Course Descriptions
PRE-AP courses provide teachers with strategies and tools to engage students in learning that encourages critical thinking for success in AP* and college courses. AP Vertical Teams* Guides from the College Board are provided for all Pre-AP participants.
NEW TEACHER courses are designed for teachers with three or less years of experience teaching the AP* or Pre-AP* course or those newly assigned to teach the course.
EXPERIENCED TEACHER courses are for those secondary teachers who have taught the AP* or Pre-AP* course for more than three years.
ADVANCED TOPICS courses are for experienced AP teachers who have attended multiple summer institutes. Course discussions delve more deeply into specific course content.
WEEK 1
AP* Art History – Doug Darracott: This summer institute is designed for teachers of all levels of experience. Although some areas of content are addressed, the focus of this course primarily involves pedagogical approaches that effectively engage students in the classroom. Teachers who are new to AP Art History are strongly encouraged to brush up on their content knowledge of art history so that the experience will be as useful and productive as possible. Special emphasis will be placed on formulating questioning strategies and assessing student handwritten free responses. Also, the course will explore teaching the AP Art History curriculum with a greater focus on thematic concerns. The agenda will also include time for discussions on recent changes made to the AP Art History exam.
All teachers interested in file-sharing may wish to bring an external hard drive or flash drive with 8GB or more.
AP* Biology (new teachers) – Mark Adame: Over the course of the Summer Institute, new and old teachers alike will become familiar with the AP Biology course syllabus, as described in College Boards course description publication (the “Acorn” book). This will include various strategies and hands-on activities that may help both students and teachers alike to become more comfortable with AP Biology. In addition to these strategies, teachers will be able to work with all of the twelve required laboratories for AP Biology as well as a few other supplemental laboratories.
APSI AP Biology Course Objectives
To introduce teachers to (and hopefully become familiar with):
An AP Biology course and the exam
The more difficult concepts in AP Biology
How to write a response to a Free Response
The 12 AP Biology Laboratories and laboratory write-ups
The concepts of AP Vertical Teams and Pre-AP Biology
AP Biology textbooks and multimedia resources
Teaching strategies for under-prepared & prepared AP Biology students
What participants should bring: Note taking materials
AP* Calculus AB (new teachers) – Stacey McMullen: AB Calculus for New Teachers is a course designed for teachers who have little or no experience in teaching Advanced Placement Calculus. For five days, you will wear the hat of a student and learn the content of the course along with various teaching strategies and methods on how to prepare students for success in this collegiate course. The workshop will also include how to incorporate the pedagogy of the Advanced Placement program, technology, and the internet into their teaching for a more interactive classroom. In addition, teachers will collaborate together on discovery activities, gather information from labs, and play teacher-made games to emphasize retention of the calculus. Two major themes, rigor in the classroom and student thinking, will be stressed and modeled all week. You will need to bring a jump drive, and most importantly, your energy and enthusiasm to participate in this fun-filled learning experience!
AP* Chemistry (experienced teachers) – Todd Abronowitz: The AP Chemistry institute is designed to assist AP teachers in building the foundations for success in teaching AP Chemistry. Emphasis will be placed on the rigor of the material that students need to be successful on the AP Chemistry exam. Time will be allowed for best practices and for sharing ideas as a group. Laboratory investigations will be incorporated with the discussion of the theory. Laboratory topics include kinetics, equilibrium (determination of pKa), several different methods for determination of molar masses, titrations, etc.
Topics will include the following:
• Equilibrium
• Thermodynamics
• Kinetics (non-calculator and calculator approaches)
• Electrochemistry
• multiple choice strategies
• acid-base chemistry
• reaction predictions (new format will be discussed)
• atomic structure and periodicity
• Topics to be presented will be determined by the group as a whole.
What participants should bring:
• Goggles
• Apron or lab coat
• Closed-toe shoes
• TI graphing calculator (one will be provided if you do not have one)
What participants will take with them:
• A CD of everything developed for Pre-AP Chemistry and AP Chemistry by the lead consultant
AP* Computer Science A (mixed) – Glen Martin: This course will increase the participant’s knowledge of required course content, and provide materials and techniques for use with students. AP Computer Science A topics of special interest to new teachers will be covered including the syllabus, the AP Course Audit process, and numerous sources of materials. Additionally, a broad range of APCS A topics will be covered including arrays, Lists/ArrayLists, generics, sorting/searching, efficiency, recursion, object oriented programming, AP Examination free response problems, and the GridWorld case study. Participants will also receive the latest information from the 2011 AP Computer Science Reading.
