Part TWO: A Centralized List of Exam Preparation Resources...

My last post showcased a centralized list of exam preparation resources for my AP US Government and Politics students. However, I have spent the last week working on this handout for my LSN Government students. In Maryland, all students must pass the Government High School Assessment (HSA) exam. Along with the HSA, I must give students two LENGTHY county assessments over the next month for which I will receive judgement (that is another issue...).

I have been teaching LSN Government for nine years, thus I do have a large supply of resources at my disposal. Nevertheless, I am always tweaking items and looking for new ways to help my mostly ESOL students pass this important exam. You will observe that I have posted a snippet of the handout above. This LINK shows the entire handout. I used a summary of the unit to include in the handout, along with three interactive resources for student practice-- Quizlet cards, Jeopardy Review, and Practice Multiple Choice questions. I have to admit that formatting everything took some serious time and patience.

Additionally, I posted a QR code to make these resources much quicker than typing in URLS, though I did work hard to create shortened URLs for each resources using Google's URL shortener. Not only was I able to create shorter URLs, but the shorter URLs helped me fit all of these resources into a two page (one sheet) handout. The QR code takes you to my Wikispaces website I have been using for many years. I don't update the AP resources, though the Government HSA resources are current. Along with all of the other resources I listed above, the Wikispaces site includes a Voicethread video reviewing each unit.

Even if you don't teach an HSA Government course, you might be able to use one or some of the resources I include above. Happy Testing!?!?

A Centralized List of Exam Preparation Resources...

I know what you are thinking..."what a sexy blog title"...lol. As my AP students reach the end of the year, we begin preparing for their AP exam in May. I have found that it is quite helpful to centralize all of the resources into a single Google Drive document. Students can easily find resources to help them study, while I can update the document as needed.

I began doing centralized exam preparation documents like this earlier in the year with both my AP and ESOL Government classes. Students can find review Jeopardy games, study vocabulary using Quizlet's different resources, and view a variety of review videos on YouTube. Over the course of a school year and career, we collect lots of resources. A document like this not only helps students, but they help us teachers stay organized.

I work hard to make my own Quizlet vocabulary sets and Jeopardy review games, however, the video playlists come from many different sources. Over the year, I add videos to each playlist for me to use in future years and so students can go back and study the areas where they struggle.

If you would like to see a copy of the AP US Government and Politics Exam Preparation Resources listed above, go to this link. If you would like to see a document with resources to help my ESOL Government course, check out this link.

Finally, at the end of last year my AP students took the following survey to help me determine what exam review strategies worked/did not work. As you can see from the questions and results, students were relatively pleased with the different activities they performed. You bet I will be using this data to guide my review plan this year!

I used to love snow days...

I teach in the suburbs of Washington, DC. We haven't had a particularly snowy winter, rather we have had lots of "nuisance" storms causing many days off and delays. As you know, students of all ages struggle with the start and stop of routines and learning due to delays and days off.

Nevertheless, I have been providing relatively short "flipped lessons" to keep students on pace. My AP students will be taking their AP US Government and Politics exam on May 13 no matter what, therefore I have told them many times that we will continue learning no matter what Mother Nature throws at us.

I have been using Edmodo and Remind101 to send out short flipped lessons that utilize Google Forms. I am a big fan of creating formative assessments using Google Forms as noted in previous posts. I love the fact that I can post a video, reading, or other stimulus along with questions to gauge student understanding. The data I gather helps me know where I will need to review.

Here are a couple of examples of assignments I sent to students over the last few snow storms. I have attempted to keep assignments relatively simple, yet full of important information they will need to know for future assessments.

Example 1: Checking the Federal Courts

Example 2: Learning about Marbury v. Madison

Example 3: Learning about the Bureaucracy Using Videos

Have you done similar activities with students during snow days? I would love to hear from you!