ACP Portfolio Flipbook

ACP Portfolio Flipbook

By

Dr. John Biles
November 15, 2019

Table of Contents

Title Page – Page 1
Table of Contents – Page 2
What is ACP? – Page 3
Syllabus Snapshot – Page 4 - 6
Full BOPPS Lesson Plan – Page 7 - 8
Student Preparation Strategy – Page 9
Andrew Jackson Lesson – Page 10-12
Faction Cards – Page 13
Questions with Blooms Levels Attached – Page 14
Presentation – Page 15 - 21
Reflexive Essay – Page 22 - 24

What is the Adjunct Certification Program at Lone Star College?

Purpose: The purpose of the Adjunct Certification Program is to recognize and reward adjunct faculty who
make a commitment to the System and to provide an opportunity to enhance their teaching effectiveness.

Who can participate: Adjunct faculty who have taught at LSC for at least 2 semesters may apply. Participants
are chosen based upon recommendations from their department chair.

Course structure and objectives: The Adjunct Certification Program is structured around 5 components of
successful instruction. After successfully completing this program participants will be able to

 Plan for Learning
o Create a syllabus snapshot
o Create a lesson using the BOPPPS lesson planning moel
o Write SMART lesson objectives
o Identify the levels in Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy
o Employ effective strategies to encourage students to prepare for class

 Employ a Variety of Teaching Strategies
o Define teacher-centered, interactive, experiential, and independent learning techniques
o Locate online lesson repositories and resources
o Incorporate at least one new instructional strategy in a lesson plan
o Create questions that address various levels of Bloom's cognitive taxonomy

 Assess Effectively
o Develop an assessment strategy that aligns with the course outcomes
o Utilize various formative assessment tools that are quick, engaging, and informative
o Create effective subjective and objective tools and processes.
o Cite the principles of effective evaluation.
o Develop an assessment rubric

 Use Instructional Technology
o Explain how technology can enhance teaching and learning
o Employ at least one new instructional technology to encourage student engagement
o Locate instructional technology resources

 Foster a Positive Learning Environment
o Utilize effective strategies for dealing with various student challenges
o Employ motivational theory to structure classes that foster student motivation to learn

In order to successfully complete the program, participants must:
• Attend ALL 5 face-to-face meetings with the initial cohort and complete all on-line lessons. This occurs
over a nine week period with a time commitment of 26-30 hours.
• Actively participate in online discussion topics.
• Present a 10 minute overview of a completely new lesson
• Complete a reflective essay
• Compile and submit an electronic portfolio of all completed assignments
• Score a minimum of 80% on all required elements of the course

History 1301 United States History Mini-Syllabus

Dr. John Walter Biles
Fall 2019
Class Time:
Section 4001: 8:05-9:00 AM MWF
(A232)
Section 4003: 9:10-10:05 AM MWF
(A232)
Section 4007: 11:20 AM – 12:15 PM
(A230)
Office Hours: 10:15 AM – 11:05
AM MWF.
Office: A220 (Adjunct Office)
Telephone: (Voicemail box): 832-
246-0000, Box 5552200
Email: [email protected]

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

A survey of U.S. history from Pre- REQUIRED MATERIALS
Contact Societies through
Reconstruction. Themes to be Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! Seagull 5th Ed. W. W.
developed include westward Norton, Vol. I
expansion and globalization, slavery,
Native Americans, and religious and Douglass, Frederick, David Blight (editor), The Narrative
social changes. An additional purpose of Fredrick Douglass
of this course is to introduce students Available for free if not very pretty at:
to the skills and practices of history.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23/23-h/23-h.htm
Getting the Full Syllabus Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
You can download the full syllabus ISBN-10: 0312257376
from the class D2L page under the ISBN-13: 978-0312257378
Contents tab.
Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0-345-34810-9

Main Assignments: Students with disabilities who believe they need
1 100 point midterm exam accommodations in this course are encouraged to
1 100 point final exam contact Disability Services as soon as possible to better
2 100 point topic papers ensure such accommodations are implemented in a
A 100 point paper on The Narrative timely fashion. The Disability Services Office at LSC-
of Frederick Douglass. Montgomery is located in Building C 221-A (Phone
A 100 point paper on The Killer number is # 936-273-7239) or email MC-
Angels [email protected]. Contact information for the various
LSC campuses can be found at
http://www.lonestar.edu/disability-services.htm.

PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING

In the case of plagiarism (claiming This depicts Henry Box Brown, who escaped from
that words and ideas of others are slavery by mailing himself to freedom in Philadelphia.
your own and/or not indicating the Slavery is one of the central problems of US History
source of ideas), the instructor 1301 and it still shadows us today.
reserves the right to give the student a
zero for the assignment and/or an F Benjamin Franklin, a man who rose from a minor
for the course. In the case of cheating artisan family to an American leader. A terrible father
during the course of an exam or and husband, but an amazing scientist, inventor, and
unauthorized collaboration on a politician. Like all the Founding Fathers, he combined
writing project, the instructor reserves the great and the terrible; here he is playing the Glass
the right to give the student or Harmonica, his invention.
students a zero for the assignment
and/or an F for the course. You will
find the LSCS policy on academic
integrity at
http://www.lonestar.edu/instructional-
resources.htm

The Lone Star College System
subscribes to Turnitin.com, an online
collaborative learning tool for faculty
which supports faculty in their quest
to uphold academic integrity. Student
coursework may be submitted to the
scrutiny of the Turnitin.com software.
Please note that these submissions of
assignments to Turnitin.com do not
necessarily constitute an accusation
of plagiarism on the student’s part.

MOBILE/ ELECTRONIC
DEVICES POLICY

Turn off all cellphones and other
similar devices in class. Headphones
are not allowed; laptops may be used
to take notes only. Should you be
caught using a cellphone, PDA,
laptop or any other electronic device
for non-approved purposes, you will
lose 20 points off your grade total in
this class. This penalty may be
waived if the instructor feels
convinced you had good reason to
have to be ready to take a call, etc,
such as medical issues, job issues,
etc. If you need to receive a call, tell
your instructor in advance.



BOPPPS LESSON PLAN
COURSE: HIST 1301 US History I
Lesson Title: Andrew Jackson and ‘Strong’ Presidents

Bridge: Talk briefly about the problem of making decisions in multi-factional democracy with a contemporary example. We can see this problem in the past
in the Jackson Administration.

Estimated time: 3 minutes
Course Student Learning Outcome: SLO 3: Analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic and cultural forces on this period of U.S. history.

Learning Objectives (these should be the ones you wrote in Module 1):

1. By the end of this lesson, the students will be able to connect Indian Removal and the Bank War to the larger political and economic context of the
1820s and 30s.

2. By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to see how Presidential action has to connect to larger forces to succeed, comparing the
Nullification Crisis to the previous Crises, and being able to apply this idea to events later in the semester.

Pre-Assessment: The students will have been given a crossword review project at the end of the previous class session, and will use the assigned readings to
create it; the full project is an attached file. I will then take a quick look at them before we launch into the material. There will also be discussion of the
readings in class with some review questions.

Estimated time: 10 minutes
Participatory Learning:
HIGHLIGHT AND LABEL THE FOLLOWING:

• 4 questions with Bloom’s level identified
• New instructional technology you are trying
• At least one classroom assessment technique (CAT)

Time Instructor Activities Learner Activities Lesson Materials

10 Review and refresh student knowledge of the Answering discussion questions Slides with Questions
minutes readings relevant to the lesson
15 Discuss what forces supported Jackson in the Bank Identifying the major political groups Slides with Questions
minutes War and Indian Removal and who it drove into the Identifying who supported or opposed each of these Writing information on the
wilderness Identifying *why* they supported each of these. board as the students break
it down
20 Facilitate the game Each gets an index card as a member of one of the factions; Index cards identifying each
minutes one player is Jackson, who has to try to negotiate with the faction’s interests and hates

10 Guide discussion of the game’s results various factions to build a majority behind his plans for the None needed
minutes Nullification Crisis. The content of the cards is based on the
earlier discussion.
Carry out discussion of the game and what was learned
from it, especially by ‘Jackson’.

Post-assessment: At the end of class, the students get an assignment to write a short one page memo from the perspective of an advisor of Jack son
about one of the crises, advising him on what to do, telling him who will support him in doing it, and warnin g him who he will alienate if he does it, trying
to persuade him it's worth that risk. Then at the start of the next class, I'll bring up some of the arguments they made and we can discuss them. This will
reinforce what they learned and let me dispel anything which is flat out wrong.

This fits into thinking about the whole question of how Presidents are constrained in their decision making by the political forces around them. They will
have to analyze the events and see how this event fits into the larger forces of American history.

It's purpose is post-assessment, to see what they learned. It also provides a writing exercise to build their writing skills.

Estimated time: Out of class
Summary: By reminding them of the readings for next time and talking a little bit about how these kinds of conflicts still happen today in our government.

Estimated time: 1 minute

ATTACH ANY LESSON MATERIALS (SLIDES, HANDOUTS, ETC.)
Questions with Bloom levels attached.

