BY JOHNNY MULLIGAN
[email protected]
Students committing to AP courses go in expecting a rigorous class and are prepared for that. AP teachers expect a lot from their students, but when it is their turn to work hard, some teachers do not reciprocate the effort students give.
This is shown come AP exams when most classes don’t offer study sessions outside of class. I am fortunate enough to have teachers who do reciprocate to their students. For weeks in APUSH there have been multiple review sessions after school and in AP Lang we have had one extremely helpful mock test. Outside of these, there are a select few other AP classes that I know of which offer these beneficial sessions.
This is completely crazy to me. Students shouldn’t be surprised when their class holds AP, they should be expected.
Students who had the class in the fall are further disadvantaged because they are not allowed the limited luxury of in-class review near the testing date. But those in-class reviews often pale in comparison to outside sessions.
Roseville High School has also purchased new AP prep books for some classes. While this will surely aid students’ studying, their first priority should be on stressing out-of-school study sessions for all AP courses. Even with the book, students could greatly benefit from having a structured period with a teacher guiding them.
Outside study sessions are extremely beneficial. The time is entirely devoted to reviewing the material. Teachers reteach whole lessons in a condensed form. Often times the information is somewhere in your head – you just need someone to knock some of the cobwebs loose before the AP exam, and that’s where these study sessions are so helpful.
While students can do study sessions with friends, teachers are the best resource for their class. Too often teachers are not available to review with students.
With exams costing $90 teachers should be willing to put in a couple after school hours to help their students because in the end it makes them look like a better teacher seeing strong AP scores coming back and students will have a higher opinion of their teachers, because they were willing to help them. Not every student will use the resource given but those who do will see greater success.
