Mr. Peter C. Paccone » Home

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Peter Paccone is a social studies department teacher with more than 30 years of teaching experience. For the 2022-23 school year, he is scheduled to teach four sections of APUSH and one section of regular US History In the past. He has also taught various sections of World History, Psychology, AP Econ and APGov.

 

Aside from his teaching, Mr. Paccone is also known as a blogger, keynote speaker, podcast host, teacher-conference presenter, and TED-Ed lesson developer.

 

Topics Mr. Paccone blogs and speaks about frequently include project-based learning, civic learning, flipped learning, distance learning, tech-in-ed, AP teaching and testing since 2016, and the call for block scheduling.

 

Mr. Paccone's more widely viewed posts include:

* The APUSH Thesis Point and My 2019 Writing Seminar (14,000+ views)

* The APUSH Contextualization Point and my 2019 Writing Seminar (6,000+ views)

* Open Letter to All AP US History Teachers (6,000+ views)

* Kahoot Launches New Update Allowing Students to Create Kahoots Right from the App! (4,500 views)

* 50 Stepping Up Activities (3,500+ views)

* Fifteen Lessons I've Learned from Online Teaching (3,000+ views)

* Why PBL is Now Finally in the Best Interest of all AP Students (2,500+ views)

* Whether to Require Students to Present on Camera (2,000+ views)

* The APGov Applied Civics Project Requirement (2,000+ views)

* An Old Document (the Constitution) Comes Alive with New Classroom Technology (2,000+ views)

* SAQs for Period 8 (2,000 views)

* Flipping AP with the AP Daily Videos (1,000+ views)

*The Student-Produced TED-Ed Lesson (1,000+ views)

* Sharing Your Best Work With Other Teachers (1,000+ views)

* How And Why I Became A Teacher Twitter Convert (1,000+ views)

* What this APUSH Teacher Thinks About AP Classroom (1,000+ views)

* The Chinese Railroad Workers and the Donner Pass Tunnels (500+ views)
* For those Wanting to Visit The Donner Pass Tunnels (500+ views)

* How I am Teaching AP Macro

* The Call for Block and my 2021 Research Findings

* Students’ Call for a “Holiday Homework Ban” Leads to Change

* Edutopia’s ‘11 Questions You’ll Be Asked at a Teaching Interview’ and my Question #12

* AP and the Call for Grace

* Are You a High School Teacher Who Likes to Write?
UDL and the Call to Remove All Barriers to Learning in AP


One of Mr. Paccone's better-received teacher conference presentations can be viewed by clicking here.  Another one can be found by clicking here.

 

His two TED-Ed Lessons are:

* How do US Supreme Court Justices Get Appointed? (1,000,000 views)

* Why is the US Constitution so Hard to Amend? (500,000 views)

 

Both lessons were produced with the help of former SMUSD Superintendent Loren Kleinrock.

 

Mr. Paccone's Titan Talk podcasts (which he co-hosts with fellow SMHS social studies teacher Andrew Gayl) can be accessed by clicking here. 

 

These interview-formatted, bi-monthly podcasts highlight two kinds of educators . . . those who have something of value to say in regards to teaching, learning, testing, and wellness and those who have a personal story worth sharing. Two of Mr. Paccone's and Mr. Gayl's more widely listened to podcasts are found below:

* The Trevor Packer Interview. In this interview, Mr. Packer (the head of College Board's Advanced Placement Program) describes CB's new online AP Course and Exam Descriptions, AP Classroom, and more.

* The Bob Lenz Interview. In this interview, Mr. Lenz (the PBLWorks CEO and natIonally acclaimed project-based Learning expert head of College Board's Advanced Placement Program) answers numerous questions related to project-based learning.

 

On occasion, other SMUSD teachers stand in for either Mr. Paccone or Mr. Gayl. Recently, two SMHS juniors (Janette Fu and Madison Ly) produced two Titan Talks of their own.

* The Alan Tang Interview. In this interview, Alan (an SMHS twelfth grader) describes his Formula IV race car driving career. Formula IV race cars are open-wheeled, single-seater racing cars intended for younger (aka junior) drivers worldwide.

* The Christina Bui Interview. In this interview, Christina (an SMHS eleventh grader) describes her 2017 kidney transplant.

 

Mr. Paccone also serves on several teacher advisory committees (iCivics, WGBH, Council of Foreign Relations, and KQED in particular.) From 2015-2019, he also served as a teacher advisor to the California Better Together Teacher Summit Standing Committee.

 

Mr. Paccone's Twitter account can be found @PeterPaccone. Only posts related to education can be found there.