Advanced Placement Summer Institute

Drew University

Advanced Placement Summer Institute

July 30-August 3, 2012

Madison, NJ 07940

U.S. History for Advanced Placement Teachers

I. Course Description

This course focuses on the development of a comprehensive program of study for your individual class. Lessons include: methods and materials, preparation for the objective portion of the AP examination, analysis of the free response questions, an in-depth look at the DBQ, and grading rubrics. Participants are expected to plan and prepare a curriculum for the year. A variety of materials are offered to enhance this process, including sample research assignments, classroom exercises, a notebook of user-friendly documents, and a review program to help students prepare for the Advanced Placement examination. The objective is to prepare teachers for the new school year before classes begin in September.

II. Goals/Objectives

·  Teachers will learn how to evaluate student writing through development of a rubric.

·  Teachers will learn methods to enhance their students’ writing in all facets of historical writing.

·  Teachers will learn to utilize primary documents in the room.

·  Teachers will learn how to create an environment conducive to critical thinking in their classrooms.

III. Assignments/Requirements

Part 1. Complete a full year syllabus for your A.P. course of study.

a. The specific units of study from the A.P. Curriculum.

Does your school teach this as a one year or a two year course?

b. Themes for each unit.

Students should have a clear idea of the objectives throughout the year. c. Assigned reading from the textbook and outside sources.

Note the textbook, specific chapters, and ancillary materials.

d. Anticipated test dates.

Outline the examination schedule for the year.

Part 2. Create a program for systematic analysis of students’ written work.

a. Plan at least one major written assignment for each unit.

These can include:

Document Based Questions,

Free Response Questions,

or a selected research project related to the topic.

b. Devise a method where by you can monitor student progress and provide periodic assessments throughout the year.

Part 3. Develop a Review Unit in preparation for the national examination in May.

a. The teacher needs to develop a time frame for the review.

When do you want to begin the final preparation?

Have you factored in the school’s vacation dates?

What will you expect in terms of written material from the students?

b. This should have a clearly developed theme.

How will you adapt for individual needs by your students?

Mr. Cullen will provide a variety of materials, and individual support, to help students complete this assignment

IV. Required Texts/Reading

Teachers should use their district textbook as a guide. In addition, they will be expected to consult a book of outside primary sources, electronic data bases, and an A.P. Review Text. The titles and ISBN numbers will be distributed on the first day of class. They are also available via e-mail prior to the start of the seminar.

V. Grading Criteria

The assignment is designed to help teachers as they teach a one-year Advanced Placement course in United States history. The grade will depend upon the depth of preparation, the utilization of source materials, and the manner in which the teacher addresses the individual parts of the assignment.

VI. Attendance Policy

Attendance in all sessions is required.

VII. Course Schedule

July 30 - August 3, 2012

VIII. Bibliography

Teachers are expected to download, read, and analyze the course curriculum and related materials for United States History available on the web site

(http://apcentral.collegeboard.com)

IX. Other Requirements/Information (e.g. academic honesty, students

w/disabilities, completion of incompletes)

Teachers are expected to conform to the accepted standards of the university with regard to plagiarism. Those with disabilities will have all necessary modifications made to address their individual circumstance.

X. Seminar Overview:

Monday: Know Where You Are Going

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

Sun Tzu

The objective of the day is to explain the need for clear direction. Without a sense of where you are trying to go, it is difficult to keep the class focused on the endpoint.

The Learning Pyramid

The Overlay Concept

The Syllabus and Backward Design

The Ten Steps to Success

The Free Response Question

Tuesday: Patterns

Luck is the residue of design

Branch Rickey

There are patterns in the AP Examination. But the key to success lies in the course itself. (See Monday) The question is how best to use these patterns to teach a richer, more challenging course of study on American History

The Objective Examination;

Patterns

Scoring and curving the test.

Test Strategies; The group Exam

Free Response:

Marginality and the FRQ

Grade the FRQ

Progression assignment; preparation through a course curriculum

Wednesday: The Educable Moment; Creative Tension and the AP Course

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Thomas A. Edison

The issue is not lecture or student-based learning. It is teaching to your strength in order to make this course exciting and productive for the students. The key is enthusiasm. For within that simply word lies the real objective, creative tension. And it is this creative tension that we seek to foster.

The Educable Moment; The Concept of Creative Tension.

Changing the Paradigm; How to Fight in a Marriage.

Techniques and strategies to enhance the creative tension in the classroom.

Related video and audio lesson ideas

Repeto; Start again each year.

Thursday: Communication

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world

Lao-Tzu

Communication is the critical element of the A.P. history course. With this one can take a class into depth on a variety of issues. Without it, the day becomes a long, dull recitation of facts. In the first classroom, there is energy at work. In the second, students are bored, central questions and essential ideas are lost, and the exercise becomes merely the pursuit of a passing grade on the test. Today, we look at the issue of communication and how can we make it better.

Let’s begin with the idea of marginality. For as an economist will tell you, the true value of anything is to be found “at the margin.”

Marginality; The diamond-water paradox and the ‘irritant-teaching’ paradox

Gettysburg; The Triumph of Marginality

Irritants and the ‘need to win’

Body language; what messages are your sending?

Classroom geography; Distractions are irritants

The narrative grading process

Grades and grading: Use this as a tool to facilitate communication.

Antiseptic discipline

The Parent-Teacher Conference: Changing the paradigm.

Staying Sharp; the elephant in the room

The test and the test score.

The first seven minutes

“The Trail Guide.”

Friday: Success is Never Final

Success is never final.

Winston Churchill

Churchill was correct. Success is never final. We must always keep working to improve or our classroom will suffer. The question is how best to do that?

High school teaching is a combination of activities. As our student population is in a constant state of flux, to survive and thrive we must have a plan. Today’s class will explore how to develop one.

Get the class started; The Free Market Card Game

Teaching through themes: The AP Professional Development Workshop

Give the youngsters a way to focus their attention on documentary evidence; Associative learning.

Use outside resources

Remember the quiet kids; Primary documentation through music, poetry, radio and television.

The arts; “River Dance”

The quest for perfection

The lesson of “Ophelia”

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”