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The AP Exam Portfolio Approach

Are you in need of some help with designing an effective AP Exam Review season? You want to have productive in-class sessions, without endless stacks of worksheets that lead to student burnout. Are you pressed for time to finish the curriculum?

The portfolio approach has been my faithful standby for more than 15 years. With seniors looking for their great exodus from high school, and underclassmen chasing the class-ranking numbers, a portfolio that helps you justify a 4th quarter grade is a great tool for accountability.

Your goal is to MOTIVATE AND ENCOURAGE all of your learners, even those who have “checked-out” given up, or those that are “just finished” for the year. The student’s goal is to MAKE MISTAKES!

So, with those two goals in mind, let’s look at the five main components we can use to create a Student Portfolio during our 4th Quarter AP Exam Review. These five elements are chosen with success in mind for both student and teacher.

1. Multiple Choice Question Sets

2. Free Response Focus Topics

3. What do we need to accomplish during class periods?

4. How can you run an effective AP Mock Exam Setting?

5. How will you grade the Portfolio Project?

Let’s Dive In . . .

1. Take Home Multiple-Choice Questions

Find a set of multiple-choice questions that can be sent home for practice.  If you have the Flamingo Math Curriculum, there are 7 fully-editable Multiple Choice Monday sets. You can mix and match to build the perfect practice for your students. Have your students work the questions, at home. I recommend they work problems on one-side only of loose-leaf paper.  Provide solutions on the due date and have students work corrections in cooperative groups during a designated class period, on the back side of the paper. Remember our student goal is to make mistakes.

For student accountability: Encourage them to highlight any discoveries, rules, theorems, errors in thinking in another color.  This will help them in the final days of their independent review.

2. Free Response Focus Topics

My math hero is Lin McMullin. In his blog, Teaching Calculus, there are posts on each of the 10 types of question stems that are tested on both the AB and BC exams.  Your task will be to create a set of 6 old FRQ’s for each Type. Students are responsible for completing 4 out of 6 Free Response Questions for each given focus topic.  If students complete all six prompts, there is an opportunity to earn bonus points for their 4th Quarter Portfolio Grade.  

Teacher Prep:

  1. Choose 6 questions for each Focus Topic, I do not tell students about the answers being available and I remove the year of the prompt when I make copies. Be sure to include whether the question is calculator active or inactive.
  2. Make a packet, with the Focus Topic Cover Sheet and Notes pages for each student. (Type 1-7 for AP Calc AB and all 10 Types for AP Calc BC.)
  3. Distribute 2-3 focus topic packets each week and provide class time for cooperative work.
  4. On the first day, have students work through one free response in a timed, 15-minute session.  Then, have them share out their work and responses.  Corrections should be done in a different color during this discussion period.  Once again, it is for their benefit to better prepare and focus. Remember the student goal is to make mistakes.
  5. Explain the importance of working toward completing one FRQ in 15-minutes.  Encourage them to try this at home and move on to the next question at the end of every 15 minutes.  If they don’t practice, they will panic!

3. In Class Topics (a great time for making mistakes)

There are definite concepts and topics that your students will tell you they still don’t understand, if you ask! This is a great opportunity to re-teach those lessons in a single session.  Just survey your classes to find what they need. You can use the 45-page Target Practice Set for specific topic drills.

But an even better use of class time is setting up stations and review activities where you can circulate and assist those who need a helping hand or an encouraging word to persevere.

4. An AP Mock Exam

If you have time, choose one secure document to administer during a single session about 2 weeks prior to the exam date.  Our school provides a single Saturday session at the end of April, every year.  We bring breakfast, drinks, and snacks for about 150 students. This yearly event has become a BIG DEAL, and now a tradition, that students look forward to attending each year.  Word spreads about the effectiveness of practicing and the value that this intense 4-hour workout provides. 

If you can’t manage such an event, break up the pieces to fit your school class schedule. If you have 90-minute blocks, you can complete the exam in 3 class settings.  If you have 45-50 minute classes, it takes a little more creativity on the Part A multiple choice section and the Part B Free Response section since those are 60-minute portions. These will overlap into two days, but you should be able to complete the entire exam in 5 class days.

5. Fourth Quarter Grade Approach

All students peer grade the portfolios. They draw names to keep a somewhat random grading system. Every student must grade 3 other portfolios on a grading sheet. Students turn in the grading sheet when completed. I look for a median score in the 3 graders in order to find equity for the student.  If one grader is an outlier, I have them explain their scoring method to me or look through the portfolio for any discrepancies.

It’s Time to Plan . . .

If you would like to give the Portfolio approach a try with your AP Calculus students, take advantage of these fully-editable documents to get started, I can send them to you today!

Let me know how it goes!

Jean

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