European History

INSTRUCTOR: Benny Parekkadan

DATES: July 3-7, 2023 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; off Tuesday, July 4)

Register for European History

2023 AP® European History Workshop Description:

This virtual workshop is highly recommended to keep yourself updated to meet the requirements of the most recent AP® European History redesign. It will be tailored to meet the needs of both new and experienced teachers in AP® European History and participants will have the opportunity to:

  • Consider ways to retool their classroom instruction to align with elements of the new AP® European History exam and curriculum requirements;
  • Peruse the framework and unit development strategies in the new Course and Exam Description;
  • Examine approaches to formulating units and activities for instruction;
  • Explore ways to use AP® classroom:unit guides, progress checks, progress dashboard, and question bank;
  • Review AP® European History thinking skills and reasoning processes;
  • Gain insights on the construction of multiple-choice questions and techniques for students to handle them;
  • Compare the value of theme-based versus concept-based strategies in classroom instruction;
  • Explore some tools and strategies for online instruction;
  • Reflect on developmental strategies for classroom instruction;
  • Discuss strategies and methods to improve essay writing (thesis development, sourcing, analysis and reasoning);
  • Share and reflect on challenges, helpful resources and best practices;
  • Participate in activities to standardize them to the scoring requirements of the exam; and
  • Obtain samples of useful materials and tools that they might want to consider for classroom use. 

About the Instructor

Benny Parekkadan teaches AP® European History. He is currently a table leader and has been a reader of the AP® European History exam for about a decade. Benny was invited to be on the Instructional Design Team for AP® European History for the College Board®. He also has close to 20 years of experience in testing overall, from working as a content reviewer of European History for Kaplan to SAT classes for both Math and English for Princeton Review and Kaplan.

Benny has been honored with many student-initiated awards (e.g., MIT’s "Most Influential Teacher", University of Chicago’s “Outstanding Teacher” Award), and has been a participant in multiple National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) seminars, plus received honors as a coach (Edison Chamber of Commerce World Achievement Award and two Omer Awards).

Related to and outside of the academic setting, Benny is involved with his students as a coach of a competitive club focused on developing creativity called Odyssey of the Mind. In the past, he has been an advisor and participant in Habitat for Humanity, a history and film club, an Ultimate Frisbee club, and an international club. Benny has mentored numerous student teachers and has held workshops for a great number of teachers, ranging from personality assessments to organizing instructional units for history. He is very service-oriented and is always looking for ways to empower both students and teachers.   

All participants need to agree that you will not make any video or audio recordings of any APSI sessions, for any use, including personal use, without the prior written consent of College Board®.

*College Board®, AP®, Advanced Placement Program® and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used with permission.