Thank you, Hannah

Hannah is a wonderful freshman student in my Geometry class this year. She is a part of Bonita's track team and she also participates in the girls scout program. Thank you, Hannah, for the gift card and your kind words.

Advance Placement Summer Institute 2016

It was a great week of summer professional development. The sessions were led by Mr. Starnes, who has been teaching all 20 years of the AP Statistics existence. Since I was a reader for the AP exams this year, Mr. Starnes gave me opportunities to present the two questions that I graded to the group. At the conclusion of the week, I raffled his new textbook and he was kind enough to sign it for me. 

Gladiator Alliance

This is a throwback track jacket from 2008. The band director at the time, Mr. Murdock, and I hung out during football games. We supported each other's journey as educators. This jacket was a gift from him and a few of his talented band kids.

Day 8 - Outpace Poverty 5K Charity Run

I participated in a charity run on the morning of departing day. The local church hosted a 5K along the Missouri River. It was a great way for me to give back in a small way to the beautiful Kansas City. After the race, I walked around the festive farmers market before returning to the hotel to get ready for the airport.

Finished first in my division and third overall.

K.C. Wolf was very friendly and a great dancer.

A short bridge connecting the city to the Missouri River.

Kansas City farmers market is open every Saturday and Sunday morning.

The busy farmers market with the downtown in the background.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 7 - Thank you, Jennifer.

Thank you, Jennifer, for being our awesome table leader and for the Kansas City postcard. Along with the other table leader Chris, our room had an extremely productive week. We were friendly and professional at the same time, laughing and joking while scoring boxes after boxes of student work.  The name tag stand was also given to us as an AP reader souvenir.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 7 - Funstravanganza

After an exhausting week of scoring, we were excited and relived to learn that we had completed our task of scoring approximately 1.25 million free-response questions. We closed the week with our AP Stats Funstravanganza. It was filled with skits, songs, and games. New readers like me are called Acorns, and have traditionally put on a skit for the veterans. I was fortunate to be with a great group of enthusiastic Acorns. Our skit of a parody of Star Wars was very well received. It was a very memorable evening to close a fantastic week of professional development

Acorn group photo taken outside the Convention Center.

Post Funstravanganza Party at the Power & Light District.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 6 - Best Practice Night

AP Statistics teachers were given five minutes each to share their best practices. I picked up on a few great ideas to incorporate into my classroom. Some creative ideas include sampling words from the Gettysburg Address, measuring distances of marshmallow spits, and using Desmos to explore the normal approximation rules.

The photo above is taken inside the Kansas City Union Station. It is a historical building about a mile south of downtown. 

Across from the station is the World War I Memorial and Museum.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 5 - Prediction Fun Run 1.96 Miles

This is one of my favorite shirts! Thank you, Erica, for organizing the Fun Run under this year's special circumstance. In a normal distribution, approximately 95% of the data would fall within 1.96 standard deviations within the mean. The spirit is that we are 95% confident that the runners would have fun. In fact, I think 100% of us had fun. The race isn't won by the fastest runner, but the runner who has the most accurate prediction of his or her completion time. Originally, the race was to take place alongside the Missouri River. With heat surpassing 100 degrees, Erica relocated and modified the race to ensure safety. It was an excellent decision and we all had a wonderful time running and walking in 100+ heat in Downtown Kansas City.

The walkers cheered on the runners. Later, I stayed and cheered on the walkers.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 4 - Median Day: The Fours Awakens

Thanks to an enthusiastic group of statistics veteran readers, the exhausting week of reading exams after exams was filled with fun activities. This Stat Wars shirt was our unofficial uniform for AP Stats readers. We received many compliments from readers of other disciplines. It was a week of geek shirts galore.

Day 4 - Dine Out Night

On Night 4, readers had options to dine out. Different readers attended a Royals baseball game, tried their luck at a local casino, or participated in the new craze of escape rooms. I roamed around the city and found a local kitchen called Sundry for dinner. After dinner, I enjoyed a short walk around the residential areas of Kansas City.

The photo above is the new Kansas City Street Car. It is a great way to explore the downtown area of the city. It is quiet, clean, and free.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 3 - College Board Open Forum

Leaders of the AP Math curriculum hosted an open forum. There was only a small crowd of attendees. I learned about some of directions of the course. I enjoyed some great conversations with other readers during the post-forum social.

The photo above is me representing the Bearcats on jersey day, standing outside of the Kansas City Convention City. Behind me is the the beautiful Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

The AP College Board gifted readers with a tote and water bottle.  The bottle came in handy throughout the warm week in Kansas City.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 2 - Professional Night

This is the 20th anniversary of AP Statistics, which is celebrated by a newly designed white polo shirt. On Night Two of the AP reading in Kansas City, we were treated with a special seminar with veteran and historical figures of the AP Statistics course. I found it fascinating to hear stories of the past readings from different cities. It was a humbling experience to meet some of the educators who have taught the course for all 20 years.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Day 1 - Thank you, Jimin.

The AP Statistics reading is unique because each reader has a table partner. I am fortunate to have an outstanding partner in Jimin. She's a college professor who is very knowledgeable in the subject. Jimin gave me great advice throughout the week and guided me through a successful week of scoring in Kansas City. My roommate Tom was super cool, too.

This year's free response question #4 was a probability problem about rockets that require igniters to launch. Love these pencils.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Arrival Day - AP Reading - Kansas City 2016

It was an honor to be invited to be reader for AP Statistics. It was a week of wonderful experiences with some of the most amazing educators. I made some great friends and learned many new practices. I am very grateful for this opportunity and I hope to return in future years.

(AP Reading, Kansas City)

Congratulations c/o 2016!

Best wishes to our graduates on the next chapter of their education journey. Our graduation went very smoothly. I will spend my first week of summer in Kansas City as an exam reader for AP Statistics.