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Preconference

 

Thursday, July 16
8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Suggested for: New and Experienced AP Teachers, AP Coordinators

AP and Pre-AP Professional Development


List of Workshops Offered on July 16

AP Coordinator: New
AP Coordinator: Experienced

This full-day workshop provides training for new and experienced AP Coordinators related to all aspects of the AP Exam administration. The workshop gives the participants a comprehensive understanding of topics, including ordering AP Exams, conducting a preadministration session, training proctors, setting up off-site testing, administering exams to students with disabilities, navigating the AP Course Audit, administering exams that require audio or video equipment, managing exam security, handling irregularities and disruptions, arranging for late testing, returning AP Exams, and calculating your school’s invoice online.

Art History: New & Experienced

Improve your art history instruction in this one-day workshop. At every AP Art History workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Art History Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Art History
  • 2007 AP Art History free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Art History Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Art of the Twentieth Century

Veteran teachers attending an AP Art History workshop also get a book that looks at a specific theme. For the current school year, the book is Special Focus: Art of the Twentieth Century. The authors, experts in twentieth century art, contribute plans that offer activities to supplement their essays. Their writings offer both insights into the relevance of art history as it pertains to contemporary issues, and ways to engage students in critical discussions. The essays include:

  • The Artist as Historian
  • Restructuring the Narrative: The Decade of the 1920s
  • The Bauhaus and Modernism
  • Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party: Inviting Women to the Table

Biology: Experienced
Biology: New

Improve your instruction of biology in this one-day workshop. At every AP Biology workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Biology Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Biology
  • 2007 AP Biology free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Biology Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Evolution & Change

The materials in this field center on the importance of evolution and its consequences. This academic year, experienced teachers attending an AP Biology workshop receive a book that will give them greater confidence in conveying to students the simplicity and incontrovertible truth of natural selection. Article titles include:

  • Joining the Scientific Community
  • What Have the Courts Said About the Teaching of Evolution and Creationism?
  • The Making of Darwin's Endless Forms
  • Resources for the Teaching of Evolution in AP Biology

Calculus AB: New
Calculus AB: Experienced
Calculus BC: Experienced
Calculus BC: New

Improve your instruction in this one-day workshop. At every AP Calculus workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Calculus Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Calculus
  • 2007 AP Calculus free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent Mathematics & Computer Science Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus on Approximation

As the science of mathematics grew, the problem of approximation became an increasing challenge. Experienced teachers attending an AP Calculus workshop receive a book on a specific instructional theme. For this school year, the theme is Approximation.

The Special Focus materials, edited by Stephen Kokoska, look at this field from various perspectives. Articles include:

  • Approximating Derivative Values
  • Approximating Definite Integrals
  • Using the Derivative to Approximate Function Values
  • Approximating Sums of Series and Values of Functions

Chemistry: Experienced
Chemistry: New

Improve your instruction of chemistry in this one-day workshop. At every AP Chemistry workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Chemistry Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Chemistry
  • 2007 AP Chemistry free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Chemistry Released Exam

For experienced teachers: Special Focus: Thermochemistry

The materials in this field center on the principles of thermodynamics, the science of why reactions happen and what drives them. This academic year, experienced teachers attending an AP Chemistry workshop get a book that explores thermochemistry. The information found in the materials can help teachers correct the misunderstandings they often see while reading the AP exam. Essay titles include:

  • Introduction to Energy and Chemical reactions - Including State Functions, Work and Internal Energy, Enthalpy-Heats of Reaction
  • Calorimetry
  • The Law of Hess, Heats of Formation, Bond Energy
  • Entropy and Free Energy
  • Free Energy and Its Relationship with Equilibrium and Electrochemistry
  • Chemical Thermodynamics
  • The Laws of Thermodynamics and Their Use in AP Chemistry

Chinese Language and Literature: New & Experienced

A one-day workshop that promotes best practices for AP Chinese Language and Culture. At every AP Chinese Language & Culture workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Chinese Language & Culture Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Chinese Language & Culture
  • 2007 AP Chinese Language & Culture free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Scaffolding Student Interaction with Authentic Materials

One of the most difficult tasks for teachers of advanced language learners is raising the achievement level in reading comprehension. This special focus material, available exclusively to experienced teachers who attend the workshop in AP Chinese Language & Culture, includes readings from:

  • Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom
  • Supporting English Language Learners

Computer Science A: New & Experienced

Improve your computer science instruction in this one-day workshop. At every AP Computer Science workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Computer Science Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Computer Science
  • 2007 AP Computer Science free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent Mathematics & Computer Science Released Exam

For experienced teachers: Special Focus on GridWorld Case Study

Starting with the 2007-08 academic year, a case study based on a grid—called GridWorld—will be a required part of the AP® Computer Science A and AB curricula. Experienced teachers attending an AP Computer Science workshop receive a book on a specific instructional theme. For this school year, the theme is GridWorld Case Study.