AP* English & Composition (new teachers) – Mary Stanton: This course will focus on innovative methods, activities, and assessments to use in the AP English classroom. We will discuss strategies for the teaching of AP skills, including rhetorical analysis, close reading, writing and analyzing argument/persuasion, as well as ways to bring American classic and contemporary non-fiction and fiction into the AP Language curriculum. In addition, a simulated reading of the 2011 AP Language Test will enable us to look at the methods needed to prepare our students for multiple choice section and the exam essays-synthesis, analysis, and persuasion. I also want to designate time for each of you to share your best practices, as well as the challenges and concerns you face as AP teachers. Please bring ideas, topics, and materials you would like to discuss and share.
AP* Literature and Composition (new teachers) – Pat Sherbert: The purpose of Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition is to provide the academic study needed for the motivated senior to do college-level work in high school. Since these students will be petitioning for college credit through the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Examination given each May, the content of this course is closely aligned with English course offerings in universities and colleges. In this APSI, inexperienced AP teachers will review elements and contribute practiced methods for teaching genre literature. Teachers will use the 2011 AP English Literature Released Exams to review multiple approaches to writing and to analyze close reading techniques. Using selected authors from the sixteenth century to contemporary times, participants will experience how to generate useful assignments for their students. All material will reflect the importance of understanding the literary genres of fiction, non-fiction, verse, and drama.
AP* Human Geography – Susan Hollier: This course will focus on helping teachers prepare to teach a one semester college- level course in Human Geography. Employing a blend of content presentations, effective teaching strategies, and technology, the Institute will provide an overview of the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. In addition, strategies to help students prepare for the AP exam will be addressed. All materials are updated for 2012.
Topics will include the following:
• The role literature plays in the geography classroom
• Using current events daily to strengthen critical-level thinking
• Strategies to create an exciting, innovative classroom atmosphere
• Incorporating writing methods that actually improve students’ skills
• Tap your local resources to bring the world into your classroom
What participants should bring:
• Copy of their own textbook
• A world atlas
AP* Physics – Dolores Gende: The goal of the Summer Institute is to help new teachers develop a successful AP Physics course. The Institute will focus on instructional methodologies, textbook overview, course content and scheduling, problem-solving, curriculum resources, assessment methods and the selection and planning of appropriate lab experiments. A highlight of this Institute will be learning how to implement technology in an active learning environment as suggested by the latest physics education research.
• A special session will be devoted to an overview of the development and grading of AP Physics examinations including approaches to preparing the students for the exam.
• What participants should bring
• A scientific calculator and a straightedge are required for this course.
AP* Spanish Language & Literature (mixed) – Gloria Garza:
LITERATURE: This workshop will focus on the presentation of a variety of teaching strategies employed in an Advanced Placement Spanish Literature course, as prescribed by the College Board Curriculum. A yearly course syllabus will be reviewed, as well as topics relating to the study of literary analysis. The specific works to be analyzed will include Osvaldo Dragún’s play titled El hombre que se convirtió en perro, Nancy Morejón’s poem Mujer negra, Jorge Luis Borges’ essay “Borges y yo”, and Hernán Cortes’ chronicle Segunda carta de relación. These works will be analyzed thematically and stylistically, taking into account the historical periods in which they were produced. Additionally, participants will be provided supplementary handouts based on these works for classroom use.
LANGUAGE: The workshop will be divided into two parts. One part will be dedicated to language teaching strategies employed in an Advanced Placement Spanish language course; the other will focus on cultural topics of interest and related to an AP language Spanish course. Specifically, the language segment will emphasize teaching strategies related to the teaching of the four linguistic skills, i.e., reading, writing, speaking and listening. The cultural/literary portion will focus on the use of podcasts from a number of websites, but chiefly from one called notesinspanish.com. , and selected literary works, such as short stories and poems. Additionally, topics relating to the study of literary analysis will be discussed. Participants will be provided with grammatical and cultural supplementary materials for classroom use.
