Home again...this time from Princeton, NJ

Princeton University, Princeton NJ
Building under construction/restoration

So, have you ever wondered what happens if the readers don't finish scoring the AP exams by the end of the session?  So did I....and this year I found out.  First, they offered some overtime to anyone who was willing to work it, up to one hour per day on the last 3 days of reading, plus the morning after we were supposed to finish (if it didn't require changing travel plans).  Before you get too excited - that OT rate was not even equal to our regular hourly rate (FYI), but I did put in an extra hour and a half.  When that didn't give enough time to finish for our question, they called up some of us and invited us to come to New Jersey and finish over 2 days. I was honored to be called and invited for the "mini reading" in NJ.  I prefer to feel it's an honor and not ponder whether they hit desperation point on finding anyone willing to do it.  This rate of pay was much better too - an unexpected financial bonus to our family this summer.

I returned from SLC on Monday, 6/17, got a call from ETS on Tuesday, 6/18, made travel plans on Wednesday, 6/19 and travelled on Thursday, 6/20.  This week was shot.  I returned home last evening (6/23) from the reading, with all essays completed by the 60 or so of us that went.

Now, I don't normally mingle a whole lot after hours with the other readers at the main reading.  I pay to have a private hotel room and I'm usually so brain-fried from the reading every day that I mingle at dinner and then go back to my room and either watch mindless TV, read something undemanding or knit.  For the mini reading, we were flown into the Philadelphia airport and shuttled to Princeton, NJ where we were accommodated in private rooms at a local hotel which was on the outskirts of town and therefore seemingly "in the middle of nowhere" if you don't have a vehicle.  As a result, I mingled a lot more with my peers at the mini-reading and really enjoyed getting to know a few people better.  I think that was a definite advantage.  We read all day on Friday, 6/21 (300 essays for me), and then came back on Saturday morning to finish.  With a stellar and focused effort by everyone, we managed to finish up by lunch (about 12:30) (another 200 essays for me - there were a number of "no attempt made" essays in that number unfortunately- that did speed me up though).  That left us with an unanticipated opportunity to explore.

I went into the town of Princeton with a small group and we explored the campus of the famed University, checked out a little local brew pub (good burgers), bought some souvenir cupcakes from the winner of "cupcake wars" and a t-shirt for each of my girls and then returned to the hotel around bedtime, thanks to the hotel shuttle service.

Sunday morning, I travelled home via Charlotte, NC (a lovely airport, by the way) and am now settling back into home and the chores that inevitably need to be completed.

What did I learn from the reading this year?  First, the test is a moving target (more than I realized).  Some of the advice I've given students in the past was not good advice.  It was at the time, but isn't any longer.  For instance, in a chart question, talk about trends over time.  In this year's test, they really needed to give exact numbers or ratios from the chart itself.  That goes into the advice now.  On the complicated question that I scored, I learned that although understanding the policymaking process is easier if it is done as a "piece" - they really need to be able to break it apart fully too.  I'm not sure I have ever taught the process in the way that they wanted students to articulate this year (and neither were most of my colleagues - both HS and college).  I will improve on that as well.

I am now anxiously awaiting score breakdowns overall - and of course my own scores.  I had some REALLY STRONG students this past year.  I hope their performance reflects their strengths, but I will admit I'm more and more nervous about it as I watched this reading unfold.

Onward and upward.  I'm in the process of reviewing supplements for next year's students, and preparing for summer school next term.  I asked for a new course shell in Moodle from our tech coach and will work on organizing the summer school regular course in the next few days.  Then, I'll work on refining activities for the AP course in the fall.

Greetings from the AP Reading in Salt Lake City, Utah

I flew in on Sunday evening, June 9, for a fun-filled (o.k., exhausting) week of scoring AP Government exams in Salt Lake City, UT at the Salt Palace Convention Center.  Check-in for my single room was easy and I actually like that they put me in a handicap-accessible room - it has a lovely shower with a seat and adjustable sprayers.  My view out my window is pretty blah, but that's o.k. since I'm working from 8-5:30 every day anyway...who has time to look out the window of the hotel room.

They always feed us very well at these things, with a full buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner and two snack breaks, followed by a hospitality suite at the hotel which includes snacks and soft drinks too.   It will be amazing if I don't roll out of here - actually, I have skipped most of the snack breaks - but that's offset by ingesting the bite-sized candy at the table when I need a little sugar pick-me-up while reading about 250 of these essays a day.

