1. Teaching AP Latin in a Comprehensible Input Program
Robert Patrick, PhD
Parkview High School
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Metro Atlanta

2. One Question Survey
Kahoot Survey

3. But What About AP Latin?
Survey the room on experience with CI: I’m doing it; I’m beginning it; I’m studying it; I’ve only heard of it.
The inevitable question in workshops which I lead on the use of Comprehensible Input is always--but what about AP Latin? Can you really teach with CI and expect students to be ready for AP Latin? Can you teach AP Latin in a high school program that is otherwise devoted to using CI principles in the lower levels of Latin? This is the first of what I hope will be many discussions about how, in fact, some students who have learned Latin through CI may continue to enjoy and succeed in an AP Latin course using principles of Comprehensible Input.

4. Verbis Suis 1. Our AP Latin course prepared me for the exam.
2. I feel confident about my work on the exam.
3. The part of the exam I felt was most challenging . . .
4. What things did we do that you found personally rewarding?
5. What things did we do that helped you on the exam?
Survey:
2 strongly agreed; 8 agreed.
1 strongly agreed; 3 agreed; 5 disagreed; 1 strongly disagreed
3 said multiple choice; 6 said translation passages; 1 said essays
Free response: 6 said in one way or another that the research paper they had to do was very rewarding, each giving personal readings. 2 included “finally learning all of the declensions.” 2 included doing annotations both on each other’s research paper and the readings all year long. More on that soon.
Summer readings, translations, essays, peer review annotations. In their own words: “Annotations and class discussions. It was nice to delve into some deeper analysis and gain some new perspective on a single story. Reading out loud at home made the material easier to recall when faced with it on the exam. The random discussion/food for thought questions during reading also helped a lot because they really made me think about the text in a great context, the same way the free response section wanted me to. In fact one of our discussion questions actually ended up as the prompt for the long essay and I think that was the one portion of the test I felt most confident about when all was said and done. Learning all the Declensions and endings was also helpful for obvious reasons.” “Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit! There were many culture questions on the exam that I know I got right. The contextual questions I felt were also pretty easy. The big essay we had to right, I felt like it was very easy to analyze the passages once I had translated them. Now was my translation of those passages accurate, I dont know, but I felt like if I knew the passage, I could write forever (because of annotations and outlining essays in class).” “The multiple choice tests for Caesar and the practice essays were useful. Grammar discussions in class also helped a lot.” “The Annotations. As terrible as they were to keep up with, they were the overall most helpful part of the exam. Each one was a mini essay, or quick background check for the essay and short answer portions. They are imperative!”

5. Verbis Suis—cont.
6. What things did we do that you found personally a waste of your time?
7. What things did we do that did not help you on the exam?
8. What might we have done in the course that would have been personally appealing to you?
9. If you could change anything about the course so that it would have been more helpful to you, what would it have been?
10. Knowing what you know now, how would you have engaged in this course differently—if at all?
6. Most responses were some version of “not much at all.” One student noted that reading the entire syllabus seemed like a bit of overkill when they cold have spent more time getting better “at the language.” Some part of me loves that. This is what a CI approach does. It communicates that this is about acquiring a language and not covering material. Another student noted that in the last weeks, when our embedded readings ran out, it became suddenly more difficult. That tells me a lot about how useful the embedded readings are—even if for one students.
7. Again, most resposes were some form of “nothing we did did not help.” One student noted that while he/she enjoyed getting me off topic in a conversation, that probably did not help on the exam, and one other noted that while everything helped, when he/she did not give an activity his/her best, that became a weakness on the exam. Love the honesty!
8. Write more essays and do more translations together; do a research paper both semesters; really enjoyed reading the Daedalus and Icarus story together from Ovid. I know our time is limited, but more outside readings could help keep things varied. (The brain loves novelty); more practice exams. The overview of Caesar and Virgil that we used at the end of the year would be helpful to have at the beginning of the year. (In fact, I have now made that part of the summer reading and early fall testing. See website for copies.
9. Most said: Include more grammar discussion days; one added: better understanding of the format of the exam earlier in the year. Overall, the responses here called for “more practice” of the various items on the exam.
10. Keep up with reading at home and annotations
I should have taken more initiative outside of the classroom. I can't expect to understand this text and language that some people spend their whole lives studying in one 50 min class period. I always did the bare minimum and I feel like that will really reflect on my performance on the exam. This is a college course so it's understandable that the bulk of the learning should be done independently and outside of the classroom. You have to want to study and work hard if you're aiming for success.
Do the reading every night three times out loud.
Definitely look at Latin more than the classroom. This class requires any imaginary minimum hours of commitment in order to master it, and the hours in the classroom just isn't enough. After taking the exam, I realized how AMAZING the workbook could have been if I religiously used it. Making that ultimate decision to get the college credit for me was made a lot later than it really should have for me. I really think if I did the non-Caesar and non-Virgil related things, like grammar, vocab, and literary devices more, I would have felt more comfortable in such a rigorous class.
I wish I would have left myself some more notes to study, done more with the workbook second semester, and taken my summer reading more seriously.
I would definitely have put more work into the Virgil and Caesar workbooks because those questions are very similar to the questions on the AP Exam. I would have also spent more time on understanding each passage that I re-read later in the semester, rather than just reading it. Sometimes I read the text but didn't fully look into it, so on the exam I would remember reading this passage but not quite remember what everything meant.
Do not take the class lightly. It is the hardest class you will have senior year, not because of the work, but because of the content and expectations of the exam. If you fully devote yourself, you will work harder than you ever have, but you will learn more than you ever have. AP LATIN is truly a purpose driven course. You won't succeed unless you give it your all. Don't take advantage of how amazing Doctor is. I did my fair share of cheating the AP Latin system and it bit me in the butt. I am proud of the work I did and all I achieved. It was the most rewarding, fun, and influential class I have taken at parkview high school (probably only because of Dr. Patrick).