AP* Studio Art – Patricia Winnard: Participants will engage in a series of new activities appropriate for the Drawing, 2D and/or the 3D design portfolio using both technology and by-hand processes. A new and updated version of Trish’s 12 as surface preparations to “build” art pieces upon will also be taught as an introduction to the activities. How to teach quality by infusing my Top Ten approaches to stimulating creativity and developing a personal voice in your students work will be the basis upon which all work is created. Tips from Trish on photographing and submitting images digitally for the 2009 portfolio will be discussed. Assessments and scoring of the portfolio looking at the 2008 sample images will also be viewed and discussed from a reader’s perspective.
What participants should bring:
1. Apron
2. Assortment of papers, paints, brushes, drawing mediums
3. Rubber gloves
4. Sketchbook
5. Hardbound used book (to be disassembled and reused)
6. Photos and Xerox color and B & W copies
8. Small hard side box
9. An ah-ha lesson plan to share
Optional (If you already have these, bring them)
1. Digital camera
2. CDs
3. Jump drive
4. Card reader
5. Laptop computer
Any other “stuff” you want to bring!
AP* World History (new teachers) – Paul Philp: The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of global historical processes and contrasts viewed against the interaction of different types of human societies. The course highlights the changes in international framework, their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge used in conjunction with leading interpretive issues, types of historical evidence, and appropriate analytical skills. Focused primarily on the past 1,500 years of the global experience, the course builds on an understanding of cultural, institutional, and technological precedents that, along with geography, set the human stage prior to 1000 CE.
This AP Summer Institute in World History is for novice and intermediate year teachers of AP World History. The assumption is that the teacher has never taught AP World History before attending this institute or has taught the course for three to five years. Nevertheless, experienced teachers are welcome and can lend their experience to the institute.
Presentation time is devoted to 50% pedagogy and 50% content. This is necessary because many teachers desire both the pedagogy of setting up and managing an AP course as well as want content specific to the new historiography of world history. Due to the new curriculum framework we will spend a great deal of time on new topics as well as new skill sets.
Each year I pick a geographic region and concentrate all studies in that region. This year we will focus on the revisions in the new curriculum framework and new regions and content added to the course including Southeast Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. We will also cover the Special Topic which is Trade in the Afro-Eurasian regions.
The four days are organized as follows: Getting Started and Geography; Structuring the Course; Writing and Essays; Taking the Multiple Choice Test; and Strategies for Acceleration, Enrichment and Helpful Hints. Mornings are devoted to pedagogy and afternoons to content.
Pre AP English M.S. (experienced teachers of PreAP) – Diana Bjornson: This Pre AP English section, taught by an experienced Pre AP teacher, delves into the introduction of analytical skills to middle school students. This workshop will explore several areas, such as novel units, writing skills, assessment writing, poetry analysis, and literary elements, and how these areas can generate thought-provoking, substantiated responses from students. Participants will also hear presentations on case-specific literature in the middle school. Age and grade appropriate activities and discussions to lead students to this type of higher-level thinking will be offered and experienced.
What Participants Should Bring:
1. Highlighters
2. Post-it Notes
3. Flash drive
Pre AP English H.S. (teachers new to PreAP) – Brook Bullock: This course is designed to give new teachers practical help in making their individualized Pre-AP classes successful. The agenda includes adaptation of Advanced Placement concepts and skills specifically for Pre-AP classes of the freshman and sophomore high school student. Participants will have opportunities to examine the AP National Standards, to analyze grade level appropriate lessons and examples of student achievement, as well as construct their own lessons for Pre-AP students.
Pre AP English M.S. (experienced teachers) – Lynne Weber: Participants in this course will learn the skills and strategies necessary to prepare middle school students for success in Pre-AP English courses. The course materials will provide participants with ample resources to anchor their curriculum and to guide the progress of their students. The workshop leader will place particular emphasis on activities involving higher-order thinking skills and student-centered teaching.
Topics will include the following:
• Close reading and annotation
• Writing about literature, including both timed and process writing
• Composition, including grading, rubrics, and writers’ conferences
• The content of the Advanced Placement English tests
• Teaching grammar in the context of writing
• Building better, more confident thinkers
• Strategies for challenging students without leaving them behind
• Using visual texts and graphic representation to aid student understanding
Text to purchase and read before the start of the course:
Please bring to the Institute a copy of Madeleine L’Engle’s novel A Wrinkle in Time. We will use the novel to practice Pre-AP techniques for teaching close reading, composition, and grammar.
