Time quickly dwindles away as AP Calculus students prepare for their AP test. Ten chapters worth of information has been jammed into their heads, and they continue to learn and practice honing their skills.
On Saturday, April 25, there was a practice AP test. This included the full, three hour test, which consisted of 6 multiple choice questions and 40 some multiple choice questions.
Students’ opinions on this opportunity varied widely. While this was, of course, not a required practice since it was not on a school day, it was rather beneficial. This was administered to students to give them a taste of what the full test will be like. Including breaks similar to the real AP test, as well as food beforehand since this will also be done during the real test.
Mrs. Debbi Marks is trying her hardest to help students prepare for the AP Calculus test. As the day gets closer, she has offered various after school practices and extra opportunities to prepare for the big day. After school, April 28 and 30, and May 4 and 5, Mrs. Marks is offering her knowledge to students willing to come for extra help and preparation.
Emily Roozen, a sophomore student preparing for the AP test, is not looking forward to the test. According to Roozen, “I’m just not sure if taking the class is worth it right now. I had to in order to get credits to graduate, but I’m afraid I won’t remember the stuff in college.” Roozen is not the only student who was required to take the class to graduate, but this isn’t fazing them. Sophomores currently in this class had to at least take the first semester, as the seven of them would be short math credits if they did not. These students were bumped up to their next year’s advanced math class starting in 7th grade.
Students should be adequately prepared. Not only has Mrs. Marks been teaching a form of calculus for around 27 years, she has given numerous practice AP tests and questions since the beginning of the year. Starting in September, free response questions were assigned as homework and quizzes and not long after, multiple choice tests began showing up. Free response questions are questions where full work must be shown, and the answers
Travis McDonald, a junior in calculus, said, “I feel the practice tests have really helped me. I think Marks has done a great job with helping us be ready, and wouldn’t want the class to be taught by anyone but her.” This feeling is common, as many of the calculus students have also had her as a teacher for algebra 2 and 3.
Tara Adams, a senior in the class, isn’t too hopeful about the test. “I’ll be honest, I’m scared to death! It is so intimidating!”
Hopefully with Mrs. Marks excellent preparation and experience, all of the kids in her class will be able to attain college credits.