"Teachers need to leave the box to think outside the box"

[asteriskea]

<p>In defense of the AP, this article gives an insider’s look at a teacher’s workshop for the English Advanced Placement test. Sponsored by the CB, the AP workshops aim not only to inform teachers of updates on the AP test, but also to provide the invaluable opportunity to develop dynamic, effective classroom teaching strategies: </p>

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…Another teacher asks his students to take a released AP multiple-choice test, a wickedly difficult measure of close reading. Students raise their grades by studying what they missed and writing a rationale for the correct answer. This insures they will pay attention to why they’ve missed a question, thereby improving their score on future tests.</p>

<p>Looking at difficult multiple-choice questions led to my second conclusion: What?s wrong with most Scantron tests, including Virginia’s SOLs and others created to meet the No Child Left Behind law, is that they test facts - easy to forget and hit-or-miss in large student populations.</p>

<p>The AP English multiple-choice test measures the ability to read closely and identify tone and inference. These skills are important far beyond the test date. We all need to read memos, contracts, e-mails and letters with a high degree of comprehension - picking up subtleties that a careless reader might miss. Knowing how to interpret tone cues is as important in an e-mail as it is in a contract and could help identify dishonest intentions. It can also help us remove hostility or defensiveness from our own e-mails since reading closely leads to greater writing awareness.</p>

<p>Learning becomes useful in real life - what a concept!</p>

<p>A practical, skills-based curriculum is what makes AP English natural for open enrollment. Students are able to learn new skills regardless of what courses they have taken, so there is no reason to require a history of honors classes. It was wonderful on Friday to see so many teachers dedicated to making an “elite” curriculum accessible and engaging to all students. Realizing that everyone should have access to this program was my third conclusion.</p>

<p>By giving students access to a curriculum that values close reading and clear writing, AP classes can prepare a wide range of students for challenges in college and their careers; that is the primary goal of the AP program. Seeing the myriad gifts of 30 teachers from the far reaches of Virginia reminds me that teachers, like our students, draw strength through diversity.

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<p><a href=“Examiner is back - Examiner.com”>Examiner is back - Examiner.com;

[asteriskea]

<p>Article in USA Today features a fantastic example of a dedicated teacher going beyond the classroom and thinking outside of the box to foster critical thinking and learning. </p>

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Luajean Bryan’s algebra class is graphing polynomials on an X and Y axis. Pretty standard stuff, except they’re drawing the equations in shaving cream that Bryan has sprayed on their desktops.</p>

<p>“Why should elementary kids get to have all the fun?” Bryan asks. “Now, clear your slates and draw a six-power equation with all real roots.”</p>

<p>Earlier, Bryan used real-life scenarios to breathe life into her statistics class’ standard deviation problems. A student calculating how long a TV set might last learned that electronics manufacturers use the formula to determine warranty length. Another student figuring out attendance at an exhibition learned that event planners calculate the amount of food needed at conventions in the same way…</p>

<p>Bryan, 55, has taught for 33 years, in Decatur, Athens, Cleveland and Charleston, Tenn. She says she didn’t fully appreciate the value of beyond-the-classroom projects until she came to Walker Valley High when it opened in 2001.</p>

<p>“Before, I didn’t think I could teach with the projects without interfering with the curriculum,” she says. “But the administrators here encouraged (projects), and I saw that the students responded well. ? The learning lasts. The students connect with the material in a way they wouldn’t have otherwise.”</p>

<p>Bryan makes sure that projects don’t prevent her from teaching the curriculum. Students don’t work on projects during class time.</p>

<p>“I’m trying to get students to realize their potential, to consider things they can do in their lives that they haven’t considered before,” she says. “I get them to push themselves a little more than they thought they could.”</p>

<p>Bryan keeps a tutoring schedule that includes early morning and after-school times. If students aren’t happy with how they’ve done on a test, she has a policy allowing students to get tutoring and then retake a test to improve their grade.</p>

<p>Walker Valley High has 1,475 students, about 32% of whom receive free or reduced-price lunches, Coggin says. The school’s minority population is about 6%. Bryan has worked to make her classes attractive to female and minority students; last year’s calculus class was 37.5% minority. She also brought in a female engineer to mentor students.</p>

<p>Bryan’s efforts have encouraged more students to take higher-level math. Walker Valley students must take just three math classes, but 92% take four or more, Coggin says.

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<p><a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-03-04-allstar-teacher-bryan_N.htm[/url]”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-03-04-allstar-teacher-bryan_N.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;