government teacher advice from an ap u.s. ask me anything!

ASK ME ANYTHING! Advice from an AP U.S. Government TeacherKaren WaplesHoly Family High School | karenwaples@gmail.com

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Karen Waples

● Teacher, affiliated with Holy Family High School

● AP US and Comparative Government

● AP Exam/Question Leader, Comparative Government

● Co-author, American Government: Stories of a Nation for the AP Course

Pacing

How do you structure an in-person daily class? We have an 80-minute block. Each day contains three lessons: A lecture, some type of group work, and a wrap up. This is also true for remote learning.

Example:● Lecture on judicial review and the concepts

of activism and restraint

● Small groups prepare arguments in favor or judicial activism or restraint

● Short class debate and wrap up.

Pacing

Example:● Lecture on the Electoral College

● Pairs play Electoral College Game

● Determine winner, wrap up, discuss the impact of Electoral College on campaigns/democracy, if time.

Pacing

How much out-of-school work do you assign?

Very roughly, I assign a chapter every two weeks, along with any court cases or required documents, using the Reader that accompanies Stories of a Nation.

Pacing

What is the suggested pacing for the second semester given that it starts in January and most of my students are online?

There is a helpful pacing guide in the Teacher’s Edition.

Projects

What sorts of projects do you use in class?

● Current events

● Connecting concepts (social contract, natural rights, republicanism and popular sovereignty) to documents (Declaration of Independence)

● Debates (Federalists v. Antifederalists)

● Moot Court Arguments (Marbury and Lopez)

Projects

● Mock Senate

● Electoral College Game

● Quantitative Analysis (making graphs and charts)

● Public Policy Presentations

● Artwork (quotes and pictures to illustrate Letter from a Birmingham Jail)

Remote Learning

How do I get remote learners to stay engaged when I cannot see what they are doing, or even that they have the content open?

How do you structure remote learning?

● Call on students at least once per class period. Put their name at the end of the question.

● Email students who do not respond or ask them to stay after class.

● Put students in Zoom rooms and pop in on them during the discussion.

● Camera policy?

How do I help struggling students while maintaining the schedule?

● Rewrites and test corrections help students correct their mistakes and learn the material.

● My policy: No rewrites for students scoring an A, B or C.

● Students who score below a C get a REDO (zero) in the gradebook and MUST rewrite FRQs or make multiple-choice test corrections, for a replacement grade of 70%.

Essential Issues & Topics

What do you consider most and least essential issues and concepts to be covered? Do you have any specific assignment (strategy) for presenting some of the most essential topics?

● Unit 1: Articles of the Constitution (Article V amendment process) and the difference between separation of power and federalism.

● Unit 2: Powers and checks of each branch of government (game or diagram)

● Unit 3: The difference between civil rights and civil liberties (required court case tournament). Don’t focus on non-required cases (Obergefell v. Hodges)

● Unit 4: The difference between key terms: political socialization, political ideology and political culture

● Unit 5: Tactics of interest groups and social movements (posters about goals and tactics of key interest groups and social movements)

Teaching Controversial Issues

How can I teach controversial issues without losing my job?

● Start each week with a student-generated current events report

● Assign students a position to research and debate:

● Facts on File, Issues and Controversies

● Choices Material from Brown University

● ProCon.org

● Use the “May I play devil’s advocate”? technique.

Multiple-ChoiceQuestions

Do you have any advise as to how to conduct multiple-choice assessments online?

Is a new edition of the book going to have a test bank of AP-styled questions that can be used for summative assessments that is easier to use? Questions that students don't have access to?

● Yes! The Election Edition will have new questions in Launch Pad that can be used for assessment.

● AP Classroom also contains secure questions.

Bias

How should I respond when other AP Government teachers tell me that your textbook leans left?

Our goal: Create a textbook aligned with the CED with accurate content and ideological balance.

Our reviewers, who fact-checked and looked for bias:● The head of a university political science department

● An experienced AP teacher with a degree from Harvard Law School

● An editor with more than 30 years of experience

Bias

Although we have received relatively little criticism for bias, there has been an even amount of criticism from both the right and the left.

That’s the most we can hope for, given our political climate.

Becoming an AP Reader

● Learn more about how to accurately assess student work

● Become a faster and more accurate grader

● Meet new people

● Attend interesting professional development sessions

● Get away from home!

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/learning-development/become-an-ap-reader

HOW CAN I HELP?KarenWaples@gmail.com

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