What participants should bring:
• Copy of A Wrinkle in Time
• Sticky notes
• Highlighters
Pre AP Math H.S. (mixed) – Nancy Grigassy: We will focus on the mathematics prior to calculus: geometry, algebra 2 and precalculus and the importance and relevance of these courses to the Calculus AP topics as well as the vertical alignment of concepts within these courses to the Calculus AP topics. Functions, their graphs, and behavior will be explored. Graphing calculators will be an integral part of the institute. We will use TI-84 graphing calculators. Participants should bring a graphing calculator and a favorite lesson to share. This course is targeted towards both experienced and inexperienced teachers. Time will be spent discussing the new end of course exams that will begin in 2012.
Pre AP Math M.S. – Lena Walker: This course will focus on the importance and relevance of mathematics in Middle School and the vertical alignment of concepts within the courses to ensure that students will perform well in high school AP courses.
Topics will include the following:
• Use a multi-representational approach to help teachers look at problems analytically, graphically, numerically, and verbally
• Explore internet websites to enhance comprehension
• Enhance questioning techniques in writing and verbally
• Supplement and enhance teaching with activities
• Practice with TI-73 and TI-84 graphing calculators
• Introduction to the TI-N-Spire calculator
• Discuss best practices
• Discuss strategies to successfully implement inquiry-based learning activities
What participants should bring:
• A favorite project, lesson, or activity to share, (include 30 copies)
• Personal TI-73 and/or TI-84 graphing calculator, optional. Calculators will be provided
• Legal Pad, post-its, high lighters, pencils, a black ink pen
• A sweater or jacket, we can’t control the temperature of the room
WEEK 2
AP* Biology (experienced teachers) – Amy Cote: This course is designed for experienced teachers, those with 5 or more years of AP Biology experience. During this week, teachers will explore the new curriculum framework, labs, exam, and audit syllabus. Additionally, teachers will explore ways to take the “old” and/or “cookbook” labs and make them more inquiry based. Time will be provided to practice teaching in an inquiry classroom and sharing inquiry based activities.
Participants will be given an opportunity to become familiar with advanced molecular and biotechnology techniques and the use of probeware/computers in the classroom. Teachers will also participate in field studies related to the ecology component of the AP Biology course.
What participants should bring:
Lab coat
Calculator
Favorite inquiry based activity or lab with handouts to share with fellow participants
Laptop (helpful, but not essential)
Comfortable clothing and tennis shoes for potential field studies
AP* Chemistry (new teachers) – Janice Willingham: This workshop is designed for teachers who are beginning their careers as AP Chemistry teachers. Time will be spent during the sessions on the nature of the AP program and on structuring an AP Chemistry course. Many labs are discussed and teachers are given an opportunity to do a number of typical labs appropriate for AP Chemistry. Topics that are often covered are teaching and testing techniques, periodicity, bonding, states of matter, kinetics, equilibrium, instrumentation, equations and product prediction, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry. The workshop makes considerable use of the graphing calculator and the CBL as a data collection device. Typical AP problems and essays are discussed, and strategies for enabling students to perform well on the AP exam will be shared.
What to bring:
Participants are asked to bring 30 copies of their favorite demo and/or experiment to share with fellow participants. Participants are also asked to bring goggles and appropriate shoe attire for lab work. Graphing calculators will be provided.
AP* English Language and Composition (experienced teachers) – Norma Wilkerson: This course will focus on strategies to improve student performance on the Advanced Placement English Language Test and on effective ways to incorporate nonfiction and fiction in an AP English Language class. After a discussion of the 2012 AP English Language essays and their scoring, we will focus on the synthesis, rhetorical analysis, and argument questions and ways to introduce and have students practice the skills required in writing each of these. We will also discuss the Rhetorical Triangle and David Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework and how students can use both as they read and analyze what others have written and as they research, plan, and write their own essays, including longer researched arguments. We will give particular attention to analyzing satire and paired passages and to multiple choice questions and strategies to help students respond to these with greater confidence and success.
Participants are asked to bring Post-It Notes.
