We Are Students of the World

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One of the most interesting things about AP Lang is its relevance to real world thinking and writing about a multitude of topics.

But one of the most challenging things about the exam is that it's not on any specific topic. Unlike many other AP classes, I can't teach my students the exact content of the exam they're going to take; it's all meant to be cold-read, cold-thinking, cold-writing. I have no way of knowing what issues they'll be asked to consider or what subjects their reading passages will be on. My goal is to teach them how to do the thinking so that when they take the exam, they'll be able to apply it to whatever subject they're given.

One of the keys to success on the exam is, as I tell them, "know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff." The more background information you have to pull from, and the more practice you have wrestling with ideas, the more likely you're going to be able to do it quickly and efficiently in a high-stakes environment. I have a poster on my wall that says, "Be a Student of the World!"

This is how I live my life, getting excited to learn anything new, any time, any place. And I think it's valuable, and I want to pass that thirst on to my students. But I've always struggled with how to do so effectively.

What does it look like in practice? Do I make them read current events articles and write certain responses? Do I create a REHUGO project that they do with a final product? How do I make sure they're doing this important work without assessing minutiae along the way and overwhelming myself with the load? Is it even meaningful trying to put a point value onto something so organic?

I've tried different things over the years, iterations of all of the above. But the most powerful I've found is to encourage it always, but not put any stakes on it. I use our LMS, Schoology, to create a big group for all of my sections of AP combined; I call it "Think-Pieces." I describe it to them like this:

This should be a collaborative space where we can all share things we read or see that make us want to say "Hey, check this out. This is interesting." My goal is that this year we are all seeing connections outside of the classroom, viewing the world through the lens of rhetoric, and being able to share that excitement with each other.

In our group, everyone has posting and commenting privileges (it is very similar to Facebook interface), so students can easily share an article, write a little blurb, and the class can comment on it.

A screenshot of our group, with all identifying info and student content blurred

If your school doesn't subscribe to an LMS, you can sign up for Schoology on your own, or use other sites like Edmodo or Wikispaces. You could even use Facebook or Twitter to create something similar; the particular platform doesn't matter as long as students are able to share things and interact with each other.

So you're probably asking, are there requirements? Are the points for posting? How do you make students do it? The short of it is, there aren't, and I don't.

I try to remind my classes that what they get out of a class is largely dependent on the thinking and practice effort they put in. I can guide them and provide the opportunities, but in reality their learning is going to come down to their own efforts, whether that ends up being leaps or baby steps.

Sure, some kids won't do it if there aren't points involved; this is a reality that English teachers face each time we assign out of class reading or preparation work. But the ones who truly want to learn for the sake of learning will respond to my frequent reminders of, "Hey, read anything interesting? If so, share it with our group!" And inevitably, those are the students who will be growing by leaps and find themselves most successful on the exam and in college.