At the end of the school year, it can be a difficult task to keep students engaged after AP and STAAR testing, and the end of the school year. Typically, two approaches are taken to keep students focused: either tests or projects are given, each appealing to a different type of teacher and student.

“By the end of the school year I have no motivation to continue working,” senior Muskaan Ali said. “We all just want school to be over so it’s hard to want to continue to do things in class everyday.”

For most core classes, the large amount of curriculum leads teachers to take the approach of testing and quizzing, in order to allow students to continue with the same routine they’ve been doing all year.  

“We still have two or three more lessons,” math teacher Amy Granier said. “There’s a lot of curriculum that simply didn’t allow a project to fit, so we didn’t have as much freedom. This way students don’t have to worry about making a big deal out of a project.”

On the flip side, many electives see the end of the year as an opportunity to allow students to show what they’ve learned through projects.

“By this time I trust students to their own devices,” dance teacher Jenna Fisher said. “There’s not necessarily concrete vocabulary-type material to assess. Students have all the tools they need and I think they should take all they’ve learned and run with it.”

Although tests and projects can both require considerable amounts of effort, typically one will appeal to a student more than the other.

“Personally I like tests because you get them done and over with,” Ali said. “Projects drag on but a lot of other people seem to like them better.”