GridWorld provides a graphical environment for students to experiment with different types of objects, observing the ways in which programming changes affect the objects' behavior. Its design adds flexibility in the types of objects that could populate the world and in the ways they could be displayed. Authors of the material provide:

  • An overview of the grid design
  • Advice for weaving the case study in AP Computer Science courses
  • Instructional materials with:
    • Solutions
    • Teaching strategies
    • Suggestions for differentiation according to student needs

English Language: Experienced
English Language: New

At every AP English Language workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP English Language & Composition Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP English Language & Composition
  • 2007 AP English Language & Composition free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP English Language & Composition Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Using Sources

This publication, available exclusively to experienced teachers attending an AP English Language & Composition workshop, emerged from the inauguration of the new synthesis question on the AP English Language & Composition Exam. In it, students are asked to show familiarity with reading and writing about various sources. The editor draws on the expertise of seven fellow teachers to examine how sources and research are a critical part of classroom learning. Articles include:

  • Synthesis as Curriculum Design
  • Footnotes and Endnotes: The Rhetoric of Documentation
  • Vertically Aligning Research: Leading to the Research Paper
  • Synthesizing Visual Rhetoric

From this text, teachers will gain a greater understanding of conveying the details of research and documentation.

AP English Language and Beyond: An Approach to Teaching Nonfiction

Nonfiction is often considered the poor relation among the literary genres, outranked by poetry, fiction, and drama. In the world of Advanced Placement, however, nonfiction assumes a prominent place, most notably as the central genre for the AP English Language and Composition Examination and the corresponding AP course. In this workshop, we will consider the challenges of teaching nonfiction from both a literary and a rhetorical standpoint. An approach to teaching literary nonfiction will be provided and used as the basis for our work with specific texts. We will work with some short essays, along with excerpts from longer nonfiction pieces across a range of disciplines and subgenres as a springboard for analytical, interpretive and pedagogical discussions. From this highly interactive workshop, participants can expect to gain a better understanding of this underappreciated genre, as well as a number of practical classroom strategies for teaching nonfiction effectively.

English Literature: Experienced
English Literature: New

At every AP English Literature workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP English Literature & Composition Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP English Literature & Composition
  • 2007 AP English Literature & Composition free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP English Literature & Composition Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus Issue: Drama

This material, available exclusively to experienced teachers attending an AP English Literature & Composition workshop, will help your students appreciate the potential and the power of drama in their lives. The authors—all teachers—explore ways to draw students into the excitement of drama texts. Methods include:

  • Reading strategies for dramatic dialogues
  • Establishing the link between fiction and drama
  • Teaching drama through performance
  • Analyzing vocabulary and syntax to gain a better appreciation of Shakespeare
  • Considering the vividness of drama from an actor's perspective

Environmental Science: Experienced
Environmental Science: New

Improve your instruction of environmental science in this one-day workshop. Workshop materials: At every AP Environmental Science workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Environmental Science Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Environmental Science
  • 2007 AP Environmental Science free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Environmental Science Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus on Energy & Climate Change

The materials in this book, available exclusively for teachers who attend a one-day workshop on AP Environmental Science, will provide resources to supplement the units they teach on energy and climate change. The articles include activities to enable students to:

  • Evaluate their personal energy consumption
  • Compare alternative energy sources
  • Improve their understanding of the greenhouse effect
  • Practice conversion between various energy and power units

French Language: Experienced
French Language: New

A one-day workshop that promotes best practices for AP French Language. Workshop materials: At every AP French Language workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP French Language Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP French Language
  • 2007 AP French Language free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP French Language Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Reading Skills

In AP French Language courses, time should be spent to engage students in activities that improve their reading proficiency and enhance their enjoyment of reading in a foreign language. The key to success lies in the variety of reading and continuity of exposure. This special focus material, available exclusively to experienced teachers who attend the workshop in AP French Language, includes essays such as:

  • Spotlight on Technology to Improve L2 Reading Skills
  • Fomenting Revolt and Fostering Reading in the Classroom: Prévert's Le Cancre
  • Savoir Vivre et Savoir Lire: A Multidimensional Approach

German Language: New & Experienced

This one-day workshop will promote best practices in the AP German Language classroom. At every AP German Language workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP German Language Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP German Language
  • 2007 AP German Language free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP German Language Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Reading Skills & Strategies

AP Language teachers need to ensure that students are comfortable reading many different types of texts, in order to ensure that their exam performance conveys a true reflection of their language abilities. The articles in this special focus, available exclusively to experienced teachers attending the AP German Language workshop, include:

  • Reading Across Levels
  • Motivating the Language Learner through Reading: From Theory to Practice
  • Empowering Students of German to Become Successful Readers

The materials also include a detailed listing of reading resources for all levels of instruction, classroom strategies based on the most recent research findings, and best practices of experienced high school German teachers.

Government & Politics: Comparative: New & Experienced

For new and experienced teachers, a one day workshop to improve understanding of government & politics. At every AP Comparative Government & Politics workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Comparative Government & Politics Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Comparative Government & Politics
  • 2007 AP Comparative Government & Politics free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Comparative Government & Politics Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: The Nation-state in the Twenty-first Century: Successes, Failures & Challenges

Veteran teachers attending an AP Comparative Government and Politics workshop get a book that looks at a specific instructional theme. Edited by Karen Waples, the authors - university professors and high school teachers - examine the issues of the new course, which requires study of Mexico, Iran, and Nigeria. The essays include:

  • The Mexican Elections of 2006 and the Political System
  • Lesson Plan: A Comparison of Mexico and Russia
  • Analysis: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Politics
  • Lesson Plans: Using Data to Study Development
  • Effective, Interactive Teaching Methods in the AP Comparative Government & Politics classroom

This material provides in-depth knowledge beyond textbooks. It will also prepare students to use data, identify and explain trends, understand abstract concepts, and compare countries.

Human Geography: Experienced
Human Geography: New

Create greater understanding of materials leading to mastery of geography. At every AP Human Geography workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Human Geography Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Human Geography
  • 2007 AP Human Geography free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Human Geography Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Scale

Educators in geography aim to show that scale is a powerful, useful, and flexible concept in various situations. Scales affect daily lives, as reflected in the expression, "think globally, act locally." The contributors to this special focus material, available exclusively to experienced teachers who attend an AP Human Geography workshop, are high school teachers, university professors, and an independent scholar. They discuss the following topics:

  • Defining geographic scales
  • Hither, thither and yon: Using the island of Mauritius to explore issues of geographic scale in tourism, with lesson plan
  • Scale in cyberspace, with lesson plan

The contributions are meant to provide a basis for improving student understanding of the subject, particularly the flexibility and utility of the concept of scale, and its power in societies.  

Japanese: New & Experienced

This one-day workshop will promote best practices in AP Japanese Language and Culture. At every AP Japanese Language & Culture workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Japanese Language & Culture Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Japanese Language & Culture
  • 2007 AP Japanese Language & Culture free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Scaffolding Student Interaction with Authentic Materials

One of the most difficult tasks for teachers of advanced language learners is raising the achievement level in reading comprehension. This special focus material, available exclusively to experienced teachers who attend the workshop in AP Japanese Language & Culture, includes readings from:

  • Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom
  • Supporting English Language Learners

The material also provides guidance in designing lessons and materials using short stories and novels.

Latin: New & Experienced

This one-day workshop promotes greater understanding in the AP Latin classroom. At every AP Latin workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Latin Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Latin: Vergil and AP Latin Literature
  • 2007 AP Latin free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Latin: Vergil and AP Latin Literature Released Exams

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Translating Literally—A Vertical Team Approach

This special focus material, available exclusively to experienced teachers who attend the AP workshops in AP Latin, is based on a central tenet of the vertical teaming concept: an AP course really begins when the student first encounters the subject. Articles include:

  • Pre-AP Strategies Using De Amicitia
  • Translating Latin Text Literally and the Uses of a Translation Scoring Grid
  • Introducing Horace Early Can Help Later in AP Latin
  • Aeneid: 12 Leads to Use of Scoring Guidelines

Macroeconomics and Microeconomics: New
Macroeconomics and Microeconomics: Experienced

