Comments on: The testing culture strikes again http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/05/21/the-testing-culture-strikes-again/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:42:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Justin Snider http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/05/21/the-testing-culture-strikes-again/#comment-7472 Justin Snider Fri, 22 May 2009 18:00:36 +0000 http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/05/21/the-testing-culture-strikes-again/#comment-7472 Toni, you're definitely right that teaching and learning shouldn't cease just because AP exams have come and gone. On the other hand, good students -- those who put in tons of overtime to prepare well for the AP exams -- do feel, and rightly so, that they deserve a bit of a break. In the early 1990s, I spent an average of 5-6 hours a night studying in high school, and that average only increased as March and April rolled around each year. I was completely spent by mid-May of senior year (when I had five AP exams). Also, I knew I'd be heading to a four-year college that didn't accept AP scores, but that didn't stop me from trying my best on the exams. But nobody deserves what essentially amounts to a four-week vacation when school is still in session. My own AP teachers mostly did what Rebecca does -- use the time for things that didn't have a place in the curriculum earlier in the year. Should that be a diet of nothing but movies? No. Is the occasional movie to be frowned upon? No again. A good AP Lit. teacher might decide to screen, for example, two or three versions of _Hamlet_ that the class didn't have time to watch earlier in the year. Dicussions and a low-stakes writing assignment comparing and contrasting the merits of each film could follow. This is meaningful but fun work. My senior year AP Lit. teacher gave us only one assignment to complete between the AP exam in mid-May and the end of school in mid-June: write an 8-page paper on the works of an author you wish to study in great detail. I chose Dostoevsky. We had read _Crime and Punishment_ that year, and so I took the opportunity to delve into some of his other works (e.g., _Notes from the Underground_, _The Double_, etc.). Every student came up with his/her own topic that the teacher had to approve. A friend of mine wrote on Joan Didion's short stories. It was probably the first time most of us had any say in what we wrote about -- choosing the texts and topics -- and we jumped at the opportunity. It hardly seemed like work. (But, then again, we were dorky AP kids.) An option for AP Composition teachers -- if they have mostly juniors -- is to spend the last month of school talking about what students should be looking for in colleges. Some preliminary essay writing (for personal statements) can also happen. I know I wouldn't have attended a small liberal arts college (in New England, of course) if one of my English teachers hadn't brought the concept to my attention via a Sports Illustrated cover story in 1994 or so. I'm from California, where it seems most people have heard of nothing beyond Stanford, Berkeley and UCLA. Toni, you’re definitely right that teaching and learning shouldn’t cease just because AP exams have come and gone. On the other hand, good students — those who put in tons of overtime to prepare well for the AP exams — do feel, and rightly so, that they deserve a bit of a break. In the early 1990s, I spent an average of 5-6 hours a night studying in high school, and that average only increased as March and April rolled around each year. I was completely spent by mid-May of senior year (when I had five AP exams). Also, I knew I’d be heading to a four-year college that didn’t accept AP scores, but that didn’t stop me from trying my best on the exams.

But nobody deserves what essentially amounts to a four-week vacation when school is still in session. My own AP teachers mostly did what Rebecca does — use the time for things that didn’t have a place in the curriculum earlier in the year. Should that be a diet of nothing but movies? No. Is the occasional movie to be frowned upon? No again. A good AP Lit. teacher might decide to screen, for example, two or three versions of _Hamlet_ that the class didn’t have time to watch earlier in the year. Dicussions and a low-stakes writing assignment comparing and contrasting the merits of each film could follow. This is meaningful but fun work.

My senior year AP Lit. teacher gave us only one assignment to complete between the AP exam in mid-May and the end of school in mid-June: write an 8-page paper on the works of an author you wish to study in great detail. I chose Dostoevsky. We had read _Crime and Punishment_ that year, and so I took the opportunity to delve into some of his other works (e.g., _Notes from the Underground_, _The Double_, etc.). Every student came up with his/her own topic that the teacher had to approve. A friend of mine wrote on Joan Didion’s short stories. It was probably the first time most of us had any say in what we wrote about — choosing the texts and topics — and we jumped at the opportunity. It hardly seemed like work. (But, then again, we were dorky AP kids.)

An option for AP Composition teachers — if they have mostly juniors — is to spend the last month of school talking about what students should be looking for in colleges. Some preliminary essay writing (for personal statements) can also happen. I know I wouldn’t have attended a small liberal arts college (in New England, of course) if one of my English teachers hadn’t brought the concept to my attention via a Sports Illustrated cover story in 1994 or so. I’m from California, where it seems most people have heard of nothing beyond Stanford, Berkeley and UCLA.

]]> By: Toni http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/05/21/the-testing-culture-strikes-again/#comment-7450 Toni Fri, 22 May 2009 02:11:26 +0000 http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/05/21/the-testing-culture-strikes-again/#comment-7450 It's true...students do love the movie tradition, and it might be hard to get them away from it. But I think the last few weeks are a good time to redefine "real class time" as less about Aims, Do Nows and homework and more about experimenting with how kids can really enjoy learning. I'm glad you decided to teach some fun material during that time, and that at least some students appreciated it. It’s true…students do love the movie tradition, and it might be hard to get them away from it. But I think the last few weeks are a good time to redefine “real class time” as less about Aims, Do Nows and homework and more about experimenting with how kids can really enjoy learning. I’m glad you decided to teach some fun material during that time, and that at least some students appreciated it.

]]> By: Rebecca http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/05/21/the-testing-culture-strikes-again/#comment-7449 Rebecca Fri, 22 May 2009 01:21:11 +0000 http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/05/21/the-testing-culture-strikes-again/#comment-7449 No wonder my AP students were so annoyed with me. I used the post-AP time to teach fun and lighter pieces that didn't fit in to other classes' curricula. They came around and learned to love Wilde and more modern authors. I can tell you from past years that not all students want to have post-AP time as "real" class time. Refreshing. No wonder my AP students were so annoyed with me. I used the post-AP time to teach fun and lighter pieces that didn’t fit in to other classes’ curricula. They came around and learned to love Wilde and more modern authors.

I can tell you from past years that not all students want to have post-AP time as “real” class time. Refreshing.

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