Michael Ziegler
Teach Blue Fellow
Education is a profession that gets more complicated the longer you spend time living your life in it. That can be rewarding and infuriating in equal measures, but it’s why almost every seasoned educator you’ll meet is likely to also be one of the most thoughtful and philosophical people you meet as well.
Problem of Practice
There is a notable lack of contextual knowledge for the average high school student which impacts their ability to read/interact with complex adult texts. This impacts my students in an immediate way (they have to be able to interact with all sorts of real-world texts for the AP Lang exam) and in a more broad way (after they leave HS, they should be well-equipped to read and watch things in the real world and understand them within a broad context that will help them make meaning). I would like to focus on finding short term solutions to the AP Lang-related part of this problem while also at least considering longer term solutions to the more longitudinal version of the problem (which extends backwards through time before my class and also into their future educational endeavors).
About Michael Ziegler
Mike has been an English teacher at Novi High School for 24 years and has spent over half that time serving as a “Content Area Leader” for the department. This has allowed him to engage in curriculum leadership work and a voice at the table for other district initiatives. He currently teaches AP Language and Composition and AP Research, but has also taught English 11 including co-taught and EL versions of the course as well as IB’s Theory of Knowledge class. He has also contributed to the broader education community actively over the years as a writer for the Moving Writers blog, a presenter at various MCTE and NCTE conferences, and has also served as a rep-at-large for MCTE’s executive committee.
Mike earned his bachelor's degree from UM and eventually earned a master’s degree in K–12 Administration from MSU. He definitely didn’t want “MSU” to be the last word of his bio though, so let’s say he also has a fun sense of humor.
Accounts from Michael Ziegler
The challenges that come with writing an AP Language Synthesis Essay are stacked, one being a need for contextual knowledge. Students’ motivation to score well might be just the incentive they need to address it.
If students need contextual pool knowledge for their writing tasks but that pool is shallow, the challenges are endless. But after some conversations and research, a plan emerges to make it part of students’ writing routines.
What can we do to provide students enough background so we can assign more interesting, more sophisticated text?