The AP Exam came and went and I was soon bombarded with the question, “are we done for the year?”. With an entire month of school left after the exam we had much of the world still to explore. With the understanding that my kids had worked their tails off since January we took our foot off of the gas a tad bit and tried to get creative. They were tasked with choosing a country and researching a variety of facts about the country. Most of their research dealt with topics we covered in the course (level of development, literacy rates, types of industry, etc.). After they completed the research they were able to show some creativity by turning their country into a brand of cereal. Here are a few of my favorite creations.

On the day of their “final exam” we brought in breakfast (mainly cereal, of course) and shopped around the room checking out the different brands of cereal and examining why we might purchase one cereal over another. Students compared the data between countries (including their own) and identified each country’s level of development.

This was designed to be something low stress for the kids that would allow them to fulfill curiosities about certain countries and allow them to display their imaginative sides. Overall, I was impressed with their products. There were clearly those that took it more seriously than others, but I feel that everyone got something beneficial from the experience.

I failed to note earlier that this was actually one of two final project options for the students. The other option entailed creating a dream vacation travel plan that touched on every unit of study in AP Human. I only had one student choose this option, and she did an incredible job of creating an itinerary that took her around the world on an enriching journey through AP Human.

Okay there was actually one more option…of my 34 students 11 of them were seniors (the rest were sophomores with 1 junior) and they had a separate project altogether. All of them had cases of Senioritis so strong and contagious that even I felt a few symptoms. I wanted them to leave my class and leave high school with something they could use in the future. They were not going to benefit as much from the Dream Vacation or Cereal Box projects so I dreamed up something unique for them. We began work on creating their own “personal brand.” This would serve as a platform for them to share their skills, interests, and experience. Their checklist included creating (or revising) their resume, drafting a mock cover letter, developing a website and blog, adding professional pictures and contact information, and bringing it all together with a design that exudes their personality. My sister, Jane, was able to guide my seniors and teach them how applicable this project could be. She’s a genius with all of this stuff, so it was fun to co-teach with her for a few days. Like the cereal box project, most of my students took this seriously and created a tool that will aid them in the future. I am so proud of their products and excited to see what they accomplish in the future.

Here are links to the project instructions:

https://goo.gl/qrSclA Senior’s Personal Branding Project

https://goo.gl/qcyTSm Cereal Box Project

https://goo.gl/T5Ja8u Vacation of a Lifetime

*I do not claim to be the creator of the cereal box or vacation projects. I modified projects that have been shared with AP Human Geography teachers in a private Drive folder*

As my AP Human Geography class began studying migration last week, I wanted to start with an understanding of how we got here. I told my students that I wanted to know how they got to our classroom today. I wanted to know what brought their family to this area. I wanted them to SEE how the movement of multiple generations of their family led to them sitting in our classroom that day.

Google My Maps allows the user to create a custom map that uses the same interface as any public Google Maps search. First, the students chose a base map that best suited their tastes (satellite, terrain, political, etc.). Once they set the base map they dropped pins on the birthplaces of their relatives and tracked their migration by adding lines and additional points. Ideally, they would map the migration of both sets of grandparents, their parents, and themselves, but every student’s map would be unique to the structure of their family.

For many students there was an overwhelming amount of data to process, and it was difficult to filter which points were essential to the map. I reminded them about the question we were trying to answer: what brought you here…to this place?

We made it so that each family member had their own layer on the map so that we have the option to only view one side of their family at a time or one generation at a time. I was proud of my students not only for their ability to utilize the technology, but, more importantly, for their curiosity and desire to explore their heritage.