AP* English Literature & Composition (experienced teachers) – Lynne Weber: Participants in this course will learn the skills and strategies necessary to prepare high school students for success in AP Literature and Composition classes. The course materials will provide participants with ample resources to anchor their curriculum and to guide the progress of their students. The workshop leader will place particular emphasis on activities involving higher-order thinking skills and student-centered teaching.
Topics will include the following:
• Close reading and annotation
• Writing about literature, including both timed and process writing
• Composition, including grading, rubrics, and writers’ conferences
• The content of the Advanced Placement test in Literature and Composition
• Teaching grammar in the context of writing
• Building better, more confident thinkers
• Strategies for challenging students without leaving them behind
• Using visual texts and graphic representation to aid student understanding
Text to purchase and read before the start of the course:
Please bring to the Institute any edition of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. If you teach a Shakespeare play other than this in your course, bring that play. We will construct a unit designed for Advanced Placement based on the Shakespeare play you choose.
What participants should bring:
• Copy of Hamlet
• Sticky notes
• Highlighters
AP* Spanish Language & Literature (new teachers) – Gloria Garza: LITERATURE: This workshop will focus on the presentation of a variety of teaching strategies employed in an Advanced Placement Spanish Literature course, as prescribed by the College Board Curriculum. A yearly course syllabus will be reviewed, as well as topics relating to the study of literary analysis. The specific works to be analyzed will include Osvaldo Dragún’s play titled El hombre que se convirtió en perro, Nancy Morejón’s poem Mujer negra, Jorge Luis Borges’ essay “Borges y yo”, and Hernán Cortes’ chronicle Segunda carta de relación. These works will be analyzed thematically and stylistically, taking into account the historical periods in which they were produced. Additionally, participants will be provided supplementary handouts based on these works for classroom use.
LANGUAGE: The workshop will be divided into two parts. One part will be dedicated to language teaching strategies employed in an Advanced Placement Spanish language course; the other will focus on cultural topics of interest and related to an AP language Spanish course. Specifically, the language segment will emphasize teaching strategies related to the teaching of the four linguistic skills, i.e., reading, writing, speaking and listening. The cultural/literary portion will focus on the use of podcasts from a number of websites, but chiefly from one called notesinspanish.com. , and selected literary works, such as short stories and poems. Additionally, topics relating to the study of literary analysis will be discussed. Participants will be provided with grammatical and cultural supplementary materials for classroom use.
AP* Statistics – Kathy Fritz: The summer institute for Advanced Placement 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:
• A review of the statistical content in the course outline.
• 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.
AP* U.S. History (teachers of AP only) – Bill Shelton: Advanced Placement United States History teachers face a monumental task of covering the subject from Pre-Columbus to the present in both breadth and depth. The course will focus on preparing to teach AP, choosing strategies for teaching content and skills, and using the wide range of resources available to teachers.
Topics
• Questions and answers about the AP program in general and AP U.S. History in particular: what goes into preparing an AP course and how the national exam is written
• The course audit and syllabus
• The 2012-13 course redesign and what it means for teachers
• The creation of and forthcoming changes in the national AP exam
• Hints for writing course description and determining course objectives
• Course units that cover political, social and cultural, economic, and diplomatic themes in U.S. History
• Textbooks and other resources
• Best practice methods for teaching content analytically
• Best practice methods for teaching skills necessary for the study of U.S. History and for taking the national AP exam: analysis, essay writing, multiple choice
• DBQ’s, what they are and how to prepare students to write them
• Practice in devising rubrics for AP essays and in scoring sample essays
• Teaching the AP U.S. History course thematically
AP* World History (experienced teachers) – Christine Bond-Curtright: This week will combine content and pedagogy geared toward successful implementation of an AP World History course. Teachers will receive instruction on teaching essay writing and document analysis with a special emphasis on the changes to the AP World History exam. Teachers will receive numerous resources; please bring an eight gig flash drive or a laptop.
Pre AP English M.S. (new teachers) – Kristina Janeway: Practice Pre-AP and AP strategies through hands-on lessons for all facets of middle school and high school English/Language Arts. Spend quality time on the smooth integration of these ideas into existing lesson plans while learning to incorporate these techniques into student writing. Discover techniques to get varied sentence structure in student writing by understanding the basic concepts of syntactical analysis through several assorted activities. Find out how to help students understand the nuances of tone and style as it relates to the author’s purpose in diction, expanded vocabulary, and syntax to improve student voice in writing. Facilitate analysis and higher analytical cognitive skills in your students while having fun but not by reinventing the wheel. A comprehensive resource list will be provided in the course materials.
