Classroom Roundtables
Thursday, November 6th
5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
A diverse cross-section of teachers shared refreshments while discussing innovative teaching strategies on specific subjects such as integrating pop culture into the AP English classroom, to redefining math curriculum, to using an interdisciplinary approach to tackle U.S. History.
The following topics were covered at Forum 2008:
A 21st Century Model of Science Education: From Middle School to College
Attend this roundtable for an overview of the tools being developed to prepare students for success in AP courses in science or comparable college-level courses. Gain an understanding of the structure and approach of the Science College Board Standards for College Success, the updated Vertical Teaming Guides, as well as the opportunities for Pre-AP professional development for teachers to prepare students for the upcoming revised AP courses in science.
Speaker(s): Joyce Graham, Executive Director, Professional Development, The College Board, NY; Cynthia Hamen, Senior Science Content Specialist, The College Board, NY; Marcia Wilbur, Executive Director, Content Development, The College Board, NY
Best Practices for the Foreign Language Classroom
This roundtable will provide participants with an opportunity to discuss which strategies work best to enhance student retention in foreign language courses, and which can be improved upon. Led by an experienced foreign language teacher, this discussion will present instructional strategies that have been used at all levels of the foreign language classroom to help students maintain interest in the language and encourage them to continue their studies throughout high school and college. Take part in this important conversation and help create a network of best (and worst!) practices so we can learn from, and improve on, each other’s experiences.
Speaker(s): Melina Berduo, Teacher, Vista Ridge High School, TX; Tina Dong, Teacher, Vista Ridge High School, TX
Better-Prepared Teachers = Better-Prepared Students: A Formula for Improved Student Performance in AP Courses in Science
Explore approaches to improving teacher preparation for AP courses in science and consequent student achievement in this roundtable discussion. Teachers need to attend summer institutes and workshops to learn how to lay strong student foundations before teaching AP courses, to refresh their own background knowledge, to stay current on curriculum, and to learn strategies for addressing deep-seated student misconceptions. Schools need to help teachers by providing ample time for professional development, even during the school year. Participants will engage in ways to increase teacher preparedness for AP courses in science—including activities from the science outreach program at University of California, Irvine—and review the types of professional development available.
Speaker(s): Marian L. DeWane, AP Chemistry Reader and Presenter, National Board Certified Teacher, AP Chemistry and Environmental Science, Centennial High School, ID; George E. Miller, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, and Director, California Science Project at Irvine, University of California, CA
Bringing Uniform Standards To Correcting Analytical Essays
Members of the English Department at Lexington High School faced a challenge. Most of their veteran teachers had retired and many of their replacements were young teachers inexperienced at grading analytical essays efficiently or consistently. Some new teachers were burning out from too much time spent correcting essays. Department members set out to find a way to make grading and correcting essays a more streamlined, less time-consuming process. Join this roundtable for an analysis and explanation of that process and discuss how to achieve consistency in grading analytical writing.
Speaker(s): Kathleen Coleman, AP Literature and Composition Teacher, Arlington High School, MA; Deborah Perry, K-12 ELA Coordinator, Arlington Public Schools, MA
A Discussion with the Advisory Panel on Student Concerns
The College Board’s Advisory Panel on Student Concerns brings together a broadly diverse group of high school and college students from across the
Speaker(s): Members of the College Board’s Advisory Panel on Student Concerns
Effectively Utilizing Pop Culture in the Pre-AP/AP English classroom
Popular media really speaks to students and they connect with it. In fact, the research on using prior knowledge as a way to enhance interest in learning suggests that pop culture can be used to teach writing skills and analysis of complex text structure. Many teachers have seen that using popular media in the English language arts classroom helps reluctant students learn how to pinpoint narrative structures, literary devices, and rhetorical devices as well as how to analyze text. Join this discussion to examine how pop culture can be used as an effective learning tool in helping low-socioeconomic-status students, who have little exposure to traditional texts at home, to succeed in the middle school to AP-level English classroom.
Speaker(s): Holly Durham, AP Teacher/AP Curriculum Coordinator, Spring Woods High School, TX; Matt McConn, Teacher/English Department Head, Spring Woods High School, TX
Experimental Design: How to Incorporate Effective Experimental Technique in Both Pre-AP and AP Biology
Experimental design is a protocol that ensures scientific investigations are controlled and as valid as possible. Students often do not understand how to create a valid experiment or recognize when experiments are not valid. By teaching the essential components of a controlled experiment and emphasizing experimental design in laboratory exercises, teachers can help students develop into “natural” scientists able to effectively instigate and analyze a wide variety of scientific investigations. Join this roundtable to review the definition of experimental design and examine a framework within which to teach the topic in AP Biology and in lower-level biology courses. Attendees will receive materials and lab exercises to use in the classroom.
