Susie Gerard
Susie Gerard is a National Board certified teacher in adolescent and young adult social studies. I have been teaching AP European History for Spokane Public Schools for over 35 years, both in the brick and mortar classroom at Lewis & Clark High School and in the virtual classroom for Spokane Virtual Learning. Currently, I am teaching the course for Spokane Virtual Learning and serving as the district Secondary Social Studies Coordinator.
I have been an AP European History exam reader since 1996 and over the years have served as a question leader, a table leader, and a sample selector. I am a College Board endorsed presenter and have taught AP workshops and summer institutes since 1998. I have written curriculum modules for the College Board, along with teachers’ manuals and review guides for several publishers.
I am a member of the AP European History Test Development Committee, the AP European History Course Audit Scoring Guide Development Committee, and the AP European History Instructional Design Team. I am also the chairperson of the History Academic Advisory Committee and a member of the College Board Academic Advisory Council.
I am passionate about helping every student succeed and received both the Spokane Public Schools Distinguished Teacher Award and the Spokane Public Schools Equity Award for promoting racial and cultural equity and for encouraging more students to challenge themselves in AP classes at my school. I am excited about the opportunities that AP European History can provide to students, and I am very much looking forward to working with you this summer!
Course Description
Attending this AP summer institute will be a great chance to find out more about the latest updates to the AP European History course and exam and to examine new materials for the course. This institute will provide many practical resources and ideas for organizing the AP European History course and will help both experienced and new teachers prepare to confidently teach the current curricular, thematic, and skill components that launched in August 2019. Time will be spent making sure that all teachers are ready to prepare their students for success in the course and on the exam, with the latest released College Board materials and test samples being explored.
The following are some of the goals for the week:
- To understand some of the basic elements involved with teaching the AP European History course:
- AP European History Curriculum, Themes, and Skills (CED)
- Understanding the Course Requirements
- Mapping out the Year—Pacing the AP European History Course and Outlining the instructional plan by Unit and Topic in your academic calendar
- AP Classroom Instructional Resources
- Using Instructional Planning Reports
- Instructional Strategies and Tools to teach the Content and Skills in the CED
- College Board Processes
- The AP Audit
- Test Taking Strategies
- Document Based Question Writing
- Long Essay Writing
- Stimulus Based Multiple Choice Questions
- Short Answer Questions
- Student Enrollment
- Textbook Selection
- Supplemental Readers
- Resources
- Test Development
- Equity and Access
- To understand the content and structure of the AP* European History exam, and to develop appropriate strategies for maximizing student scores and to examine ways to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the content, skills, and materials in AP European History
2. To achieve an understanding of necessary course content for the course curriculum and exam by looking at sample questions provided by the College Board, examining the latest AP reading samples released by the College Board, and analyzing the rubrics for all parts of the exam.
3. To examine a variety of ways to structure the course so that students will be prepared to score well on the AP exam.
4. To acquire many resources from the instructor and from other participants to help make the teaching of the course more manageable. These will include:
- Sample test questions for the exam provided by the College Board
- Available samples from the most recent AP Reading
- College Board information concerning the themes and skills in AP European History
- Long Essay Rubrics
- Document Based Question Rubrics
- Instructional Handouts
- Instructor-prepared Classroom Resources in an instructor-created google drive
- Online access to materials provided by publishers
- Materials provided by College Board
What to Have Available for our Workshop:
Please have available any materials you will be using to plan and teach your course (textbook, supplemental materials, etc.) and your school year calendar for next year, since you will have some time throughout the week to work on planning and organizing your course pacing and units.
Agenda
Day 1
Understanding the Course, Curriculum Framework and College Board Tools: Themes, Skills, and Content, and Online Learning Resources
- Introductions and Wish List
- Orientation to our Online Workshop Format
- Equity in AP
- What’s New in AP European History? Curriculum, Course and Exam Description (CED), College Board Resources
- Exploring the AP European History Required Course Themes (CED)
- Exploring the AP European History Required Course Skills (CED)
- Exploring the AP European History Content Requirements (CED)
- AP Classroom Resources for Teachers and Students
- Reading Strategies for Students
- Internet Resources
- Using the Instructional Planning Report to identify student strengths and weaknesses and reflect on implications for instruction
- Instructional Strategies and Tools to incorporate in Lesson Plans to teach the Content and Skills in the Course and Exam Description
Day 2
Exam Format, Sample Exam Questions, Instructional Strategies, and Resources
- Exploring the AP Exam Content/Format: Overview of available practice test materials (Multiple Choice, Short Answer, and Essay sections)
- Skills and Content: What do students need to know to be successful on the AP Euro exam?
- The Stimulus-based Multiple Choice Section of the AP Exam
- Multiple Choice Strategies for Students
- Choosing a Textbook
- Document Based Question Writing Activities and Strategies
- Document Analysis (SOAPS and APPARTS), Authorship, and Attribution
- Grading of the DBQ: Using the Scoring Rubric—What do students need to do to write a successful DBQ?
- Grading of latest released DBQ Samples from the AP exam
- Converting “Old” DBQs into the “New” DBQ
- Strategies for Teaching Historical Context, Intended Audience, Purpose, and Point of View
- Instructional Strategies and Tools to incorporate in Lesson Plans to teach the Content and Skills in the Course and Exam Description
Day 3
Sample Exam Questions, Instructional Strategies, Lesson Planning, and Unit Development
- Grading of the Long Essay Questions: Using the LEQ Core Scoring Rubric—What do students need to do to write a successful Long Essay?
- Grading of latest released Long Essay Samples from the AP exam
- Strategies and Activities for Teaching the Long Essay
- Contextualization
- Internet Document Archives
- Thesis Writing Strategies
- Building an Argument: Strategies for Students
- Supplemental materials: books, primary sources, etc.
- Unit Development: Development of Units that include the New Themes/Skills/Content Requirements and the New Types of Exam Questions
- Instructional Strategies and Tools to incorporate in Lesson Plans to teach the Content and Skills in the Course and Exam Description
Day 4
Sample Exam Questions, Instructional Strategies, Sharing Session and Resources
- Grading of Short Answer Questions: What do students need to do to be successful on Short Answer Questions?
- Strategies for Analysis of Visual Sources & Using Art to Teach Social History
- Curriculum ideas: films, literature, documents, simulations, etc.
- Mapping out your School Year: Outlining the instructional plan by Unit and Topic in your academic calendar
- Instructional Strategies and Tools to incorporate in Lesson Plans to teach the Content and Skills in the Course and Exam Description
- Hub Dates
- More Reading and Critical Thinking Strategies for Students
- Creative Ideas for Teaching AP European History
- Roundtable of Best Ideas: Sharing of Developed Units and Exam Questions
- Equity in AP
- Questions/Answers
