International Bilingual School at the Hsinchu Science Park
September 2013
Expanding Horizons Mr. Choquette’s Classroom Connection
“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” - Theodore Contact Email: mr.christian.choquette@gmail.com
Classes I teach: 9th Grade
10th Grade
12th Grade
World Geography; Sections A & B. U.S. History and Government; Section B AP U.S. Government and Politics
Social Studies with Mr. Cho~ I love teaching Social Studies! I bring a lot of energy and humor with me to my classes. I believe that there is far more to Social Studies classes than a review of historical events and people. Social Studies classes are not like Science or Math classes in that there is a lot of room for debate, perspective, and connections to current events. Social Studies is a lot of fun; throughout the year we will have many fun projects and activities to guide students in their understanding of our various topics. While I love my content area I also believe that it is important for students to develop good study habits. To this end I teach and reinforce prereading strategies, the Cornell Note taking method, and also structure and maintenance of an organized classroom binder. Finally to assist my 9th and 10th grade students in their preparation for the Standardized Achievement Test (SAT) I assign five SAT vocabulary terms each week and students are to maintain a glossary of these terms at rear of their Social Studies notebooks.
A bit about me… I have been teaching for 12 years. I have a M.S. Ed. in Secondary Education from the State University of NY. This is my fifth year of teaching in Taiwan. I am married and have a 5 month old daughter. I’m glad to be at IBSH!
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Expanding Horizons: Mr. Choquette’s Classroom Connection
September 2013
A bit about what learning we will be uncovering… I don’t teach the book; I teach a course curriculum. A textbook is a tool to aid students in their learning. While I will be using direct instruction to set the stage, clarify understanding, and summarize learning topics I will frequently design student centered experiential learning activities and projects for students to complete so as they may learn by doing. Grade 9: World Geography
Grade 10: U.S. History
World Geography students will be learning about “our world.” Over the course of the year we will discuss how we view and interact with our world; and explore how we can work to sustain this place that we call home. In addition to quizzes and tests, students will complete reading assignments, writing assignments and participate in projects that will help them develop their public speaking.
U.S. History students will be learning about history and government of the United States of America (USA) beginning with the early exploration of the Americas and finishing up with a unit on the USA today. In our studies we will give special attention to the social, political, and economic conflicts and changes that have occurred and to understand how these events have shaped the modern USA.
Grade 12: AP U.S. Gov’t. and Politics My AP U.S. Gov’t. and Politics course offers an college level introductory U.S. Gov’t. experience within the context of a supportive high school classroom. Students will learn how the U.S. Gov’t. came to be and how it has evolved. We’ll explore many primary source materials and assignments will be designed to prepare students for success on the AP Exam.
Participation for improved learning and understanding Student-centered teaching methods shift the focus of activity from the teacher to the learners. These methods include active learning, in which students solve problems, answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class; cooperative learning, in which students work in teams on problems and projects under conditions that assure both positive interdependence and individual accountability.
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