History 1301 Crossword Preview/Review Project

Dr. John Biles

Take the following terms and go to https://worksheets.theteacherscorner.net/make-your-
own/crossword/. Generate a crossword puzzle using these terms, generating your own
definitions from your reading for the class. Bring a printed copy to class; after the class session,
you will exchange crosswords with other students and they will try to solve your puzzle, while
you solve another student’s puzzle. If you find any definitions you can’t make sense of, put a
star by it and we can figure out in the next class what the problem is.

Working with information and creating something new with it helps you to retain that
information. This will help you understand what you knew going into today’s discussion and
then apply it and new insights from the discussion and activities.

This is an ungraded review, to help you learn. If you make mistakes, it’s okay. Making mistakes
and correcting them is part of how we learn. Good luck!

List of Terms:

John Quincy Adams American System Bank War
John C. Calhoun Henry Clay Democratic Party
Indian Removal Act Andrew Jackson Martin van Buren
Nullification Crisis Petticoat War Second National Bank
Tariff of Abominations Trail of Tears Whig Party

11/15/2019

Andrew Jackson and ‘Strong’
Presidents

The Bank War, Indian Removal, and the Nullifcation Crisis

Questions from the Readings

• 1. Andrew Jackson used a lot of small government rhetoric when he
ran for office in 1828. He did in fact, cut back Federal support for
infrastructure projects. How did his actions in the Bank War extend
Presidental power, reduce Federal power, or some mixture of both?

1

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Discussion Questions

• 2. Jackson faced a tension between frontiersmen wanting to clear
out natives and take their land and the settled regions who hoped to
americanize the natives. He chose Indian Removal, seeing it as a
compromise. But it pleased frontiersmen more than those who
hoped for Americanization. Do you agree with his actions? How
might these players have acted if he chose another way?

Nullification Game Prep

• 1. Identify the major political forces in 1832
• 2. What were their goals?
• 3. What did they oppose?
• This will all go on the faction cards for the Nullification Game.

2

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The Nullification Game

• Everyone draws a faction card.
• Then we break into groups.
• Jackson and the South Carolinians each try to sway groups to support

them, making agreements.
• At the end, each faction announces who it holds to and why
• Then we’ll discuss how this illuminated the political struggles and the

limits of Presidential Power.

3

Faction Name:
Faction Goal:

Faction Dislikes:

Questions with Bloom Levels Attached:

1. Andrew Jackson used a lot of small government rhetoric
when he ran for office in 1828. He did in fact, cut back Federal
support for infrastructure projects. How did his actions in the
Bank War extend Presidental power, reduce Federal power, or
some mixture of both? (Analysis)

2. Should the Petticoat War be seen as increasing or decreasing
Federal power, or does it reflect some other kind of change in
the power dynamic? (Analysis)

3. While Jackson won the Nullification Crisis by preventing
Nullification, he also drove many slaveowners into opposition to
himself. Was there some more fruitful way to approach this
problem which wouldn't have alienated his supporters? Was it
worth the cost? (Evaluation)

4. Jackson faced a tension between frontiersmen wanting to
clear out natives and take their land and the settled regions who
hoped to americanize the natives. He chose Indian Removal,
seeing it as a compromise. But it pleased frontiersmen more
than those who hoped for Americanization. Do you agree with
his actions? How might these players have acted if he chose
another way? (Evaluation)

11/15/2019

Andrew Jackson
and ‘Strong’
Presidents

The Bank War, Indian Removal, and the
Nullifcation Crisis

ACP Showcase Name: Dr. John Biles
Portfolio Discipline: History
Date: 11/13/2019

1

Table of 11/15/2019
Contents
Student Preparation Strategy
BOPPS Lesson:
• CAT
• Questions
• Technology
Reflection

Student Preparation Strategy

1. The students will do an 2. The students will create a
assigned reading crossword puzzle using an online

crossword puzzle maker (New
Instructional Technology) which
will help them to internalize and

analyze the reading.

2

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Bopps Bridge:

1 2 3

I will address some This is followed by saying Even a ‘strong’ president
contemporary political that this is nothing new, like Andrew Jackson
conflict, talking about and today we will learn could not simply do
how different groups about how this worked in whatever he wanted to.
have conflicting interests. the past.

BOPPS Objectives

• By the end of this lesson, the students will
be able to connect Indian Removal and the
Bank War to the larger political and
economic context of the 1820s and 30s.

• By the end of the lesson, the students will
be able to see how Presidential action has
to connect to larger forces to succeed,
comparing the Nullification Crisis to the
previous Crises, and being able to apply this
idea to events later in the semester.

3

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BOPPS Pre- The students will bring their
Assessment crossword puzzles to class and we will
go over them briefly
We will then discuss the reading with
some discussion questions; the next
slide has an example. This is where
the Blooms questions will happen.

