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Upon taking this Regents exam, I became a little nervous and disillusioned with my aptitude to be a Global History teacher. I have reviewed the standards for Global History, and I am woefully aware of the Eurocentric curricula that I have studied up until very recently. I felt a bit of imposter syndrome that I was not really prepared to answer questions outside of the wheelhouse of topics that I studied in depth in the past. With a lump in my throat, I entered the examination file. I was pleased that I scored well on the multiple choice portion and that my mock essay outlines matched the essay criteria. I suddenly realized that the skills and information that I engaged with are in my store of memory and skillsets, which means I would now need to practice how to distill the mental processes to approach the Regent examination.

Recently, my cooperating teacher mentioned a striking reality that steered my interpretation of the examination: "only 5 individual women have been explicitly mentioned in the Regents." She went on to introduce the idea that "history is written by the winners,"  and that power dynamics through patriarchy, racism and homophobia have impacted the way history is told and understood. When I realized this was this week's journal, I entered the exam hyper vigilant of which narratives had spotlight and value according to the state, and what this would mean for my students success and empowerment.

At first, I noticed how historical skills were subtly embedded into the multiple choice section and overtly stated in the essay portion. The essay's criteria used words like describe and discuss and used concrete definitions, which I think could dispel some of the confusion about what is required in the essay. On the other hand, the multiple choices ask students to evaluate statements, make connections, and comprehend different modes of information like political cartoons. I believe multiple choice question at the bottom of this post was particularly difficult. The question requires that students would be able to read the picture for its symbolic imagery, connect it to the fall of the Soviet Union, and then know what were the causes of the fall. In doing so, they need to use context clues to understand how Gorbachev is being used in the cartoon and then how he would relate to the downfall. This is the first time I have reflected upon multiple choice questions and thought about their complexity. The strategy of "process of elimination" and deconstructing questions is second nature to me now, but I began to think of my future students with learning disabilities. These students might appreciate the definitions within the essay section, but they might have difficulty processing visual information found in questions like this or decoding what the question is asking. I think to better support these students, I need to model how to approach multiple choice questions and pick apart the hidden information and steps within the questions. I can administer practice examinations and teach how to deconstruct what the question is asking and how they can make connections between images and information. Additionally, students with learning disabilities can also have difficulties comprehending abstract concepts such as time and chronology, which could impact their ability to make historical connections.

Next, I considered how some students might find trouble with the essay portion in engaging in primary source analysis. Personally, my biggest struggle in social studies writing was crossing the line from description to analysis and argumentation. I think my students might find it difficult to read the documents, discern necessary information from close reading, and then formulate responses to the prompts in the timeline given. I did find it helpful that each primary source document had a scaffolding sub-questions that would help them focus their attention to the concepts that help them answer the larger task. While this can help them develop a process and a direction for their writing, I think it will be important to cover the steps of Reading Like a Historian, which will help them further address primary source documents and be able to save time for organization. Organization is another cause for concern, as writing conventions and skill levels vary across the classroom body. I will need to work with students on their writing and see their skillsets on individual levels to help them improve. For example, there are differences between issues in syntax and incorporation of evidence. I will hold writing workshops to address the writing style needed specifically for DBQ questions.

Finally, I thought about my students that have anxiety around test taking and normally succeed in alternate modes of assessment. I will not try to placate them because this examination does determine if they can graduate high school, but I can be realistic about what steps they can do to approach the examination with a clear head. I can go over stress coping practices such as meditation, time management for study game plans, and on-the spot troubleshooting during the examination. I can also help them prepare what to anticipate by covering what topics and themes are popular on previous exams. I can practice with them how any historical event can be extended in several directions to tap to common themes, so they can know one topic in depth and comfortably and apply that. For example, on this Regent exam the essay question asked about individuals that brought about dramatic change in their government, economy or society. This question can be answered broadly and if I prepare my students to see topics they are comfortable with in depth, I can help them attack such questions from familiar angles.