Consultant's Course Descriptions
AP Summer Institutes at the Island University
- Consultants Name: Mr. Randy Baker
- This course is designed for new and experienced teachers.
- Course Description: The 2009 Summer AP English Literature and Composition Institute at the Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi will focus upon various elements of an AP English Literature course. “Beowulf, Chaucer and Dante,” “Hamlet and the Tragic Hero.” Oedipus and the College Admissions Essay,” “AP Comedy,” “The Metaphysical Poets,” “The Eighteenth Century and Satire,” “Ekphasis,” “The Multiple Choice Question,” and a “Simulated Reading of the 2009 AP Examination” are just a few of the units that will be presented and studied. Participants, both experienced and inexperienced teachers, will be introduced to new and exciting AP strategies that they will be able to introduce immediately to their own students. These strategies require higher order thinking and are designed to engage students and rejuvenate the high school curriculum.
- Consultants Name: Ms. Kathy Fritz
- This course is designed for new and experienced teachers.
- Course Description: The Summer Institute for AP Statistics will provide the participants strategies in using an activity-based approach. Participants will also receive examples of worksheets and activities. The specific topics and sessions comprising the institute include:
* An examination of the various textbooks, supplemental tests, and other ancillary material in developing a successful AP Statistics program.
* A review of the statistical content.
* Strategies and techniques for teaching various topics and concepts.
* The incorporation and use of technology, including graphing calculators, statistical software programs, and interactive websites in teaching statistics.
* A review of the current AP Exam and tips for reviewing for the national exam.
* Materials and resources from the College Board Office to assist in the establishment of an AP Statistics program.
- Consultants Name: Ms. Marsha Gray
- This course is designed for new and experienced teachers.
- Course Description: The focus of this institute will be targeted toward both the experienced as well as the inexperienced AP teachers. A brief overview of the topics that will be covered during the workshop include:
1. How to improve students’ AP scores..
2. What works in the classroom… as well as what bombs!
3. How to set up the AP course and get it all covered before the exam.
4. Content-specific lectures.
5. “Hands – on” activities with proven success records
A brief overview of the types of learning activities in the workshop include:
1. Socratic seminars
2. Document analysis
3. Writing Tips
4. Simulations
5. Cultural incorporation of art and music in American History
AP Spanish Language and Literature
- Consultants Name: Ms. Santos Gutierrez
- This course is designed for new and experienced teachers.
- Course Description: The AP Spanish Institute will cover both the language and the literature courses.
- This language course will focus on the five-part structure of the AP Spanish Language exam (listening, reading, speaking, writing, and culture). Participants will review information regarding the test grading system which will include practice grading of exam samples. Strategies and teaching methods for different types of students (native speakers, non-native speakers, large or small classes) will be addressed. The participants will analyze and review sample texts and materials. The Institute will be a hands-on experience. Throughout the week, participants will share in creating strategies for preparing students for the test, incorporating culture and literature in language classes, finding and using authentic materials, integrating skills and using them in class and for the exam, and any other AP related matter that may be of interest.
- The literature course will examine the structure of the AP Spanish Literature exam, from multiple-choice questions through the free-response essays, the changed exam instituted in 2003, and the specific readings on the required reading list. The participants will be able to discuss and analyze the various works on the required reading list, and to make choices adapting various sample syllabi to specific teaching needs: organizing the texts by chronology, by genre, by theme and/or by level of difficulty. Participants will share tips on textbook selection, reference books, audio-visuals and web-based learning opportunities.
- Both sections will focus on understanding the College Board Audit procedure. All participants should bring their best ideas, their experience with best practices, and lesson plans they have used successfully in the past, whether they be AP related or not, as well as texts they use.
- Course Goals:
1. To examine the format of all parts of the AP Spanish exams (language and literature).
2. To present and discuss SLA theory and practice: learning and teaching Spanish as a second or heritage language.
3. To examine, analyze, and discuss a range of materials suitable for a high school AP Spanish language and/or literature class.
4. To prepare, share, and discuss successful classroom activities and strategies, new approaches and techniques for speaking, listening, reading, and writing in the AP Spanish language and/or literature class.
5. To participate in a mock-grading session of the AP Spanish language and/or literature exam.
- Consultants Name: Ms. Kay Hammond
- This course is designed for new and experienced teachers.
- Course Description: This course will discuss the daily opportunities, challenges, and possible solutions to the English Language and Composition course. Participants will learn how to take their students beyond the requirements of the TAKS test, how to institute the additional rigor needed to elevate their students to the AP level, and how to evaluate and improve the writing of their students with the AP exam in mind. It will be a very practical and hands-on course with the attendees leaving with concrete plans and procedures for their upcoming course.
- Topics will include the following:
* Balance in the syllabus
* Reading improvement skills (close reads, critical reading and writing)
* Critical analysis of reading passages
* Grading and evaluation of timed writings with particular emphasis on the synthesis question
* Information on the AP test and the actual grading procedures of the exam
* Incorporation of fiction as well as non-fiction into the curriculum
* Importance of college-level vocabulary
- Consultants Name: Mr. Jay Harmon
- This course is designed for new and experienced teachers.
- Course Description: The AP World History Institute sessions are designed to prepare and encourage teachers in that discipline. Teachers will develop teaching ideas, receive educational materials, learn about the examination process, and share their own classroom expertise. Participants are encouraged to bring lesson plans they would like to share with others and to please leave room in their suitcases for instructional materials to bring home.
- Consultants Name: Mr. Leon Schram
- This course is designed for new and experienced teachers.
- Course Description: Statistics show that computer science in college and high school is declining. Join Leon Schram in a workshop designed to reverse that trend with an exciting newly tested curriculum. The workshop will present a detailed curriculum for Pre-AP and AP Computer Science. Topics, lab assignments, and tests will be shown in a comparison to clarify that Pre-AP and AP topics need to be taught differently. A greater emphasis will be placed on using level-appropriate graphics assignments and GridWorld Case Study assignments at every level in both courses. Lean how to interface programming with Lego Mindstorm Robotics. Participants will learn how to construct the robots and how to use both flowchart programming and Java programming to control robot actions.
- The workshop will also include techniques that greatly improve student preparation for the AP Computer Science Examination. Inexperienced teachers will learn Java concepts along with teaching techniques for many topics. Experienced teachers will learn new teaching techniques that incorporate visual programming activities with graphics and robotics. Robotics is no longer a club for nerds; learn to make it part of your computer science curriculum. The workshop will conclude with the introduction of a new computer science course to replace the AP Computer Science AB curriculum.
