Making up for lost time...

This year has been a whirlwind of learning and adjusting for me and all of you, and because of this I have not done my best to maintain and update this website. Going forward, I will give the best effort to ensure I update this with every chapter.

Look forward to seeing an update in the coming days that will serve as a review of the Fall Semester and Chapters 1-5.

Open letter to all of my students.

My Dearest Students, 

There are not enough words to express my gratitude in allowing me to be your teacher. Although I have made ever attempt to impart as much knowledge as I have to offer, it is you who have taught me, (mostly patience). Each of you has changed in many amazing ways, but something has remained constant throughout. You all have shown me that warmth and kindness are in endless supply. Not to mention the joy on your faces as we discussed ideas and ways of knowing is more that any person deserves and a priceless gift of the mind and soul. You are a fine lot of ladies and gentlemen, and society will only benefit from the many things you will offer. 

As you move forward in your search of truth, do so in the service of good with determination and handwork, and remember that learning, while difficult, is a joyous and fulfilling enterprise. Let your friendships be as olive tress, provide them with water and sun, but know they are difficult to chop down and when damaged will still grow. That does not mean treat them badly, for you will still prune and cut out the rot. However, take care to ensure deep roots and fertile soil to grow and mature in. Treat others with kindness and respect regardless of their condition or will towards you. Above all else, I hope you find the pursuit that provides you with as much joy and passion as you have brought to me. Be not afraid of the challenges that arise as you move towards it, for if you are as lucky as I have been, you will have little difficulty overcoming them. 

I will remain your teacher for as long as you will have me, and it pleases me to know you are all prepared for your future endeavors, in school and life. It will not anger or saddened me if you forget the lessons you have learned during class, or if you forget me, because I will remember you and everything you have done for me. I am eternally grateful to all of you. Come visit as much as you like, you always have a “home” with me. 

Your humble teacher, 

Mr. Gifford. 

Spring Break

One thing you should do during break...

Prepare

Use this time to evaluate how well you know the information on the AP Exam. By now you should have purchased a review book to help you through the process, and one of the first things you should do is use the test (either the pre-test or the one in the back) to get a better idea of where your knowledge is lacking. One of the purposes of this is to reduce the workload of studying, so that you are not wasting time studying material you have a grasp on. 

For example: There are 75 questions on the test and 15 chapters in the book, so we can assume there will be approximately 5 questions per chapter/sections (This can depend on how your review book breaks down the material). Therefore, if you were to answer 1/5 correctly on 4 sections, 2/5 on 3 sections, 3/5 on 1 sections, 4/5 on 4 sections, and 5/5  3 sections; you would need to spend at least three-quarters of your time covering the 7 sections you only answered 1 or 2 correctly on. The remaining 25% of your time you would spend 15% covering sections you answered 3 to 4 correctly and the remaining ten percent you would spend reviewing all of the key material covered in the book. 

The above is just an example of one study scenario, yours will vary depending on your situation and how much information you need to relearn. However, this should provide s good indication on how you can develop a plan tailored for you. 

Plan 

Plan for your study sessions by setting time aside for study only, eliminate distractions ahead of time, rest properly, exercise regularly, and setup breaks and food to have during your session. By deciding how to deal with all of these before you began a study session you will have less chances of becoming distracted and taking time away from your true purpose. It would also be a good idea to let your family know not to interrupt you, turn off your phone, and put away all electronics to limit notifications and interruptions. 

Execute

Follow through with the plan and do it with no excuses! There is no better thing to do than what we can do today to prepare for tomorrow, so do not give yourself the excuse that you can just complete your study program tomorrow. If you do, you will be one more day behind in preparing for the exam. This is the part of the whole that can become increasingly difficult, because it is easy to lose motivation for goals that seem so far off. However, the goal is not that far away, and before you realize it it will be upon you. You have worked very hard to get to this point do not let it go because you are too busy, afraid of failure, or, quite simply, you are being lazy. Push forward and upward for you never know what you can achieve until you do. 

AP Scoring Guide

There are a number of guides online and in your AP Exam Review books that breakdown the scoring of the AP exam for you. However, what I wanted to do here is explain some of the confusion that is found in their explanations.

Every year the test is revised and new questions are entered and others taken away, but the College Board attempts to keep the difficulty level of the test (questions) relatively the same. However, the questions often surprise students and teachers of these courses, which can lead to a discrepancy in scores from one year to the next. The purpose of the 5-point scale is to ensure that the scores reflect the same performance level regardless of the year the test was taken. There is a statistical equation the College Board uses to calculate this number from your raw score on both the multiple-choice and short response questions.

The raw score for your test is much easier to explain and understand.

Every correctly answered multiple-choice question is worth 1 point, and there is no penalty for incorrect answers. With that being said, it would benefit you, with those questions you are unsure of an answer, to reduce the number of possible answers through the use of "word math," and then choose between the remaining options (usually only two). This portion of the test is worth 50 percent of your entire score and there are 75 questions.

 The short response questions are the reminder of test and consist of the other 50 percent of your total score. Each question is broke down into 7 points. The first point usually consist of an identifying a key word/concept and defining it. The next section is typically worth 2 points and consist of identifying an example and explaining the importance (1 point for identifying, 1 point for explaining). The last part consist of 4 points and consist of two parts in which you will need to provide an example, or identify one, and discuss the importance of it. All of the above points are not hard rules, they are just the general guidelines and the test is likely to deviate from the pattern in at least one of the questions. Your goal is to answer is portion to the best of your ability, and ensure you completely read the requirements for each section.

I hope this short explanation has been useful for you, but if you still have questions about the scoring please comment or ask in class!