the reason we spend so much time trying to deal with the narrow-minded bigots who fight so hard to keep our children in the dark.
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MAJeff here with his espresso.
In response to my post yesterday considering some of the difficulties in restaffing a course when its professor falls ill,
My professional goal since undergraduate days 20 years ago has been to divide my working hours between indoor research, fieldwork and teaching. And so I applied for my first academic job in June of 2003, shortly before my thesis defence.
Even though fall classes won't start for a few more weeks, we are already being asked to submit our spring schedules. I'll be teaching two classes, each with labs, that I will have previously taught.