VSU Hosts Summer AP Institute

VALDOSTA -- Area teachers received guidance and curriculum development assistance during this year’s Advanced Placement (AP) Summer Institute held at Valdosta State University from July 18 to 22.

The course focused on English and language composition, and allowed teachers to explore effective strategies when teaching AP material in the classroom.

“We have an excellent instructor for the course, who was Florida's English Teacher of the Year in 1999,” said Dr. David Monetti, VSU professor and co-coordinator for the program. “Her name is Dr. Elfie Israel and when I asked her what she hoped to accomplish with the course, she shared that she hoped to help prepare the teachers for the rigors of the AP English class. She also wants to help them develop useful strategies for student success in becoming better thinkers, readers and writers."

In addition to discussion about creative teaching methods, the participants completed several activities that encouraged self-expression during the course. Among activities was a session that allowed them to create clay models to describe plots from different novels.

“A strength of the program is the high quality educators that agree to participate. They engage in this intensive week-long training so that they can help students succeed. I admire their talent, work ethic, and openness to continuously improve their teaching practices,” said Monetti. “This year’s institute included teachers from Albany Early College, Brooks County Schools, Colquitt County Schools, Houston County Schools, Jones County Schools and Lowndes County Schools.”

The summer AP Institute is a partnership of several departments at VSU. The following people are credited for the success of the program: Dr. David Monetti, Dr. Bob Bauer and Dr. Jim Reffel from the Department of Psychology and Counseling; Dr. Julie Halter of Continuing Education; Dr. Karla Hull, the dean of the College of Education; and Dr. Phillip Gunter, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

E-mail Dr. David Monetti at dmmonett@valdosta.edu or Dr. Julie Halter at jahalter@valdosta.edu for more information about the AP Summer Institute. For more information about AP courses, visit http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf .