Josh Maas
Josh Maas has a Master of Science Degree in Mathematics from Cleveland State University, and has a Gifted Education endorsement from Ashland University. Josh has been teaching high school mathematics for the past 27 years, and has 20 years of experience in both the AB and BC AP Calculus courses. At the present time, he teaches Algebra 1 along with the AP Calculus courses. In addition to these courses, Josh has also taught Pre-Calculus, Geometry, Statistics, and Pre-Algebra.
Josh has his own Youtube channel with over 100 math instructional videos. He is presently a member of the Chagrin Falls District Leadership Team and has designed the Curriculums for both the AB and BC Calculus courses in the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village School district, where he has been teaching for the past 19 years.
In 2019 Josh was awarded the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools Teacher of the Year award. Josh has recently joined the APSI consultant team and is excited to share and learn with like-minded educators and leaders.
Course Description
This course will focus on preparing participates to teach the upcoming AP Pre-Calculus course. We will take a collaborative approach while we discuss and explore the AP Pre-Calculus CED. We will explore the concepts and the skills that students will need to be successful on the AP test. We will also discuss a variety of teaching approaches and strategies as we design quality lessons to be implemented in next year’s classroom. Participates will learn to use the formative assessments available online through AP Classroom to measure student growth and make instructional decisions for future lessons. Participates will learn to use the graphing calculator to preform necessary operations within the level of accuracy required by the AP Scoring Guidelines. The journey we take in this APSI will prepare participates to go back to the AP Pre-Calculus classroom with the materials, knowledge, and plans necessary to have a great inaugural year.
Agenda
Day 1
- Course and Exam Description and Course Planning.
- Expanding AP Opportunities.
- Calculator skills overview
- Practice Exam: Free-Response Question #1 (Open Calculator). Unit focus 1 and 2.
- Teaching Strategies Project (Explore)
- AP Classroom Discussion
Formative FRQ Unit1 (AP Classroom Progress Check)
Day 2
- Concept exploration: Unit 1 Polynomials and Rational Functions. Rates of Change, Zeros, Asymptotes, Transformations, and Application
- Teaching Strategies Project (Discussion)
- Concept exploration: Unit 2 Exponential and Logarithmic Functions Manipulation of Expressions, Context and Data Modeling, Compositions, Inverse Functions, Solving Equations, and Semi-log Plots.
- Practice Exam: Free-Response Question #2 (Open Calculator). Unit focus 1 and 2.
- AP Classroom Discussion
Formative FRQ Unit 2 (AP Classroom Progress Check)
Day 3
- Concept exploration: Unit 3 Trigonometric and Polar Functions.
- Sine, Cosine, and Tangent, Transformations, Context and Data Modeling, Inverse Trigonometric Functions, Equivalent Expressions, and Polar Functions.
- Teaching Strategies Project (Presentation)
- AP Classroom Discussion
- Formative FRQ Unit 3 (AP Classroom Progress Check)
- Practice Exam: Free-Response Question #3 (Closed Calculator). Unit focus 3.
Day 4
- Concept exploration: Unit 4 Parameters, Vectors, and Matrices.
- Rates of Change, Implicitly Defined Expressions, Conic Sections, and Vector-valued Functions.
- Practice Exam Multiple Choice Team Test.
- Practice Exam: Free-Response Question #4 (Closed Calculator). Unit focus 2 and 3.
- Assess and Reflect.
- Instructional Planning Reports and using Formative Assessments to drive instruction.
What to bring:
Items you should have access to during the week include:
- A laptop or tablet
- Paper and pencil
- A copy of the textbook you will be using next year (if you have access to one)
- A graphing calculator
