Lectures have their place, but sometimes students need to step into history themselves. This Choose-Your-Own-Adventure activity on the English Civil War let my AP Euro students explore turning points through roleplay, choices, and consequences—making the conflict between Charles I and Parliament more engaging and memorable.
Author: Shane Twaddell
Negotiating History: A Classroom Simulation of the Treaty of Westphalia
Simulations bring history alive, even if students don’t always land on the “right” outcome. My Treaty of Westphalia simulation in AP European History pushed students to negotiate, compromise, and reflect, skills as valuable as the history itself.
Teaching Responsible Use of AI Tools in the Social Sciences
From fabricated speeches in ancient history to AI-generated fake sources today, the challenges of exaggeration, bias, and distortion aren’t new. Teaching students how to spot and overcome these pitfalls builds stronger thinkers than banning AI ever could.
Bridging Math and History: Eratosthenes and the Flat-Earth Myth
Blending math and history, I used flat earth debates to show students how interpretation, sources, and myth-making shape what we think we know.
Cards on the Table: Starting AP Euro with a game
I designed a custom strategy game called Institutions and Ideologies, themed around the Renaissance through Enlightenment. The game introduces students to major ideas and institutions of early modern Europe through unique decks, influence mechanics, and competitive play. Check it out, and try it in your own classroom.
Designing Competency-Based Rubrics Aligned to the C3 Framework
Back in December, I shared some thoughts on the differences between standards-based and competency-based teaching and assessment. Since then, I’ve drafted competency-based rubrics for each dimension of the C3 Framework. In this post, I’ll share those rubrics and explain the thinking behind how I constructed them.
AP World Released DBQs & LEQs by Topic & Year (Updated 2025)
Quick Reference charts for the AP World DBQ and LEQ released topics from past exams. Includes links to the College Board PDFs. Files are in doc and excel format.
Searching for Depth in AP World
This reflection explores strategies for deepening historical thinking in AP World History despite limited seat time. It highlights resources like Deadly Companions, Istanbul, and Gallagher’s “Imperialism of Free Trade,” while advocating for historiography, Harkness discussions, and thematic integration to enhance student engagement, critical thinking, and skill development across the course.
Teaching Continuity and Change: Engaging Classroom Strategies
Continuity and Change over Time tends to be more difficult for students to grasp than causation or comparison. It's also harder to practice because it requires a broader range of content knowledge. Students need to be able to get a sense of the "big picture" to engage in meaningful analysis that goes beyond assessing a single turning point.
Working with Rubrics: Analytical vs. Standards-Based vs. Competency-Based
Over the past few months, I have explored a wide range of rubric models. My goal was to develop something that threads the needle between standards-based proficiency scales and a competency-based rubric. I experimented with some complex designs, but ultimately landed on a rather basic structure erring on the side of simplicity. This post captures my thoughts on all types of rubrics as I have prepared to integrate aspects of competency instruction and assessment in my classroom.