Example • 1. Andrew Jackson used a lot of small
Question from government rhetoric when he ran for
the Readings office in 1828. He did in fact, cut back
Federal support for infrastructure
projects. How did his actions in the
Bank War extend Presidental power,
reduce Federal power, or some mixture
of both? (Analysis)

4

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BOPPS – Participatory
Lesson

• We will play the Nullification Game
1. Discuss the Nullification Crisis
2. Create Faction Cards
3. Everyone draws a faction card.
4. Then we break into groups.
5. Jackson and the South Carolinians each try to sway groups to support
them, making agreements.
6. At the end, each faction announces who it holds to and why
7. Then we’ll discuss how this illuminated the political struggles and the
limits of Presidential Power.

Nullification • 1. Identify the major political forces in
Game 1832
Preparation
• 2. What were their goals?
• 3. What did they oppose?
• This will all go on the faction cards for

the Nullification Game.

5

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BOPPS Post-
Assessment

• This is the CAT for this assignment
• Each student will write a one-page memo, as if a

member of the Jackson Administration, arguing
for some policy, in light of the insights of the
Nullification Game. This will require deeper
analysis and creative thinking

BOPPS This assignment is about the question of how
SUMMARY presidents deal with the many factions which constrain
their actions.
The students use a crossword puzzle creator (new
technology) and readings to prepare for the class.
The topic is discussed, using BLOOMS questions
Then the Nullification Game is played to help them
understand the dynamic by *living* it.
Post assessment comes in the form of them writing a
policy memo (CAT)

6

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Personal Reflection

• Escaping the Disciplinary Box
• Discovering Things I Didn’t Even Know to Look For

• The Land Office’s Historical Resources
• Thinking Deeper About Assessment

7

Reflective Essay for the Class

1. What value / knowledge / insights have you gained from the Adjunct Certification Program?
2. How have you incorporated the knowledge gained into your classroom?
3. How has this program made you a more effective instructor?
4. What suggestions do you have for further professional development opportunities?

The simple fact of the matter is that most graduate schools do not actually train their
graduates to teach at any level. Many people who teach at the university or college level do
serve as teaching assistants, but that usually conveys little training beyond throwing you in a
classroom and letting you figure it out yourself. So having an actual program about teaching at
the college level is a valuable thing. While I have figured out many things over the years, I have
learned a lot from the Adjunct Certification Program.

Perhaps the most important, fundamental thing was to broaden my horizons on ways to
assess students and how to write better questions. Even a simple multiple choice question test
can be improved. Secondly, the program exposed me to how people in a wide array of fields
teach. It’s very easy to live in a little bubble of fellow specialists in the same field in Academia,
so seeing different perspectives, including fields I have never experienced, was valuable.
Discussion with them brought me new perspectives on the issues we dealt with and how to teach.
It was interesting to see one of my frustrations as a student (science teachers having to spend
80% of the class just going over the homework) from the other side of the problem. Thirdly, the
program and my fellow instructors exposed me to a variety of technological and primary
resources I didn’t even know to search out. The surveying instructor showed me the Texas Land
Office’s website, which contained valuable historical resources for my teaching. I did not know,
for example, that people being recruited by the empresarios needed letters of recommendation. I
also found a crossword puzzle generator, useful for creating interesting review sheets. Finally,

we also looked at the complex problem of how to connect across generations. Younger people
are used to using the Internet for everything, so how do we work around that?

This class has given me a lot of ideas on how to improve my teaching in the future. I
rewrote my mid-term exam in light of my better understanding of how to test people. I will be
able to improve my final and the review process for it as well. I am trying to better bridge the
material, to help students engage at the start of the day. I now have a lot more tools to help
students engage with the material and think critically about it. I hope to try one of my favorite
suggested ideas – having the students write policy memos about past events – next semester.
Engaging students is the hardest, but most rewarding things and we spent a lot of time on that.

The most important way this has made me a better instructor is learning to think deeper
about how I teach instead of just copying the professors I had in the late eighties and early
nineties. I still was largely operating on a pre-Internet model of teaching. It’s still going to be a
struggle to get students to not blindly copy what Google tells them, but the Internet has uses as
well. Being able to write better tests is also a huge step forwards. I mainly focus on papers, but
understanding how to ask a better question is a good thing. I am very glad I took this class.

I think observing a class taught by someone who has teaching honors or is well
recognized for their skills might be a valuable session, though I understand that would be a
scheduling problem. A chance to interact with some students willing to talk about how teachers
have engaged them would also be a valuable addition.

All in all, though, I feel this was time well spent. I have learned a lot from the program
and I am glad I signed up for it. Learning to make better tests, finding new approaches, access to
new technologies and resources and everything else have all benefited my skills as a teacher.