Multiple choice and writing blues

Hello all,

After reading the comments for "second half of the year", I have a few comments of my own.


1. Multiple Choice- as far as MC is concerned, it has always been the beast of the test, it stinks, plain and simple. Additionally, it takes up a ton of time to do. This is why you have to complete the prompts at home and we review in class. I wish we had more time to review all 50 -60 pieces, but we just don't. I suppose it's my fault that I dropped a piece I had done for years and maybe I'll bring it back to see if it helps. Basically, we review the answers then you return to the text and justify why the correct answer IS the correct answer. It's time consuming, but it does help. Additionally, I am going to start giving you more short pieces from tests to complete in class and then we will review them, discusing the correct answer, why it is so, and what MC stem it falls under. The vocabulary will continue to be assessed and tested as you cannot answer a MC question if you do not unerstand the terminology utilized. I have spoken with many AP English teachers and this is the bane of us all.

2. Writing- As for your writing, the majority of you will do fine on the writing portion of the test, but as I promised you from the first day, the second half of the year is where we really start refining our work. The wok now is fine...very fine in many cases, but I want it to  be excellent, so I am harder on you than the test will be. With that in mind, we now have the skills to read as a writer and write as a reader, so we will be judging more aspects of AP test essays and grading them as well as reviewing student work on a daily basis. The winter months , in general, get bogged down here due to all the vacations and such, but fear not, all your writing worries will soon disappear. Unfortunately for you, the only way to become a better writer is to write... a lot.

So, as per last class, in order to get some more wiggle room we have dumped some 180s. This will give us more time most days..once we catch up from the snow days. Every year I start each AP class the same way; it's usually around this time that you begin to differentiate yourself from the class before. This is when I start tweaking a bit more to fit your needs. So we recalculate some things and go from here. Oddly enough, this is the point in the year where everyone starts panicking...wonder why that never changes? : )

You'll be fine...go have a piece of pie or a cookie and relax.

Mischley