Conquering AP language skills for high tech, foodie hipsters from day 1, year 1 Job Alike HISD

The Meaning of Life  What do we teach? Communication.  What do we need in order to communicate? Words, structures to link them together meaningfully.

But what does communication really mean?  I send you a message I want you to understand.  You get a message you try to understand.

At what levels does communication happen?  STRONG – no effort is made by the receiver to understand, and communication can actually be interesting, regardless a few mistakes.  GOOD – very little effort is made by the receiver to understand, communication flows despite a few mistakes.  FAIR – survivor’s level. More than a little effort is required to understand. Some misunderstanding due to limited vocabulary and misuse of structures.  WEAK – no survival possible… the amount of mistakes does not allow communication to take place, regardless of the effort made by the sender.  UNACCEPTABLE – mere restatement of prompts or no attempt to use the target language

So, how can we take a student from 0 to 5?  Keep in mind from day 1 what are the topics and subtopics of the test.  Start teaching them from the very beginning.  Create in your PLCs activities that are appropriate for each level.  Forget regular and advanced students: everybody can pass the AP and get the credit for university.  Plan for your course and then sit back and relax: let the students do the work.

Activities  Reading articles  Watching the news/videos  Daily journal (prompts, pictures, pictures with prompts, comment a video) (5 minutes journal writing, 5 minutes discussion)  Reading literature  Watching movies (AP topics, introduction to literature, description, narrating in the past, etc.)  Music (for content or structures)  Making food in class!!  Skits, poetry slams, readings… You name it!

Can all this be done at any level?

Topic: Personal and public identities  Gender and Sexuality  History and Geography  Identity and Integration  Italians in the World  Language and Identity  Political Views  Society Beliefs and Personal Values

Topic: Families and Communities  Family Structures  Generational Relationships  Individualism and Solidarity  Personal Relationships  Social Benefits  Urban, Suburban and Rural Life  Youth culture

Topic: Global Challenges  Economy  Education  Environment  Food and Nutrition  Human Rights  Migrations and Borders  Politics

Topic: Science and Technology  Alternative Resources  Discoveries and Inventions  Ethics  Health and Medicine  The Internet and Its Social Impact  Personal Technology and Communication

Topic: Contemporary Life  Education and career  Holidays and Celebrations  Housing and Shelter  Leisure, Travel and Tourism  Mass Media  Sports and Fitness  Work

Topic: Beauty and Aesthetics  Architecture  Conservation and restoration  Fashion and Design  Ideals of Beauty  Literature  Music  Performing Arts  Visual Arts

Humble Humbleness opens our minds to learning, by accepting that anyone has something we can learn from. Regardless of how old we are. It also helps to respect any question we face, so that we can correctly approach it and probably answer it right.

Proud If we have a humble approach to learning, we are very likely to collect good reasons to be proud of ourselves. The balance between how humble and how proud we are will mean success in our learning. Or teaching.