Teaching Advanced Placement U.S. History at Los Altos High School: Technology Integration
I observed Gabriel Stewart’s 90-minute class on September 15, 2016. Stewart, wearing a maroon polo shirt over a muscled upper body with dark slacks, is a 19 year veteran teacher* at Los Altos High School** (and baseball coach). In this lesson, he had set aside this period to give a 75-item multiple choice test on early 19th century political and social changes during the first half of the class and then do a practice Document-Based Question in the remaining 45 minutes. The AP course is geared to the spring exam. Stewart alerts students often during this class about the importance of being aware of time in answering questions and knowing basic knowledge of the period under study. The text for the course is American Pageant by Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy.
The furniture arrangement is five rows of desks facing the front white board and teacher’s desk in one corner. Bulletin boards are filled with newspaper articles, maps, announcements and photos. On one side of the room bulletin board sheets of paper carried previous AP classes’ records in passing the AP exam (getting a three or higher).
During the test, students filled in a Scantron sheet recording their answers to such questions as
9. John C. Calhoun’s “South Carolina Exposition” was an argument for:
a. Secession.
b. Protective tariffs.
c. Majority rule.
d. States rights
23. As a cure for the panic of 1837, the Whigs recommended all of the following measures except:
a. Expanded bank credit
b. Higher tariffs
c. Subsidies for internal improvements
d. The “Divorce” bill.
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