About Me & My ClassesI've been teaching AP World History since 2012 and I scored AP World History essays for College Board (we call this "the Read") from 2014 to 2021.
I teach on an A/B block schedule. My classes are 90 minutes long and meet every other day for the school year (90 class days total). We start the school year very early, usually the first Wednesday of August. I typically have around 80-85 class periods before the AP World History exam, depending on when the exam is held. I try to vary my instruction between lecture, classroom activities, and skill-building experiences. I try to have one class discussion per unit. I do not use all the materials on my site and I do not cover every slide in my presentations. I introduce SAQs in Unit 0, the LEQ in Unit 1, and DBQ in Unit 3. Most of my handouts are completed IN CLASS while I lecture. I also do not generally assign reading homework. I try to teach all course content in class, in person. On a 90 minute A/B block schedule this is possible. I teach about 110 to 140 students per school year. I don't assign homework often. I could obviously teach more content if I assigned more homework, but I've found that my system works and I have a very high pass rate on the exam (and a high percentage of 4s and 5s). My students are incredibly busy after school with sports, clubs, and other activities and I have personal objections to assigning them additional work. I have students peer grade essays from time and time to keep the essay scoring manageable. I teach my students how to score essays the same way Readers are taught to score essays by College Board. I give them exemplars, a good rubric, and have them grade with a partner to compare scores. Students use numbers instead of their names to identify their essays and keep it anonymous. I currently teach at a high performing high school, but I began my career at a Title I high school where I taught for eight years. I have experienced the various challenges of working with students of differing ability levels and socioeconomic status. If you are new to AP World History . . .If you're new to AP World History, I recommend that you sign up for one of the many AP Summer Institutes available at various times over the summer across the country. These training sessions offer valuable information and resources for teaching this course from experienced AP World teachers.
I also highly recommend attending the AP Reading for World History so that you can improve your scoring quality and speed. You also get a much clearer understanding of the scoring rubrics and College Board's expectations. It's the best professional development you can get AND you are paid for your time. You can score essays from home or at the specified scoring site which is currently Kansas City, MO for AP World. |