Susan Gerard

My name is Susie Gerard, and I am the history department chairperson at Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington. I have been teaching at Lewis and Clark for 24 years, and have taught Advanced Placement* European History for 23. I graduated with a degree in History from the honors program at Gonzaga University in 1984 and earned a MAT in education and history in 1987. Since that time, I have earned over 120 quarter hours in my subject area. I have been a reader of AP* European history exams since 1996 and a table leader for seven years. I have taught AP* workshops and summer institutes since 1998. I was chosen as the 1998 VFW teacher of the year and received an award from the Stratmore Foundation for educational leadership in the field of history in 2000. In 2001, I received a Gates Foundation Teacher Leadership Grant which provided me with a computer lab and projection system for my classroom. In 2004, I received the Spokane Public Schools Distinguished Teacher Award. I am currently a technology mentor for my district in the field of curriculum development, and I am also teaching several district online courses. In 2007, I also earned my National Board Professional Teaching certification in adolescent and young adult history/social studies. I enjoy reading, fishing, hiking, and music and am very involved in family activities with my husband and three children. I look forward to meeting and working with each one of you.

This institute will provide many resources to help both experienced and new teachers confidently teach a course in AP* European history. The following are some of the goals for the week:

1. To understand some of the basic elements involved with teaching the AP* European History course:

   Curriculum

   Student enrollment

   Textbook selection

   Supplemental readers

   Resources

   Test development

   Test taking strategies

   Document Based Writing

   Free response writing

   Equity

2. To understand the content and structure of the AP* European History exam, and to develop appropriate strategies for maximizing student scores and to examine ways to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in AP* European History.
3. To achieve an understanding of necessary course content by analyzing the most recent AP* European History exam and looking at how the test was scored.
4. To examine a variety of ways to structure the course so that students will be prepared to score well on the AP* exam.
5. To acquire many resources from the instructor and from other participants to help make the teaching of the course more manageable. These will include:

   Sample tests from previous AP* exams

   Free response questions and rubrics

   Document Based questions and rubrics

   Instructional handouts

   An instructor-prepared CD of Power Point presentations for review and other resources

   Publishers' Textbooks

   Publishers' Supplemental materials

   Materials provided by College Board

Monday, Day 1

Curriculum, Acorn Book, how is the curriculum changing?

Test Content: Analysis of the released 2004 exam (MC and Essay sections)

Curriculum ideas: films, literature, documents, simulations, etc.

Using art to teach social history

Supplemental materials: books, primary sources, etc.

Skills and content: What do students need to know to be successful on the AP* exam?

Tuesday, Day 2

Document Based Question Writing Strategies

Document analysis (SOAPS and APPARTS), authorship, and attribution

Grading of the DBQ: 2008 Core Scoring Rubric

Grading of samples from the 2007 & 2008 tests

Wednesday, Day 3

More work on the DBQ (if needed)

Adapting the new core to any DBQ

Free Response Essay Writing

Grading of Free Response Questions (Samples from the 2007 & 2008 exams)

Internet Document Archives (time in computer lab)

Thursday, Day 4

Creating rubrics for Free Response Questions

Multiple Choice Strategies for Students

Hub dates

Choosing a Textbook

Mapping out your school year: How to cover everything by May

Development of a unit (time in computer lab)

Friday, Day 5

Share developed units

Questions/Answers

Roundtable