As the second semester begins, students in Government and Economics semestre classes experience their first day of school all over again. The transition between the two semester-long classes, however, can be a challenging one for both students and the teachers.
“Ideally, I would love it if we could have a full year government class, just because I think it’s so important for being good citizens,” AP Government teacher Amanda Peters said. “But I think it’s one of those things that, if you have to share, Econ is a good counterpart to share the year with. I’m looking forward to in about two years [when] College Board is going to allow us to do testing in December so my kids from the fall will get to show their knowledge completely, within the semester when they’ve taken their class.
Switching from one class to another can present some challenges, but students such as senior Arin Bhave tools some steps to prepare for the change.
“Before the class started, I took a look at the Econ Canvas page,” Bhave said. “I looked through the first set of notes that we have to do, the first slideshow, [and] looked at AP Classroom to make sure I was signed up. Just that kind of stuff, making sure I’m ready for the first day.”
The students aren’t alone, however, in preparing for a new semester of classes.
“[I’m preparing for the change by] just making sure I have the calendar and assessment plan that reflects what my students need to accomplish this semester [ready] because this semester is shorter, so we have less academic days because of the nature of when the test falls,” Peters said. “So it’s a little more cramming than the fall.”
Conversely, for new AP Economics teacher Michael Kouznetsov, the second semester provides more leniency than the first.
“I find [the switch to be] more like a benefit in a way, because it can be an opportunity for me to more quickly reflect on how I did this last time and how I could make it better,” Kouznetsov said. “It being my first time teaching the course, I’ve also kind of relaxed. Last time I was making the wheel as it was turning, but now it’s just that I’m reforming things.”
