After taking the AP exam students are often left to do meaningless work and projects. These assignments are just time fillers for the last few weeks of school. The students have already fought through a tough year and have studied tirelessly for weeks preparing for the AP test. These students now deserve a time of rest and relaxation, free from busy work and time-consuming projects.
To be fair, WJ is not in control of the timing of AP tests. They must conform to the schedule dictated by the College Board. The College Board in turn must give out tests to private schools and other schools that end earlier than Montgomery County Public schools. So, testing in early May is unavoidable and teachers are left with over a month to fill.
But they could consider other ways to keep students engaged. One option is to give students study-hall time to prepare for tests from other non-AP classes. The only problem with this is that if a student’s whole schedule was made up of AP classes, they would be left with days of meaningless study-hall.
A more effective use of this time would be to give out easier and less time consuming projects. Students would not have to stress too much about completing them and could focus on other non-AP classes.
Students could also use this time to consider college applications. Juniors and Sophomores can research colleges and begin the process of creating a resume. This would help them significantly in the future because they will have a rough idea of what they want to accomplish over the summer. Applying to colleges is a very stressful process. Giving students this time to work on it could potentially reduce stress and anxiety later.
A mixture of easy projects, study hall, and college research time is the key to filling this block of post-AP exam time.