Speaker(s): Angie Reap, AP Biology Teacher/Science Department Chair, Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School, OK
Incorporating Life Skills Into AP Economic Courses
Texas’s House Bill 429, enacted in 2005, requires high school economics classes to incorporate nine basic life skills (from writing checks to understanding loans) into the curriculum. The result: teachers of AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics must find creative ways to blend the teaching of economic life skills, which are not covered in the basic AP texts, into a curriculum that is already challenging to cover in one semester. Join this roundtable to review what one school has done to meet these requirements and discuss how it has actually enhanced the curriculum, producing students with a broader range of economic knowledge and application.
Speaker(s): Craig Weems, AP Macroeconomics Teacher, Cedar Park High School, TX
Integrating AP English Language and AP U.S. History
Because both AP U.S. History and AP English Language and Composition curricula rely heavily on nonfiction documents and essays, there is meaningful intersection between the two courses. This discussion will illustrate the positive student impact of teaching AP U.S. History and AP English Language through an integrated, interdisciplinary approach. Presenters will discuss how to collaborate effectively across professional areas, how to structure collaborative reading assignments, and how to structure English composition exercises to support both courses. Participants will review data gathered from the past four years that document the success of this interdisciplinary approach, along with anecdotal evidence that suggests a smoother transition from high school to college for students who take part in this program.
Speaker(s): Patricia Cain, AP English Lead Teacher, Pasadena ISD, TX; Barbara Jimenez, AP English Language teacher, Pasadena ISD, TX; Terry Sheehan, AP U.S. History Teacher, Pasadena ISD, TX; Toni Shuman, K-12 Social Studies Coordinator, Goose Creek CISD, TX
Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Technology has infiltrated the classroom, and our lives, in ways unimaginable just a short time ago. Consequently, teachers need to realize the importance and value of integrating technology into the curriculum. In this roundtable, teachers will discuss methods of using technology not to replace teachers, but as an effective learning tool to motivate students and promote learning in a medium relevant to their world. Join this discussion of the reasons teachers should embrace technology, and review examples of how teachers can effectively employ emerging technologies in their classrooms, from using video clips to creating class websites to coding in HTML.
Speaker(s): Melissa Noel, AP English Language & Composition Teacher, Lafayette High School, MO
Is My Math Class Really College Preparatory?
Are we adequately preparing our high school students for the types of mathematics courses they will likely encounter in college? Data collected from surveys of freshman- and sophomore-level college mathematics courses at a wide variety of colleges point to some potentially surprising answers. Are we using the appropriate technology in the classroom? Are we preparing our students adequately for the high proportion of courses that heavily weight in-class assessments? What type of class should students be prepared to take in their first year of college? Come discuss what is happening in freshman- and sophomore-level college mathematics courses and how high school classes do, and do not, prepare students for them.
Speaker(s): Michael Hutsko, Upper School Mathematics Teacher, Miami Country Day School, FL
Planning and Implementing an Effective Post-Secondary Education Course
Al Raby High School is one of a handful of schools in Chicago that provide a full-year, mandatory course for all seniors on postsecondary education, in which students learn how to research and apply to colleges. Join teachers, counselors, and other Al Raby High School personnel for a discussion of the course design and implementation process. They will offer participants their rationale for the necessity of the course, discuss its successes, and share multiple resources. Collaboration has been a key factor of this course’s success, and this roundtable will highlight how a teacher, counselor, and college preparation coach can work together with students and parents to create a course that covers all phases of postsecondary education.
Speaker(s): Lori Birenberg, Teacher, Al Raby High School, IL; Nicole Cannon, Senior Counselor, Al Raby High School, IL; Laurie Park, Post-Secondary Coach, Al Raby High School, IL
SAT® Skills Insight™: Steps to Success
The College Board has created the SAT Skills Insight tool to aid students in understanding the academic skills measured on the SAT. This helpful online tool uses examples from released SAT exams to illustrate the progression in content and process from each SAT score band to the next. High school teachers, including an instructional mathematics coach from the Milwaukee public school system, and content specialists from the College Board will discuss SAT Skills Insight and its connection to Bloom’s Taxonomy levels. Join this roundtable and hear how this valuable tool can help students succeed in high school, on the SAT, and in college.
Speaker(s): Daniel Lotesto, Mathematics Instructional Coach, Milwaukee Public Schools, WI; Robin O'Callaghan, Senior Director, The College Board, NY
Using an Interdisciplinary Forum to Promote Critical Thinking and Persuasive Writing
Students need to see and participate in interdisciplinary academic conversations to make meaningful learning connections. Bear Symposium, the interdisciplinary forum of Alief Hastings High School in Houston, is led and hosted by an AP English Language and Composition class. In each symposium, several students present researched argumentative essays, which are then reviewed by students, teachers, administrators, and college professors, all organized into mixed groups. The event promotes cross-curricular connections and illustrates the fundamental importance of critical thinking in all disciplines. Come learn various ways to implement such a forum, regardless of a campus or district’s size, resources, and demographics.
Speaker(s): Kaye Arnold, Principal/Asst Director, Adv. Academics, Alief ISD, TX; Christopher Schmidt, English Teacher, Hastings High School, TX; Lisa Stultz, Librarian, Hastings High School, TX; Mark Warren, AP American History Teacher, Hastings High School, TX
