It’s April, and May is just a few weeks away. With that, AP exams are closer than ever. Students had almost a whole school year of classes to prepare for their selective exams, meaning teachers had almost a whole school year to prepare us for the exams. Let’s look into how they feel about their efforts in helping students.
Mr. Miguel Tejeda is in his first year teaching AP Pre Calculus. For Mr. Tejeda, this is also his first year teaching an AP class. Mr. Tejeda has faith in his students but has his concerns as well.
“I am confident that my students are well prepared to pass their exam. The only thing that worries me is that I do not have them for 4th quarter and since they will not be in my class for over a month, they may forget some of the content.”
Ms. Kiana Blyleven has taught many AP classes before in other schools such as AP U.S. History, AP Government, AP Microeconomics, and AP Macroeconomics. This would be her fourth year teaching AP World History at CI, and her students’ scores have been getting higher as each year passes. Her previous year’s pass rate was near 60%! She’s more than confident in her chances of passing the exam and her students.
“I think I always get exceptional students in AP world and this year is no different. I know there are some students who are really going to stand out and their hard work this year is going to be reflected in their scores.”
Ms. Blyleven’s methods for preparing her students include following the College Board’s content standards and attending Saturday sessions for further help.
Ms. Blyleven says, “At the end of the day I really care about the student experience in the course … it helps them develop critical thinking skills and they are better able to articulate their ideas.” Excitingly enough, Ms. Blyleven said that College Board has hired her to assist in grading AP Exams, meaning future classes will be able to gain even more precise help as she gains more experience through this.
Ms. Vivian Nerida has been teaching AP Calculus for four years, the only AP class she has taught. She expresses how her first year of teaching the course was her most challenging one due to having to relearn the material. However, now that she knows it all, she’s “Very confident. Passing with a 5!”
She plans to focus on the exam after Spring Break is over, so look forward to that, AP Calculus students! Over the next few weeks, she’s going to look over questions from practice tests to prepare her students.
Mr. Sam Kochel has been teaching AP Psychology for over 8 whole years! Despite his countless years of experience, he expresses how it’s still difficult teaching. This year is by far no exception.
He states, “they changed the AP course quite a bit including the test, so I am more concerned about how it will all go. I’ve been working hard though and have more to do.”
He believes he’d pass with only a few mistakes, and has faith in his students like the other teachers mentioned but he is still worried over the new formatting. He’s admitted to not focusing too much on the exam itself as the content takes up a majority of his time. Although he likes the content of the class, he does say he wishes he wasn’t so worried about fitting the new exam content into his teachings.
“We’ve got time.” While this isn’t a direct claim that he will cover parts of the exam, it is a hopeful outlook for his class.