For new and experienced teachers, create greater understanding of best practices for macroeconomics and microeconomics. At every AP Economics workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Economics Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Macroeconomics and Microeconomics
  • 2007 AP Macroeconomics and Microeconomics free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Macroeconomics and Microeconomics Released Exams

For experienced teachers: Special Focus: Mastering Economic Thinking Skills

The set of materials in this collection were created to help develop the economic thinking skills of students. It is available exclusively for experienced teachers who attend the workshop. The essays cover areas critical to the understanding of macro- and microeconomics, including:

  • Marginal thinking and game theory in microeconomics, with key concepts and questions
  • Teaching about game theory
  • The Phillips Curve and exchange rates in macroeconomics
  • The short run and long run Phillips Curves
  • Foreign exchange

Music Theory: New & Experienced

Create greater understanding of music theory instruction. At every AP Music Theory workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Music Theory Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Music Theory
  • 2007 AP Music Theory free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Music Theory Released Exam

Physics C: New & Experienced

Improve your instruction in physics in this one-day workshop. At every AP Physics workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Physics Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Physics
  • 2007 AP Physics free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Physics Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Electrostatics

Given its highly abstract nature, electrostatics is one of the most difficult areas of physics to learn, and therefore to teach. Experienced teachers attending an AP Physics workshop receive a book that looks at a specific instructional theme, and this school year, the book is Special Focus: Electrostatics. The articles include:

  • Basic Concepts in Electrostatics: An Overview
  • Modern-Day Faradays: Teaching Students to Visualize Electric Fields
  • Electric Potential and Potential Energy
  • Teaching About Gauss's Law
  • Conceptual Links in Electrostatics

Each article comes with assessment questions, practice problems, and solutions

Psychology: Experienced
Psychology: New

Create greater understanding of best practices for psychology instruction. At every AP Psychology workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Psychology Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Psychology
  • 2007 AP Psychology free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Psychology Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: The Brain, the Nervous Systems, and Behavior

The theme of the materials, available exclusively to teachers who attend an AP Psychology workshop, aims to help them in the critical area of neural and brain functions. The teaching activities can readily be integrated into classes, and the articles provide background information, hints on teaching concepts, images, and data that can supplement teachers' lectures. The articles include:

  • The Brain and Your Students: How to Explain Why Neuroscience is Relevant to Psychology
  • Active Learning: Engaging the Entire Brain to Construct Meaning
  • Basic Neuroscience
  • Teaching Resource: Neurons in the Real World
  • Teaching Activity: Memory, Memory Loss, and the Brain

Spanish Language New
Spanish Language: Experienced

This one-day workshop will promote best practices in the AP Spanish Language classroom. At every AP Spanish Language workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Spanish Language Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Spanish Language
  • 2007 AP Spanish Language free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Spanish Language Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Teaching Writing

This special focus material, available exclusively to experienced teachers who attend the AP workshop in AP Spanish Language, aims to provide teachers with timely information on learning and teaching writing skills, and to offer models of instructional units that apply to best practices in guiding students to write effectively. Articles include:

  • Escribir en un Segundo Idioma: De la Teoría a la Práctica
  • A Theme-Based Backward Planning Approach to the Development of Student Writing in Spanish
  • Spanish as a Heritage Language: Issues in Teaching Writing

Studio Art: Experienced
Studio Art: New

Improve your instruction in this one-day workshop. At every AP Studio Art workshop held by the College Board, each participant receives a copy of the course's Exam Resources and Program Information book, which contains:

  • AP Studio Art Course Description Essentials
  • AP Course Audit information
  • Sample syllabi for AP Studio Art
  • 2007 AP Studio Art free-response materials (student samples, scoring guidelines, and commentary)
  • Multiple-choice questions and answers from the most recent AP Studio Art Released Exam

For experienced teachers, Special Focus: Breadth in the AP Portfolio

Breadth requires specific knowledge and skills that must be shown in the student's portfolio. Experienced teachers attending an AP Studio Art workshop also get a book that looks at a specific instructional theme. For this school year, the book looks at the critical area of breadth. The editor Steve Willis suggests the adoption of concept, composition, and craftsmanship—each having equal value. Essay titles include:

  • A Brief History of the Elements and Principles of Design
  • Artistic Inspiration to Create Breadth
  • Creating Breadth through Artistic Inspiration
  • Homelessness

 

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