HELLOS TO ALL AP US ALUMNI HOME FOR BREAK

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND WELCOME HOME TO ALL AP US ALUMNI, IT WAS GOOD TO SEE SOME OF YOU ALTHOUGH BRIEFLY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. IT IS ALWAYS NICE TO HAVE MEMBERS OF THE VARIOUS PAST AP CLASSES STOP BY AND LET US KNOW HOW THEY ARE DOING IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD. THEY ALWAYS ASK HOW THIS YEAR'S AP CLASSES ARE DOING AND THEY ARE VERY INTERESTED IN THE NEW RECRUITS CARRYING ON THEIR LEGACY OF TRADITION. I AM ALWAYS EXCITED TO HEAR HOW THEY ARE DOING IN THEIR COLLEGE HISTORY COURSES AND LOVE THE STORIES OF HOW THEY ARE STILL USING THEIR READERS IN COLLEGE TO HELP WITH SURVEY COURSES. PART OF WHAT DRIVES ME AS AN AP TEACHER IS TO UPHOLD THE STANDARDS THEY SET BY PUSHING THE CURRENT CLASSES TO MAINTAIN THAT STANDARD OF ACHIEVEMENT. I KNOW THEY WOULD WANT YOU TO WORK AS HARD AS THEY DID AND HOPEFULLY EXPERIENCE AS MUCH SUCCESS AS THEY DID AS WELL. THAT'S PRETTY MUCH WHAT TRADITION IS ALL ABOUT

FRQ'S AND DBQ'S AP US WRITING TO UPHOLD TRADITION

WELL I JUST CORRECTED ANOTHER SET OF FRQ'S, PRETTY AMAZING THAT IT IS NOT EVEN DECEMBER FIRST AND BOTH CLASSES HAVE WRITTEN FOUR FREE RESPONSE ESSAYS AND ONE DOCUMENT BASED ESSAY. THAT'S A TOTAL OF FIVE COMPREHENSIVE ESSAYS ALREADY, AND I MUST SAY THAT THE SCORES ARE GETTING BETTER AND BETTER. YOU ARE REALLY IMPROVING IN ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR WRITING, THAT ONLY BODES WELL AS WE PREPARE FOR THE HIGH STAKES TEST IN MAY. I HONESTLY FEEL THAT YOU WILL BE BETTER PREPARED THAN ANY OTHER AP CLASS I HAVE TAUGHT IN TERMS OF WRITING ESSAYS. A BIG REASON FOR THAT IS THE PRE-AP COURSE AND THE ABILITY NOW TO REALLY GET INTO THE CONTENT MATERIAL AND ADDRESS IT WITH ASSESSMENT THAT CONTAINS EITHER A FRQ OR A DBQ. WE WILL BE TAKING A SHORT REPRIEVE FROM FRQ'S, BUT WILL HAVE ANOTHER DBQ RIGHT BEFORE THE HOLIDAY BREAK. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND REMEMBER ALL THIS PRACTICE WILL PAY OFF ON MAY 8TH. I MEAN HONESTLY DO YOU THINK YOU WILL BE INTIMIDATED BY ANY WRITING ASSESSMENTS ON THE AP TEST AFTER ALL OF THE WRITING YOU HAVE DONE THUS FAR.

A CONTROVERSIAL AP ISSUE

AN INTERESTING QUESTION WAS POSED TO ME THE OTHER NIGHT, A SUPPORTER OF NHS ASKED "WHY DOESN'T THE COLLEGE BOARD PUT AP SCHOOL SCORES IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS RATHER THAN JUST RECOGNIZING AP INDIVIDUAL SCHOLARS WHO HAVE DONE WELL". THIS SUPPORTER WAS WELL AWARE OF HOW WELL THAT MOST OF THE AP CLASSES IN ALL SUBJECTS HAVE DONE RECENTLY AND WANTED TO KNOW WHY THOSE SCORES ARE NOT PUBLICIZED AND COMPARED LIKE MCAS SCORES. WHAT THEY WERE GETTING AT WAS COMPARING SCORES TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS LIKE BISHOP FEEHAN AND COYLE CASSIDY, ETC. PRIVATE SCHOOLS DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE THE MCAS TEST SO THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT COMPARED TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN TERMS OF THAT STANDARDIZED TEST. BUT, BOTH TYPES OF SCHOOLS DO GIVE AP TESTS IN A WIDE ARRAY OF SUBJECTS, THIS SUPPORTER WAS WONDERING WHY THAT INFORMATION WOULD NOT BE PUBLICLY AVAILBLE TO PARENTS ESPECIALLY OF 8TH GRADERS WHO ARE CONSIDERING BOTH TYPES OF SCHOOLS. AN INTERESTING QUESTION WHICH I DID NOT HAVE AN ANSWER FOR BUT KNOWING HOW WELL NHS HAS DONE IN A PLETHORA OF SUBJECTS, A QUESTION WHICH CERTAINLY WOULD NOT BE INTIMIDATING TO NHS. I WONDER IF THE COLLEGE BOARD HAS EVER CONSIDERED IT AND THOUGHT ABOUT MAKING IT A REQUIREMENT, AFTER ALL THESE ARE HIGH STAKE PLACEMENT TESTS FOR SOME OF THE TOP STUDENTS. I AM SURE THERE WOULD BE SOME RESISTANCE EVEN FROM HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS BUT THIS MAY EVEN MOTIVATE STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND SCHOOLS TO STRIVE FOR FURTHER SUCCESS.......