Upon entering room 123, students notice a colorful map of the world near the far corner of the room, and shelves adorned with various objects of cultural significance. Although they may be an interesting choice of decor, students may wonder why an AP Seminar teacher chooses to furnish her room with such objects. As students quickly learn, these items represent Jane Schulz’s love of history and her time as a beloved world history teacher at CVHS.
After teaching world history at CVHS for 21 years, Schulz decided that she wanted a change. Having covered the same content for years, she wanted to explore something new. Coincidentally, just as Schulz had been feeling this way, former CVHS AP Seminar teacher Samantha Shields decided to leave the classroom to take a non-instructional position within the district.
Shield’s career shift was the perfect opportunity for Schulz to step into teaching a new course. Although AP Seminar is a skills-based class and AP World History is more of a content-based class, the writing style of the two classes is similar, making this course one that she could jump right into with the proper guidance.
Schulz’s interest in teaching stemmed from an interaction she had in college.
“I was a history major in college, and I needed an elective credit. So I met with my advisor, and he suggested to do something called a practicum, where I could get hours for observing schools,” Schulz said.
She was not initially interested in doing the practicum, but after her advisor mentioned that the two most common paths of history majors were going law school or becoming teachers, she decided to sign up. After completing the practicum, which entailed observing an eighth grade US history classroom, Schulz acknowledged how much she enjoyed the atmosphere. She was unsure of her path before, and wanted to explore teaching.
“I decided that I would teach after college, and I always planned to teach for no more than three years and go do something else. And it’s been 21 years more.” Schulz said.
At the start of her career, Schulz taught on-level world history and US history. She noted that she had been exposed to the curriculum through her first few years as a teacher, but not to the level of AP. The content of the classes compared to their AP counterparts varied. When she started teaching at CVHS, she recalled that she had to “step up her game” and adapt her teaching style based on how her students best absorbed information.
“It’s always a work in progress, but every year that I scored AP exams, I got better at coming back and telling kids, ‘Hey, this is how I think we need to do things based on what I saw,’” Schulz said.
As she found her rhythm with teaching the content of AP world history, she noted that it was still difficult for her to teach certain skills. She explained that learning how to break down the DBQ and show how to evaluate author’s perspective took her years, even after mastering the content.
In her transition from teaching AP World History to AP Seminar, Schulz now finds that she is encountering similar challenges to the ones she had in her transition from on-level to AP years ago. The way in which her students absorb information is different from when she first started teaching, and with new skills to teach, she continues to adapt.
“The way you guys receive information and interact with each other has changed. Your age group’s dependence on computers and phones, things like that, has changed. I think the way teachers interact and present information to students, especially since Covid, has changed as well,” Schulz stated.
AP Seminar requires her to break down the necessary skills into bite-size pieces for her students to take in and intern develop throughout the year. Through the AP Seminar course, students are expected to develop skills by actively researching and refining their chosen topic. Schulz’s role as an AP Seminar teacher is to dictate the order in which certain skills are taught, and showcase how to use them. To gain some inspiration for how to approach the course, Schulz has been finding various resources to guide the way.
“I have access to all of Mrs. Shield’s resources, and I’ve been using lots of those. I attended some College Board trainings this summer where I came across some great stuff, some things I’ve been trying out on my own,” Schulz said.
With the experience that Schulz has gained throughout the school year so far, she has developed and adapted the methods she uses to present information to her students. She stated, “Sometimes I’m even tweaking [lesson plans] as I go throughout the day and at the start, and I see how it’s going with first or second period. And even then I might tweak it more.”
In teaching AP Seminar, Schulz understands that encountering a skills-based class for the first time might prove to be difficult for students. Skills such as presenting and defending a thesis, along with gathering evidence are given a spotlight in AP Seminar, while class content disappears. She stated, “I think sometimes kids have a hard time staying focused in a non-content class,because they’re kind of like, ‘Wait, what am I learning?’ And they don’t always conceptualize the idea that ‘Oh, it’s a skill I’m learning and I need to practice it.’”
She explained that even though the style of course may be difficult, the skills that her students will develop throughout the year will prove to be invaluable in many academic settings, including college.
“I think the idea that as a 10th grader you can take a class where you can essentially practice presentation research skills is really valuable. I think it’s just hard to see it when you’re in the thick of it,” Schulz said.
As Schulz reflected on her journey, she shared her final insight on her transition from AP World History to AP Seminar: “You know when you’ve done something for 20 years, it becomes second nature, right? So I think changing [from AP World History to AP Seminar] has been challenging, but it hasn’t been all cumbersome. It has been rewarding, and I am glad I tried something new. It’s still so early, so it remains to be seen whether in the big picture the adjustment was the right one, but I’m really glad I tried something new.”
