CLASSROOM TOUR
Take a moment to enjoy looking at what my students experience inside the classroom. You will get to see the positive classroom environment I have made, the material they cover, and the projects they have done.
CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
I make sure my classroom is one in which students are excited to come into every day. My room is always full of student work, learning resources, and visuals to stimulate student engagement. I also have a classroom that is always clean and organized, so students' main focus can be on the academics. I believe that students learn and engage best with the material when they feel safe and my classroom is a classroom of positivity, openness, and excitement.
AP STUDY SESSIONS
At GPA we pride ourselves on what our students accomplish both inside and outside the classroom. One thing our students show increasingly every year is their desire to take rigorous courses. As AP students they show up to 50+ hours of after school study sessions to prepare for the AP Government & Politics Exam. It is at these sessions where they go above and beyond what is asked of them inside the classroom. It is because of these study sessions and their tireless work that they have increased AP pass rates every single year. What you are looking at is 40+ Seniors spending their after school free time taking practice tests, discussing FRQs, and engaging with government outside of the required school day.
RIGOR
Students are challenged on a daily basis in my classroom. Whether it is debating, test prep, or Socratic seminars, our students have fun, but serious fun. Rigor is one aspect of our founding REACH values. Our students and staff make sure that our students engage with college prep work from the moment they walk through our "Gates of Wisdom." Every two weeks students take an AP equivalent government test in my classroom on the content they recently learned. As you can see our students take these exams VERY seriously.
CLASSROOM PROJECTS
MARCH ON WASHINGTON
Every year the 12th grade Government class puts on a recreation of the March on Washington for Black History Month. Students are asked to portray a historical and influential African American throughout history and create a "living museum" for the school to walk through and learn.
GPA MOCK ELECTIONS
Every year the 12th grade Government class creates a school-wide election, where they research various California propositions and present them around the school. After presenting to various classrooms, students re-create what it would feel like to be apart of the voting process with protesters, registration, and voting booths. Students also are given the opportunity to register to vote during this unit. In 2019 we had 83 students register to vote in the upcoming election.
CIVIL RIGHTS GALLERY WALK
Students were assigned a civil rights hero or event for Black History Month. Along with having to write a research paper on their hero or event and the impact it had on civil rights, students were also asked to use their creative side and create art pieces based on their hero or event. After all the student's work was complete students, parents, and classes were welcome to come down and walk through our gallery.
MOCK TRIALS
In order to learn more about the Judicial Branch and justice system, students participated in a number of mock trials. These court cases required students to: play a role, dissect a case, take a stand, and participate in the court case itself.
PRIMARY SOURCE SOCRATIC SEMINAR
Students were given the Declaration of Independence to read, annotate, and discuss questions regarding the primary source document. This seminar was a "pilot/co-pilot" format, where students can work with a partner if they are ever stuck or need assistance. This seminar spanned 2 days and students used showed great teamwork, investigation, and inquiry.
VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Students we asked to read and interpret the Bill of rights and perform a "Freeze Frame" of what that particular amendment is stating and break down the amendment in their own words. Students got creative by making props and visuals to help students come to a better understanding of what our Founding Fathers meant.
QUARTER FINAL REVIEW BOARDS
Students were asked to work in groups to create a review game board for their Quarter 1 finals. Students had to create 50 review questions, a set of directions, and a creative game board to play with other classmates.
"OUT OF THE BOX THINKING"
To get to know students better, students were asked to solve a series of increasingly difficult problems that required out of the box thinking, teamwork, and skill. The main goal was to build a connection with students, as well as to teach them the importance of outside the box thinking.
To discuss the projects I have worked on, contact me today.