ASA Podcast: Practical Significance

Have you been listening to the new-ish ASA podcast? Hosted by Executive Director Ron Wasserstein and Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach Donna LaLonde, it's a nice way to spend a subway morning commute. Bonus: I was recently invited to join in on the conversation!

51 Ideas for Stress Relief... from my AP Statistics Students

I asked my students: "What are you currently doing for stress relief?" 

Most had really great, healthy things they are doing. I love how some of my students were vague about what they are doing and some were very specific. One wise student started by saying, "I've been trying to tell myself that I'm doing my best and I'm only human." But some said, "Nothing. I am very stressed." Or, "I'm really just upset a lot." And one student used this space to say: "I'm currently struggling to find a way. I would love to hear our classmate's responses." 

And so, I decided to compile a list of my students' responses.

Top 6 Strategies for Building a Successful Remote Classroom

When Luke Wilcox asked me how this semester was going and to write a blog post for Stats Medic, I had to tell him the truth. I told him about the rollercoaster semester we've (all) had so far. I also didn't hesitate at the chance to write the requested post. In part because it felt good to get reacquainted with my blog-writing self, but also because Stats Medic generously enrolled all of my students last semester to their online AP Statistics course free of charge just weeks after we went into emergency remote learning. New York City was hit pretty hard by this pandemic early on and I was very grateful to have this resource for my students. My generous statistics community has helped me immensely throughout this challenging year and I knew this would be a way for me to help pay it forward. 

Luke asked "If you have one thing to share with the AP Stats community, what would be most helpful?" After thinking about this good question, I had more than one thing. This post is my response.

Student Questionnaire

Do you give your students a questionnaire at the beginning of the school year? I've been giving one every year since I started teaching but it changes from year to year. Some questions I ask to gather information I need about my students, some are to get to know my students a little bit, and some are just for fun. The past couple of years, some of the questions I ask are to gather data that I then use in aggregate in my AP Statistics class activities.

Here are some of the things I've been asking my students...

Building Support Communities for Statistics Educators

It's been a week since I returned home from Japan and I think I am finally recovered from the jet lag. At least, I hope I am. I spent a couple of days in Tokyo, then took the Shinkansen to Kyoto for the 10th International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS). Lynette Hudiburgh [of Miami University] and I presented about a topic near and dear to us – statistics teacher support communities.

Fake Data

This year my math department focused on student engagement in our professional development meetings. My AP Statistics colleagues (Doug Shuman and Alexandra Brennan) and I developed this activity for the 𝜒² unit as a result and the three of us implemented it in our classrooms. Here's a little information about this two-part activity. Even though our students faked their data, it was a real success!

The Final AP Stats Power Quiz

As a way to review for the AP Stats exam, I have my students do a series of power quizzes* (5 multiple choice questions) in the weeks leading up the exam date (either individually or in groups). This is common practice in my department. A colleague of mine also does a final power quiz the day before the AP exam. I loved the idea so much that I decided to use this inspiration to come up with my own final power quiz for my AP Stats students.