Reflections on First Two Years of AP Stats and Tips for Newbies

My first year teaching AP Statistics was only my second year of teaching, period. It was actually my first year of teaching with an actual teaching credential, since I was an intern teacher my first year. At the end of my first year, I was offered a .8 position because I was lowest on the totem poll (Actually, the lowest position on a totem poll is the very top, but I think you get the point) and our numbers had dropped a bit. I was told that I should expect to be full time by the time September came around, but all they could guarantee in June was .8. Our Stat teacher was semi-retired and teaching only 3 sections of AP Stats, and he was starting to have health problems. At the end of the school year, there was doubt if he would return, so I said that I would be willing to teach stats if he didn't return. At the end of July, he decided that he would officially retire, so I was told that I would be full time and teaching AP Stats. I was given one section and another teacher, who had taught one section of AP Stats a few years prior, was given two sections. I had only about three weeks lead time to get ready for school, and about half that time I was going to be in Maui (I know. To have such problems, ugh!). I also didn't know my official schedule until the week before classes started. Three sections of Algebra II, one section of AP Statistics, and one section of Geometry. That is two singletons and both were courses that I hadn't taught before.

As I mentioned, I was going into my second year teaching. I was still stuck on "I do, we do, you do" and so were the students. This is a terrible strategy for statistics! There is so much vocabulary with a lot of nuance, and so many types of problems that there is no way that the teacher actually has time to show them all. Also, by trying to fit the class to "I do, we do, you do," the students didn't really gain an appreciation for how different stats is from any other math class. The students also had very different expectations for the class than I did. The other stats teacher and I had heard that the old teacher used the same tests from year to year, and that he returned the tests to the students. This, of course, led to tests being handed down from class to class, so we committed to writing our own tests. We didn't write our own quizzes, though. We used the BVD chapter quizzes. The students figured out much quicker than I did that those quizzes and keys were online. It felt like whack-a-mole. Knock out one form of cheating only to have another one pop up. Having two teachers teaching the course also led to a lot of problems. We communicated about the course but we weren't in absolute lockstep. Students and parents complained to the administration, but didn't talk to us directly. The principal handled it pretty well, simply saying you need to talk to the teacher. That pretty much squashed their complaints since they weren't willing to do that. One of the VPs on the other hand, undermined the hell out of us. It was incredibly frustrating. I was working my ass off preparing the material, trying to engage students, and grade the assessments. The students in Geometry were the ones who should have been complaining. They were all but ignored. There was one bright moment from stats that year. There was one kid in the class that clearly stood out as the top student in the class. He did the reading, he did the HW, and he asked questions when he wasn't sure. We were having a classroom discussion about something. I said something that he thought was wrong, so he stopped me. A couple of other students smelled blood in the water so started to jump in about how I was wrong. I knew I wasn't, so I was able to stay calm and explain. I could tell that the first student understood my explanation, and when one of the other students chimed in with "No, but...", he said "He's right" and that calmed the blood-in-the-water kids. It was a tough, tough year.

I saw this on twitter yesterday:

Sign in my classroom: I am not the teacher. We are all students. I'm just taller #imjusttaller
— Nick Harris (@Mr_Harris_Math) August 31, 2014

I believe this, except for me it would say I'm much taller (I got Mr. Stadel beat). In my fist year teaching AP Stats, I did not have an environment where I felt safe in my learning; I felt bullied. My test results weren't half bad though.

Last year was my second year with AP Stats. I had two sections and was the only AP Stats teacher at the school. I felt kinda like I had PTSD from that first year. I started off the year much harder. Not just that the course was harder but that I hardened myself. I wasn't going to take that crap again. It was a bit of an over correction. I rewrote tests and quizzes using old FRQs and MC questions. I also graded the FRQs using the 4 point scale. This meant someone who was Developing (2) got an F and Substantial (3) got a C. I really emphasized that stats isn't a math class and that communication plays an essential role. I emphasized it so well last year, that I have already overheard this year's students talking about how this isn't a traditional math class. Many of the students responded well to the heightened expectations. I also softened over the course of the year and I was able to develop truly meaningful relationships with students. On the last day of school, I read them Oh, the Places You Will Go and got choked up doing so. It ended up being a really successful year. I started seeing connections in the material that I couldn't see the first year, and I began incorporating variety in our classroom time. My favorite activities were JellyBlubbers and a simulation that I created of the SF Giants 2012 World Series run.

This year, I am again the only AP Stats teacher at the school, but I have only one section. We introduced a non-AP Statistics class which siphoned potential students and allowed the administration to not have to open a second AP section. I'm back to three preps with two singletons and I'm pretty pissed about it, but I am trying to make the best out of it. I really do think that it will be a great year, but I wish that I could be more focused. I am shuffling the order of topics. We are covering sampling and experiments (BVD Ch. 12, 13) first. Then going mostly in order. I have simulations (BVD Ch. 11) mapped out for the middle of the probability unit but may put it at the end. I think I would really like to do basic probability, independence and conditional probability, and simulations (BVD Ch. 14, 15, 11) as one unit and then random variables, and probability models (BVD 16, 17) as another unit but probability falls awkwardly around winter break and our semester ends in January. I am also going to break up sampling distributions (BVD Ch. 18) this year. I'm going to do sampling distributions for proportions then inference with proportions, and sampling distributions for means then inference with means. I think this will help emphasize the connection between inference and sampling distributions and I can emphasize the CLT and show why it is the Fundamental Theorem of Statistics.

Tips for Newbies:
1.  Don't try to grade everything -- you just can't, and if you're like me, you're not used to grading writing. Partner quizzes or group quizzes will get them talking and give you less to grade. You may also may have to sacrifice quizzes until you get your pacing down, like in a year or two.

2.  Emphasize communication early -- misuse of statistical terms is a great way to get massively dinged on the AP test. Show plenty of examples of good, bad, and ugly FRQ responses.

3.  Teach the class again -- your first year won't be your best year. Hopefully, it will be better than mine, though. You will see things new each time through. Chris Olsen has even said that he didn't feel like he had a good grasp of the course until his third year teaching it.

4.  Don't get overwhelmed and stick to the book if you have to -- there is a lot of GREAT stuff out there for AP Stats, but remember the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. You are (likely) using an AP aligned textbook, which means that the book is designed specifically to prepare the little darlings for the AP test. All of the books have flaws, but it's nice to have a home base.

5.  Ask questions -- there is a great AP Stats community out there. @druinok, @gwaddellnvhs do fantastic things and are willing to help. I (@grayer_mist) do things and am willing to help, or at least show you what I've stolen from others. StatsMonkey is a good site. The message board (sometimes called listserv) at AP Central is also good. Many teachers and authors (esp. Dave Bock, Darren Starnes, Chris Olsen) are active on the message board.

Good luck to you!