Teaching in the Twenty-First Century

Almost all (all but 2!) of my students have never taken an AP course before. Our school has been open for 5 years and is growing its AP program slowly. Last year we offered 4 courses and this year I think we are up to 6 or 7. Needless to say, my students have been less than unprepared for the rigors of the course. As I discussed in my previous post, I knew I had to hit these kids hard and fast, or they would never allow themselves to work up to potential. As Matt mentioned in his comment—I have been “honest, transparent, and meaningful” since day one. I have taught them the steps necessary to complete the readings and IDs successfully. I have covered what a good ID quiz looks like and will continue to do so throughout the year so they can see what success looks like.

As in the past, I hope to use this blog as a place to reflect and grow this new course. I want it to succeed and as of Monday, I have lost 5 students and gained 1. I also have the counselor coming in to give them a bite of reality about being the top of the class here, but not necessarily with respect to the rest of the country. This will be interesting to see their responses to, as most of them are used to being the smartest, but few know what that means beyond our school walls. I teach in a predominately (99%) Hispanic school and had to fight to get this course introduced this year. I know the kids can do it, they suspect they can do it, but they have not been taught to work. School has been somewhat of a coast for most of them.

Since elementary, they have been coddled and prodded, given the right answers, or allowed to do less rigorous work because “they can’t do it anyway, why should I attempt it?” Honors courses have been less than rigorous, taught by teachers who were simply here, but not necessarily trained to teach honors. Or, they believe the kids aren’t really “honors” level because of their background. Their honors level work consisted of the exact same material as their grade level kids, but with more cutesy projects. This is the biggest block in my path. Overcoming this culture of complacency.

Juan can create a poster about Anne’s attic—what exactly does this do to further his ANALYSIS, EVALUATIVE, or SYNTHESIS abilities?

We are supposed to be an AVID district and I will be researching this tomorrow, as I know MY campus does not have an AVID class. If we are an AVID district, this school should be at the top of the list for receiving services and I could have kids taking AVID during their freshman and sophomore years in order to come to my class prepared to be expected to read and write each night. As it is, I have already sacrificed a week of content (which I admit is only half of my idea of teaching anyway) for teaching strategies (which I feel are just as important, but when preparing for a final exam that is NOT created by me and which could potentially cover anything over 500+ years of history, can become a hindrance). I will continue to do so, as my students need it. There is no point in my trying anything if I cannot support my students success, but it will be a long struggle and I am hoping my students stick it out with me.

Stay tuned for the next installment…AP US Resources I Like/Dislike