6. The Problem What is driving your Latin program?
What is the goal of your Latin program?
All things being equal, what do you want the goal of your program to be?
The capstone course of our Latin program is Latin 4.
Our goal is for all kinds of learners to take Latin and be successful.
We run “no fail” classrooms.
When we aim everything at AP, we lose the above.
The first three questions are soul-searching questions that require local collaboration between teachers, administrators and students. The third question is essential before jumping into all the “AP pressures” that we all have.
When we began grappling with these issues, we began to define our program with the next three statements.
And that clarified “the problem” for us. Let’s look a little more closely at our program now 11 years later.

7. Our CI Program at Parkview
Growth and Retention over a decade
1 teacher and 130 students
.2 percent retention from Latin 1 to 4
4 teachers and 600 students
60% retention from Latin 1 to 4/AP
Forget AP—for a while

8. At Parkview . . . Latin is for all kinds of learners
Can you already speak one language?
If you live in the West, Latin helps
Cultural connections
Language connections
Professional Language of all kinds
Favorite language of Special Ed department

9. At Parkview . . . Assuring success for all kinds of learners
CI focus on sheltering vocabulary but not grammar
Delivering Understandable Messages in Latin
Teacher speaking--input
Engaging readings—input—the best!
Timed Writings—student measured against self
Output is always a product of input
Daily Engagement Assessment
Test re-takes
No Homework

10. At Parkview . . . Untextbooking—go to Rachel Ash’s session!
Sheltering vocabulary and not grammar
Flexibility by teacher and by level
Deep and dynamic collaboration
Removes the pressure to “cover”
Scope and Sequence becomes comprehension and community
Vocabulary acquisition is the focus
Every student making progress is the concern
We still teach grammar, culture and history
Teacher’s job: delivering understandable messages in Latin

11. Building Success: Our Steps
Set aside AP for a while until we had a full 4 year CI program.
Administrative support from well articulated teacher concerns
Took about 5 years and became 2 teachers
Start with Latin 1 and grow up the program
Create a hybrid—Latin 4 and AP in the same room with Latin 4 being the focus—AP outside of class
Interviews and clarity about what they were taking on
Requests for more AP Latin
All the usual pressures—inflate the GPA, pad the resume, genuine interest.
Interviews: commitment to take the test

12. Resources The Embedded Readings—collaboration city!
The Sequence of a Week in AP
Annotations—well stolen from Kevin Ballestrini!
CI activities—In Latin
Embedded readings
Read and discuss
Timed writes
Read aloud 3 x each day
Philological Activities—In English
Word studies, literary analysis/interpretation, historical and cultural study, essay writing, site translations

13. What do you love? They love staying with us
Facets of CI—making progress—Differentiated
Facets of no-fail classroom
Latin 4—Our Capstone Course
This is what we are aiming for
“I may take some more Latin in college.”
AP Latin—the interview
Aspects of philology; a look at the exam; work outside of the classroom; commitment to take the exam. Is this what you love to do?
Q and A