Christina Cone
Christina Cone serves as the District Social Studies Chairperson in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District in New York. She began her teaching career in 2001 and taught AP World History, as well as a Holocaust and Genocide elective course, for twenty years. Christina has served as an AP World History reader since 2014, has been a content item specialist for the New York State Education Department, and has also revised Teacher Resource Guides for multiple World History textbooks to align with the latest AP World History framework. She holds her National Board Teaching Certification and is working toward achieving her doctorate of education in Transformational Leadership. She has been selected for numerous international professional development programs such as through the Korean War Digital Legacy Foundation, the Goethe Institute, East Asia Resource Center, Fulbright-Hays and more. She also has attended many domestic programs with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the USS Midway Institute, the Teaching East Asia Institute, National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, Gilder Lehrman and with the United States Institute of Peace. On a personal level, Christina is an avid competitive cyclist and vegan baker.
Course Description
This course is designed to help new and experienced teachers gain familiarity with the AP World History Exam and framework. The instructor will address some of the key challenges of the course: coverage of the content, pacing, development of historical reasoning skills, success on the test questions, and stimulating student engagement. Participants will examine all components of the exam – Stimulus-Based Multiple Choice Questions, Short Answer Questions, the Document Based Essay and the Long Essay Question in terms of strategies to succeed on the test. We will examine the College Board scoring rubrics and will utilize them to analyze sample student exam essays. We will also explore text, visual, and Internet resources that can enhance any world history course. Lessons will be modeled which focus on teaching the skills of the course. The workshop is interactive so that teachers can replicate the activities in their own classrooms. Participants will be actively engaged in doing world history during the institute through discussions, simulations and group activities, similar to what you might choose to do in your classroom. Teachers will leave with ready-to-go classroom materials, tech tools, curriculum guides, and assessment items as well as the informed ability to develop these on their own. Participants are also encouraged to bring some of their best practices (lessons, resources, unit plans, books, films, and/or syllabi) for sharing and discussion with the group.
Agenda
Our Institute will be constructed as follows, although it may alter slightly depending on the needs of the participants.
Day 1: Unpacking the Course and Exam Description, Equity and Access, Stimulus-Based Multiple-Choice Questions
- Introductions and Expectations
- Equity and Access
- Unpacking the Course and Exam Description
- Stimulus-Based Multiple-Choice Questions
- Causation and Contextualization (sample lessons)
Day 2: Causation and Contextualization, Primary and Secondary Sources, SAQ’s
- Primary and Secondary Sources – Analyzing historical sources and evidence, searching, creating
- Short Answer Questions – Overview, teaching tips, assessing, creating
Day 3: Argument Development, Nearpod, DBQ’s
- Argument Development – Structured Academic Controversy Model
- Using Nearpod in the classroom to engage students
- DBQ’s – Overview, teaching, and assessing
Day 4: LEQ’s, Visual Analysis, Pacing, Sequencing, Selecting Resources
- LEQ’s – Overview, teaching, assessing, creating
- Visual Analysis
- Pacing, Sequencing, Selecting Resources
- Syllabus Development
- Sharing Best Practices
