Sunday, April 5, 2020

Full Switch to Canvas

Good afternoon!

To try and make things easier for students and parents to find, I'm going to be switching all communication to CANVAS.

Please check CANVAS daily for important announcements and assignments for our course.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

AP MIcro Notebooks from Last Semester

Good evening!

Last night I realized that since I won't be seeing any of you before the AP test, you won't be able to get your notebooks from last semester as planned. That being said, the purpose of those notebooks was to have all the AP content in one, easy to review, space. Because they will be super-helpful when we transition from AP Govt to reviewing AP Micro, I'm willing to do drop offs to your house. Obviously I can't knock or ring the doorbell to give them to you face-to-face, but I am totally willing to drop them on your doorstep at some point next week.

Although I have everyone's address on file through Aeries and technically could start dropping them off to those addresses, I want to respect all of your personal privacy and health concerns (at this point nobody in my house has had any sickness or symptoms). I will only do drop offs to those of you who request one. If you would like me to drop off your notebook please email me (anesper@smjuhsd.org) with your current address.

Of course, let me know if you have any questions.

Mr. Nesper

Monday, March 30, 2020

Week at a Glance 3/30-4/3

Hi all,

Wanted to give you an overview of what to expect and what to focus on during the upcoming week:
  1. Complete Khan Academy Unit 1 "Foundation of Democracy" Assignments by Friday (4/3) - Excellent job to those of you who have already finished!! These videos/assignments are preparing you for the Unit 1 Test
  2. Take the Unit 1 Test on College Board My AP Classroom (Links to an external site.) - For those of you who finish the Khan Academy early, I'll open the testing window on April 1st and it will close on April 5th at 11:59pm. The test is comprised of MC and FRQ questions. You need to take the test seriously but it is a practice test. It will take you a while (I believe it will allow you to take the test in multiple sittings). Incorrect responses will give you explanations that you can learn from (take notes!!). Seriously...this is going to help you assess where you're at at being prepared for the AP test. How you do will give you feedback on what topics you'll need to focus on during last minute review. 
    • When taking the test you are forced to use a Lockdown Browser by the college board. Be sure to install it on your device before starting. Here is a How to Guide (Links to an external site.) if you're having trouble.
  3. On Friday, the College Board is releasing the rest of the details about the revised AP tests. This will include information about how and when you'll take the test as well as additional resources that they will provide to help all students get better prepared. After I have a chance to review their update, I'll schedule a class Zoom meeting for next week and we'll chat through it all so we're all on the same page. 
As usual, send me an email if you have any questions

P.S. On a side note, next week will be very similar...finish Khan Academy Unit 2 and take Unit 2 Test.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

"Mastery Goal" and Upcoming Unit Tests

Good afternoon!

Wanted to send you all a quick update that I've set a "Mastery Goal" for our AP Govt Khan Academy course. You will need to complete the course by April 17th (at that point, we'll start reviewing Microeconomics to get you ready for that test).  I'll also be assigning some practice tests on the College Board site for each Unit that will be on the AP exam...more on that next week.
Here's a goal I would set for yourself for next week:
  1. Get through the Unit 1 "Foundations of American democracy" videos/assignments on Khan Academy...by the end of the week I'll assign the Unit 1 test on the college board.
Expect the following weeks to be similar...get through Khan Academy Unit 2...test on Unit 2 at the end of the week.

As always, I'm here to help, so don't hesitate to send me an email.
Hope you're all doing well...miss getting to see you all in person and have personal interaction (I officially hate online teaching...don't tell anyone).

Sunday, March 22, 2020

The latest...

Wanted to check in and make sure that you all have signed up for our Khan Academy class at https://www.khanacademy.org/join/7J8HKKKZ

As of Friday, our district has asked us teachers to make sure all students "that learning expectations are increasing as the re-opening of school gets pushed off indefinitely."

In addition, teachers have been asked to assign content and "begin to document the level of completion and/or participation of your students."

Your Khan Academy lessons and assignments are what I'll be using as data to send administration. Please be sure to log on and make progress.

I'll be sending more info out as soon as I get it. In the meantime, please let me know if  you have any questions.


Friday, March 20, 2020

AP Exams Updates AND Khan Academy

Good morning, class!
Hope you all are staying healthy and sane during these crazy times.
I have some great news for a change! The AP College Board has made some decisions about AP testing that are very fair. Just announced today, they are giving students an at home testing option, lessening the course content that will best tested and developing tons of online learning resources to help you review and get ready to take the test. 
All the details haven't been worked out yet but you can get a sense of what they're thinking of doing by reading the following two explainers:
I'm still digesting all that they are indicating but I'll be sure to let you know more over the next week. Best news is that we've already covered 95% of what will be on the revised AP US Gov test and 100% of what will be on the Micro exam. 
Again, I'll keep you posted on more info as it comes in and I'll make sure to break down what you can do to get yourself prepared!
If you have any questions, send me an email at anesper@smjuhsd.org


ALSO...I'VE UPDATED THE KHAN ACADEMY COURSE TO NOW ONLY HAVE ASSIGNMENTS ABOUT THE TOPICS THAT WILL BE COVERED ON THE REVISED AP EXAM.

IF YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP YET, USE THIS LINK...https://www.khanacademy.org/join/7J8HKKKZ

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Planet Money Podcast

Planet Money

Planet Money


Interested in learning more about all the crazy economics surrounding the coronavirus crisis...check out the Planet Money Podcast. It is, by far, my favorite way to learn about economics in the news.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!