{"id":1675,"date":"2022-03-18T17:35:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T17:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/?p=1675"},"modified":"2022-03-18T17:35:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T17:35:38","slug":"spotlight-mr-buch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/2022\/03\/18\/spotlight-mr-buch\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight: Mr. Buch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Guy Cardwell<\/p>Staff Writer<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What is the best way to engage students? How can an Advanced Placement course simulate the rigor of post-high school education without being overwhelming? AP Statistics teacher Mr. Buch explained his teaching approach and style in an interview with Theogony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Mr. Buch began teaching high school, times were strange. \u201cIt\u2019s been a weird few years,” he said. Out of four years of teaching, three have been affected by COVID-19 policies. Teaching digitally brought new challenges, and many teachers were forced to adjust to engage students through the screens. \u201cI think the biggest way that my teaching approach has changed over time is that I\u2019ve really pushed to incorporate activities in the class and more group work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Buch\u2019s goal of the course is twofold: \u201cI\u2019m trying to prepare you specifically for the AP exam but also for the rigors of a college-level math class.\u201d To prepare for the exam, tests, quizzes, and homework are all drawn from previous AP exam problems. He also draws on his experience teaching at the college level. \u201cI want you to walk into college and be prepared,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the rigor of the AP exam I\u2019m preparing you for but the rigor of college itself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not compromising the integrity of the class, Mr. Buch employs strategies to reduce the stress level. \u201cIt\u2019s a constant struggle of managing the stress because you guys all take a lot of AP classes, maybe more than advisable,\u201d he explained. To help students stay organized, consistency is crucial. \u201cThe value of consistency is that students know what to expect; there is an element of comfort because students know how to prepare.\u201d Before each unit, students receive a calendar with relevant due dates and assignments. Online versions of anything in class can be found on Canvas. \u201cLearning math can be a stressful thing, and routines help reduce some of that stress,\u201d said Mr. Buch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is important to allow students to develop class rituals, it is also important to keep students engaged. \u201cI think that continued focus for adults in a lecture is challenging after more than 10 minutes, but this is challenging because some problems take over 10 minutes. That\u2019s where chunking comes in. I use acronyms a lot [to] break a problem into small pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching statistics in both college and high school has led to meaningful connections with students. \u201cI am in touch with several students, a lot have moved up and had kids. I\u2019ve been to a few weddings. I love staying in touch with students and seeing where they end up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Courtesy of Guy Cardwell<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the best way to engage students? How can an Advanced Placement course simulate the rigor of post-high school education without being overwhelming? AP Statistics teacher Mr. Buch explained his teaching approach and style in an interview with Theogony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1675"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1769,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675\/revisions\/1769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}