AP class, and teaching “to the test”

Posted by Kira on September 3, 2010

This year I am blessed with two sections of AP Art History. Yes, I said “blessed.” This is a challenging course to teach, and to learn! The biggest challenge for me is having to break down course content that I am personally in love with, into manageable, recallable chunks. The study guide materials I found for the book we are using even have a “Test Strategy” paragraph for each chapter- noting what students will need to know to score a passing grade on the AP exam in May.

Well, let’s talk about loving what you do….

I love art, and Art History has been the only history I could stomach all throughout my own education. I learned about the history of the world through the eyes of creative expression. I joke with my students- Art History is the History of the world- from 32,000 BC to yesterday! The 101 level “survey” class is really too much, but that’s the way they teach it so I’ve gotta go with it. I have to get through a huge book, 32 chapters, by winter break- so I can give the kids a practice AP for their midterm and then have time to restart the timeline for a nice long review session before the May 3 test. Then what? The kids perceive that they are done once they take that test- even though we have another whole month of school. That month is when I plan to let them have FUN with the material. I just hope they aren’t sick of it by that time.

Teaching for a test in just one class is slightly depressing and certainly repressing my creativity- I can only empathize with my colleagues in the Language Arts and Math- because that is ALL they do.

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