I love the collegiality of the reading and meeting people who I have only "talked" with on the teacher community forums in the past.  I organized a meeting on Monday night of AP Gov teachers who are interested in flipping their classes and it went very well.  They are going to start a special thread for us on the AP community so that other teachers who are interested can also focus our talents together as we step out in this adventure.  Two of the teachers who had planned to come ended up at my table at the reading as well, and this year seems to be the first of my readings where I think I have made contacts with teachers that I will keep after the reading is over.

So, what have I learned from scoring these FRQ's this year?  Every year I learn something.  The first year, I learned that the rubrics they post are so incomplete as to be laughable.  You REALLY need to come and do this as an AP teacher for the professional development.  I have grown in my ability to successfully teach this class and in my ability to help my students become even more successful on the test.

Last year's lesson was about context.  There is so much vocabulary in AP Gov and a caucus is not a caucus is not a caucus - it all depends on the context of the question.

I tell my students to answer the question they are given - not the one they wanted - but this year I really see that playing out.  They all told me they felt good about the question that I'm scoring.  I hope their intuition is right.  So far, students are not scoring well on this question - and no, I haven't seen mine come through - wish I would!  For those worried about my integrity - I would tell the table leader to back check me if I ended up grading my students - additionally, I don't look at school codes until after I've already scored a test - but I would read every FRQ they wrote if I managed to get my student's responses in the randomized stream of folders they bring me!  I'm not stupid or crazy!

This question is about policy formation, enactment and implementation.  The real take-away that I have for my students next year (other than answer the question you are asked - not the one you wish you were asked) is that it is a banner idea to include examples if you can.  There have been many instances where a student just wasn't getting the points for the question, and then they threw in an illustrative example (even a picture diagram once) and they got the points.  Many of the best examples (here is point 2) came from current events!  So, as I get students to follow current events in the fall while they are taking the class, I hope I can convince them to keep up that habit!  Many of the illustrations that students included were from current events in the last couple of months.

That's it on my thoughts for now.  I have three more full days of reading to complete.  I am learning lots from the common errors that I see - it will help me warn my students about alligators they need to hop over!

Summer time Update 1!

I have fallen behind ... two weeks I think.  I had a goal of posting once per week.  It's summer time though, and the living is easy (quick - name the cultural reference).  Actually, not so easy around here.  We slid into the Memorial Day weekend easily, but then it got a little crazy.  My oldest daughter was working on getting a job, which has now been accomplished.  She actually was offered a second job today but had to refuse since first job considers anyone who sells any similar item to them a competitor (verbotten).  My oldest turned 19 on the first and we attended the wedding of two colleagues from Hoover High up at her parent's lake house in Scottsboro.  It was lovely, and wet.  We made it through the ceremony, but the skies came pouring down during dinner.  It was fun though....none of us was sweet enough to melt.

This week, my oldest daughter had her wisdom teeth removed - that is a miserable process, one car broke down (luckily it was a cheap fix), my husband took off for his last 2012-2013 sports season gig, my youngest turned 15 and got her driver's permit, I substituted at summer school (and am now very happy that I wasn't hired to teach it), got my school releases for my children and need to prepare to go to the AP reading.  Who said summertime was easier and more laid back?  Not in this household!

I have also embarked on the task of trying to write a textbook in iBooks Author for my students.  I am starting to get the hang of the program - now to figure out what to include and how to do so without plagiarizing anyone or anything!  My favorite feature is the ability to embed links to videos, documents, etc. for students.  That is going to come in handy - at least so long as those people leave their videos, documents, etc. up on the web in the same place they presently reside!

I have also organized a group to meet at the AP USGOPO reading in Salt Lake City to discuss flipping the APGOPO classroom (pssst....that stands for US Government & Politics).  There are presently about 15-20 of us who want to discuss ideas and activities.  I am hopeful that the number will grow after we all arrive.

Other than that, I've done a little knitting and a little reading.  I'm starting to read "Teach Like a Pirate" as part of a professional development book club with teachers from school.  Hopefully that will net some benefits for my students.  I'm also catching up on some pleasure reading at the same time...current book is "Once Upon A Tower" by Eloisa James.  I look forward to more of both types of reading.