Advanced placement (AP) first semester classes are nearing the end. Many students are nervous about taking the exam, some even more so than previous years. Marriotts Ridge is offering AP students a seminar course to prepare for the exam into the Spring Semester in preparation for the AP exam or exams.
“Students are expected to attend, and attendance will be taken. Each student will receive an individual grade,” Assistant Principal Tammy Foyles said.
The course is non-weighted, although attendance and grades will be counted. Students who might select or are enrolled in this course should be able to work independently in a structured setting. There will be a teacher present, but it may not be the original first semester teacher that taught the subject.
“There will be eight seminar teachers. However, a teacher for your subject might not be in the meeting. If not, other teachers are there as a resource and support,” Foyles said.
The AP Seminar is intended to be for students and teachers as a self-paced study hall. Students will have access to resources to prepare.
“First semester AP courses will remain accessible to students in Canvas during the second semester,” AP Coordinator Testing Assistant Lisa Scott said.
Students will also have access to their APclassroom after their first semester class is over, although the resources must still be unlocked by the teacher that is associated with the class. The College Board recommends, instead, that students utilize the week by week YouTube lessons to review for the exams.
The most important feature of the AP Seminar is to provide students with suitable resources to review all the content of the first semester. Students can expect the AP Seminar to be taught by AP teachers across all content areas who can assist and provide resources while preparing for the exam. The AP Seminar is built into the schedule within common periods to provide students the opportunity to work with more than one teacher.
Students still do not know what to fully expect with the AP Seminar. Students have varying feelings about taking the AP exam in May.
“I’m nervous, but nothing out of the ordinary. I’m just going to do my best and that’s all there is to it,” junior Karina Kuonen said.
Many students have shared some concern about taking the exam, and they emphasized that they’ll revisit the content before taking it. However, other students do not share the same worries.
“I think I will do bad on the AP test because I would be in a [bad] testing environment. I am worried that learning everything in half the amount of time that we usually would, and not continuing to learn it for a couple of months, will affect my score. I am also a bad test taker in general,” Colburn said.
The shortened time to learn the material can make students feel rushed while trying to understand all the concepts that were taught. Along with the several-month break between first semester and the exam can add even more stress. The AP Seminar offers help and a stress-reliever in the second semester to assist students in preparing for AP exams.