Day 50

Student Contribution by Annonymous

Overview of the Period

To begin class, the students watched a short video that portrayed Dora the Explorer as a Conquistador.  As the students watched the short video, they wrote things they knew and wondered about from the video.  Most of their wonders concerned about using a loveable children’s cartoon character to depict the horrors of colonization. After sharing their findings in small groups, they wrote what they felt the video’s purpose and point of view was.  As a class they read through other classmates’ responses and tried to improve on finding the author’s point of view and relating evidence back to the prompt.

I fell that writing practice DBQ’s it is preparing me for the AP exam. I think that because it is helping me improve my writing which is important because I will be about to feel more confident on the FRQ portion of the exam. I think that I will continue to grow as a learner by setting goals and completing my checklist early in order to understand more of what we are discussing in class. 

Learning More

I would like to learn more about different cultures and how they are evolving. I find it very interesting and important to understand what other people believe in and why.

Changes Needed

One thing in class/outside of class that I don’t like that much is the video notes we watch as a part of the weekly homework. I find that that they can be a bit vague at times or doesn’t make me feel fully prepared to do the weekly checklist. I think the checklist help me improve in this class and remember more of what I’m learning. I also like that I get multiple times to learn for my mistakes however I do find it hard to complete because of the videos.

My Response

I systemitized the content the students have to learn for my AP classes. I made a series of videos that the students watch at home — most students watch them — followed by a quiz. There are review questions each week which forces the students to go back over previous information.  When I created it the intention was to move away from a textbook.  Over the years, I have questioned it’s use. While it works for some, it doesn’t work for everyone. I struggle with how to deliever the amount of content the students have to know for the AP exam. I’ve had students in the past who said they didn’t watch one video and only took the quizzes and earned 5’s. And I have had other kids watch every video and not earn that score. 

This student’s reflection is causing me to think about the whole process again. I’m thinking of asking the students for better ways or allow for some to do it in a different way.  Still scratching my head on this one.