Materials to bring:
Please bring the following materials:
• Highlighter
• Post-it notes or tabs
• Writing materials
• Literature textbook or a list of teaching selections
• Novels or a list of novels
• Computer if desired
Pre AP History (emphasis Texas History) – Lori Dumerer:The Pre-AP Social Studies Middle School Institute has been developed to address the needs of the various Pre-AP courses, especially at the middle school level with special attention to Texas History. Participants will focus on the content and pedagogy necessary for developing an academically rigorous course. Discussions will include strategies for improving student success in critical reading, and writing, as well as, the content necessary to create an engaging and successful course. This institute will be presented in an active learning environment. A number of the strategies will engage the attendees in the demonstration. Topics will include but will not be limited to the following: Pre-AP Strategies in History and the Social Sciences: Crafting Historical Arguments, state TEKS and test requirements, using historical cartoons to create writing and review opportunities, Texas history, U.S. history, world cultures content areas, creating rigorous test questions that align with state requirements, development of critical thinking skills, document and data analysis, and writing and supporting a thesis. During the week, the group will examine classroom resources, and online multi-media resources, and work together to develop sample lessons for all to share.
Participants should bring:
• Post-it notes or flags
• Highlighter
• A jump drive
• a copy of the state TEKS for the course or courses you either teach or expect to teach
• Options for experienced teachers, 30 copies of a best practices strategy or lesson to share during the week.
Interested parties may contact Mrs. Dumerer at dumererl@cfbisd.edu for additional information, to pose questions, or make a request for specific content.
Pre AP Math H.S.- Donna Speer: This course is designed to help teachers incorporate AP/Pre-AP strategies and concepts into their math curriculum. It will emphasize math topics such as: accumulation, area, coordinate geometry, functions, limits, optimization, sequences and series, rate of change, probability and statistics and how these topics can be appropriately included in different math courses. There will be a variety of teaching strategies including activities, projects, alternative assessments, graphing calculators, CBLs, and internet. Participants will discuss Pre-AP philosophy, resources, vertical teaming, AP exams and grading and how to get support from parents, and administrators. Participants are encouraged to bring their graphing calculator if they have one and their best lesson or activity to share.
Pre AP Math M.S. (new teachers) – Lorie Moore: This course is designed to help teachers incorporate AP/Pre-AP strategies and concepts into their math curriculum. It will emphasize math topics such as: accumulation, area, coordinate geometry, functions, limits, optimization, sequences and series, rate of change, probability and statistics and how these topics can be appropriately included in different math courses. There will be a variety of teaching strategies including activities, projects, alternative assessments, graphing calculators, CBLs, and internet. Participants will discuss Pre-AP philosophy, resources, vertical teaming, AP exams and grading and how to get support from parents, and administrators. Participants are encouraged to bring their graphing calculator if they have one and their best lesson or activity to share.
PreAP Physics – Dolores Gende: The goal of the Summer Institute is to help new and experienced teachers develop a successful Pre-AP Physics course by strengthening their scientific reasoning and inquiry skills related to physics concepts.
The Institute will focus on instructional methodologies, textbook overview, course content and scheduling, problem-solving, curriculum resources, assessment methods and the selection and planning of appropriate lab experiments.
Two highlights of this Institute suggested by the latest physics education research are:
- Focus on inquiry and modeling instruction strategies.
- Learning how to implement technology in a meaningful way.
What participants should bring
A scientific calculator and a straightedge are required for this course.
Participants are encouraged to bring labs and/or demo ideas to share with the other teachers.
Pre AP Science M.S. (teachers new to PreAP) – Shawn O’Hara: For grade levels 6-8, this course is designed for NEW teachers or teachers with less than two years experience teaching a Pre-AP middle school science course. Participants will learn how to set-up and maintain a Pre-AP program. They will be exposed to a variety of simple inexpensive labs that support the development of AP skills, the use of technology in the science classroom; effective strategies for developing higher order thinking skills, and appropriate assessment techniques.
What participants should bring:
A favorite hands-on activity, lab, webquest or project to adapt and share,
Favorite internet resources for class activities,
A blank recordable CD or stick drive, and
A laptop computer (optional).
