��Vlog��ý Little Rock holds virtual AP Summer Institute for 700 teachers

John Hill — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:33:43 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock held its first fully online Advanced Placement Summer Institute in June and July for more than 700 AP teachers.�� The virtual AP Summer Institute is a collaboration between the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock eLearning office, the Arkansas Department of Education, and College Board, an educational nonprofit organization that developed AP courses and examinations. “When we were presented with a choice to go online instead of canceling, we wanted to maintain our commitment to the Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas teachers, and students,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center. “The online environment is an opportunity to serve APSI participants innovatively with exciting, dynamic professional development.” Currently in its 26th year, the AP Summer Institute allows AP teachers to attend summer workshops in 24 areas of advancement placement. It was established in 1994 to provide AP teachers with the content-focused professional development they need to teach AP courses. Thanks to a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education, a majority of participating teachers from Arkansas attend the institute for free. “This is one of the best professional developments I’ve ever attended,” said Vera Rideout, a sixth-grade teacher at Coleman Intermediate School. “I am so thankful for this opportunity! Thank you so very much for opening this window of opportunity that I previously just gazed out.” While the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down many educational workshops and summer camps, professors and educational proponents were determined to keep the workshop going for the nearly 700 teachers who signed up. “It took a small army to move a professional development institute this far-reaching to an online environment,” Robinson said. “��Vlog��ý Little Rock has extensive experience with online courses and online professional development. The university is supported by a well-developed tech support infrastructure and a widely used online learning management system. We also had six expert course assistants who worked with the faculty members to get their course shells organized and the whole Jodie Mahony team supporting them.”�� At a time when providing quality education for students is more important than ever, Arkansas teachers were glad for the professional development experience. “Seven years ago, when I was a graduate student in secondary education at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, I had the opportunity to attend APSI as a pre-service teacher. APSI was hands-down the best training that I had to prepare me for teaching in the high school art classroom,” said Amanda Heinbockel, an AP studio art and design teacher at Central High School. “I was able to network with art teachers from around the state and country. The entire week was structured to model the student experience of an AP Studio Art course. The instructor, Trish Winnard, modeled excellent classroom management techniques that I used in my first semester teaching that fall. It was amazing to have a week of hands-on experiences so that I could understand how to create a rich, positive learning experience for my students. I have since attended three additional APSI training, and they have all consistently been excellent experiences.” In the upper right photo, staff members at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education celebrated the 25 anniversary of the Advanced Placement Summer Institute in 2019. Photo by Ben Krain.

AP Summer Institute celebrates 25th anniversary, receives $441k grant to support teacher professional development

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 12:46:01 +0000

For the past 25 years, the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has provided training for Advanced Placement teachers across Arkansas through the AP Summer Institute.�� “Summer 2019 is a milestone for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock AP Summer Institute. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary. We’ve come a long way from 60 teachers in the first year to what we are expecting in 2019,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center. This year, the Arkansas Department of Education awarded ��Vlog��ý Little Rock a $441,800 grant to hold multiple AP Summer Institutes. More than 800 teachers are expected to attend one of three summer workshops in 40 areas of advanced placement during June and July. The grant allows a majority of the participating teachers to attend the workshop for free. “It’s exciting to celebrate 25 years of Advanced Placement Summer Institutes making a difference for Arkansas teachers,” said Dr. Christine Deitz, associate director of the Jodie Mahony Center. “As educators, ourselves, we know the content learned and teaching strategies modeled during the institutes open important learning opportunities for Arkansas’s students.” Established in 1994, the AP Summer Institute was created to provide AP teachers with the content-focused professional development they need to teach AP courses. “The AP Summer Institute was created to serve advanced placement teachers and pre-advanced placement teachers a year later,” Robinson said. “It was the outcome of working collaboratively with Jodie Mahony, the author of legislation that established an Advanced Placement initiative in Arkansas.” The late Jodie Mahony was an El Dorado lawyer who served 32 years in the Arkansas House of Representatives and Senate and spent his last years working on education issues with the House of Representatives staff. Robinson said the summer institute ensures that pre-AP and AP teachers receive the training they need to be at the top of their game to teach academically challenging Advanced Placement courses to students. “In the state of Arkansas, AP teachers are required to attend a summer institute every 5 years. If you want to be on top of your game and make sure your kids are getting the best, then you continue to go to the summer institute,” Robinson said. “Planning for a June institute begins in September. It takes a team to provide this kind of intensive and nationally recognized professional development. We are fortunate to have folks like Deborah Cook with her event planning experience and Becky Rogers, a former College Board faculty consultant working throughout the year to make every APSI, including our 25th anniversary institutes, memorable and effective for teachers.”

Staff members at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education are preparing for the 25th anniversary of the Advanced Placement Summer Institute. Photo by Ben Krain.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock holds virtual AP Summer Institute for 700 teachers

AP Summer Institute celebrates 25th anniversary, receives $441k grant to support teacher professional development

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock holds virtual AP Summer Institute for 700 teachers