AP Institute Training

Tulane University in New Orleans hosted its third Advanced Placement Summer Institute this June 18-22, 2012. The courses provided a challenging and exciting opportunity for AP teachers to learn new strategies to improve their students’ AP performance.

This is an official College Board-approved APSI.

AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

During this course participants will examine the requirements of the AP English literature course, focusing on key strategies to engage students in close reading, critical thinking, and persuasive writing. Participants will investigate a variety of methods to enable students to recognize and analyze tone in both prose and poetry. Using Othello as a reference, participants will explore strategies to engender student discussion as well as individual “ownership” of Shakespeare’s heightened language. Participants will also have the opportunity to work together to develop a pertinent lesson plan to use in their classrooms during the coming year, to compare Common Core Standards to the AP English literature curriculum, to share “Best Practices” with other AP instructors, and to deconstruct the 2012 AP English literature exam

Teacher Bio:

Mary McDonald teaches AP English Literature at Enid High School in Oklahoma. She has served as a Reader, Table Leader, and Assistant Chief Reader for the AP English literature exam and is currently a member of the AP English Literature Development Committee. A Nationally Certified Consultant, she leads workshops for AP and Pre-AP teachers throughout the country. In 2007, she was a Finalist for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. A former high school drama coach, Ms. McDonald directs local community theatre productions and is co-founder and director of Enid’s Shakespeare in the Park. She received a B.A. in English from Phillips University, an M.A. in English from the University of Central Oklahoma, and trained for two summers with The National Institute on Teaching Shakespeare.

I am excited to be a student again (sometimes) and I am taking electronic notes to be shared them on this page.  I want DreAsia to know that YES some teachers are serious about their jobs and attend classes, institutes and workshops.