After months preparing with late night study sessions, practice tests and cram sheets, AP students finally take the test they have been working toward all year. As they close their exam booklets and walk out of the testing room, they are overcome with a sense of relief.
However, for many students, this feeling is short-lived, as when they return to class the next day, they are greeted with busywork assignments instead of a chance to unwind and celebrate.
Too often, students are forced to go through post-AP lectures and worksheets that feel repetitive and almost meaningless. Rather than providing valuable learning experiences, these just contribute to a mentally checked out state that wastes time for students and the class period itself.
In the final stretch of the school year, students should no longer be stuck memorizing facts and instead be given the freedom to apply their learned knowledge in creative ways. Replacing monotonous busywork, more teachers should implement post-AP projects to encourage collaboration and creativity while maintaining academic productivity.
For example, in AP U.S. History, we made videos incorporating American history in our final project.
My group spent hours inventing song lyrics, dressing up, filming scenes and editing footage together to portray major events in U.S. to Soviet relations, having a blast throughout. Despite the project’s creative freedom, it still required a thorough understanding of these topics, showing how projects can be fun and interactive while remaining academically valuable.
Another benefit of post-AP projects is that they provide students with a much needed break from the constant cycle of tests. After months of preparing for a high-stakes exam, immediately returning to worksheets and lectures can leave many students burnt out and disengaged. Projects offer a solution by having much more manageable pacing that encourages students to be consistently involved.
To institute these post-AP projects, teachers are not bound by any curriculum limitations or guidelines, so there is nothing holding them back from doing that.
Namely, College Board does not set a specific syllabus for AP courses, instead having content and skill guidelines, according to its website. With this flexibility, teachers are fully able to and should implement unique projects that push students to demonstrate their knowledge in interesting ways.
In AP Government, students could role play an interaction between the different governmental branches, demonstrating how each checks the other. In AP Literature, students could make posters about their favorite books and present key messages instead of cranking out analysis through essays. Altogether, the possibilities for student ingenuity and learning are truly endless.
The weeks after AP Exams should not be spent on mind-numbing busywork, but instead on opportunities for students to apply what they have learned in meaningful ways. After months of intense studying, teachers must introduce projects that end the school year in both a fun and educational way.
