Last Friday, I had the opportunity to shadow a
senior, Rin Oisaghie. Rin’s schedule is a challenging one. She takes five AP courses: Physics C,
Literature, Computer Principles, Calculus BC, and Government. She is also
taking spiritual journey after lunch and is in student leadership which meets a
couple times a week at 0 period. To prepare for the day, I reflected on what
question would guide me as I experienced her day. I decided to consider one
main question: what would this day feel like physically, intellectually, and
emotionally from the perspective of a student. For the purposes of this blog, I
will not go through the experience of each class, but will rather share themes
that ran through my day in light of my guiding question.
senior, Rin Oisaghie. Rin’s schedule is a challenging one. She takes five AP courses: Physics C,
Literature, Computer Principles, Calculus BC, and Government. She is also
taking spiritual journey after lunch and is in student leadership which meets a
couple times a week at 0 period. To prepare for the day, I reflected on what
question would guide me as I experienced her day. I decided to consider one
main question: what would this day feel like physically, intellectually, and
emotionally from the perspective of a student. For the purposes of this blog, I
will not go through the experience of each class, but will rather share themes
that ran through my day in light of my guiding question.
A day at school means a lot of sitting. Students
sit a lot. Most of the classes that I attended included a lot of group and
student interaction. Few classes had students passively taking in information
in the form of a lecture or individual reading. Physically though, students did
not move. I felt stuck to my chair, and frequently felt uncomfortable, but
unable to stand up and move around. Conversely, Rin and I had a hard time
making it to class on time when we had to travel between De La Salle and
Carondelet during the 7-minute passing period. We power walked, but stairwells
and the crosswalk at Winton create choke points that slowed our progress. I
found trying to make class on time stressful. This stress then translated to
having a hard time adjusting to the next class.
sit a lot. Most of the classes that I attended included a lot of group and
student interaction. Few classes had students passively taking in information
in the form of a lecture or individual reading. Physically though, students did
not move. I felt stuck to my chair, and frequently felt uncomfortable, but
unable to stand up and move around. Conversely, Rin and I had a hard time
making it to class on time when we had to travel between De La Salle and
Carondelet during the 7-minute passing period. We power walked, but stairwells
and the crosswalk at Winton create choke points that slowed our progress. I
found trying to make class on time stressful. This stress then translated to
having a hard time adjusting to the next class.
What stresses
do 5 AP classes exert on a student’s day? In terms of class experience, all
classes offered challenging content and learning activities. Throughout the day
I worked through a Physics Free Response problem (well I watched and tried to
keep up), discussed a draft of body paragraphs analyzing social commentary at
the heart of the play, Oedipus Rex, learned some basic computer
programming, watched students take a Calculus test, read a chapter on
spirituality, and sat with a group debating in support for the electoral
college in American politics. My brain was challenged in each
class. What I found most difficult was shifting my thinking processes for
each class. Listening to the in class group assignment for AP Lit, I kept
thinking about how lost I was in Physics just 15 minutes before.
do 5 AP classes exert on a student’s day? In terms of class experience, all
classes offered challenging content and learning activities. Throughout the day
I worked through a Physics Free Response problem (well I watched and tried to
keep up), discussed a draft of body paragraphs analyzing social commentary at
the heart of the play, Oedipus Rex, learned some basic computer
programming, watched students take a Calculus test, read a chapter on
spirituality, and sat with a group debating in support for the electoral
college in American politics. My brain was challenged in each
class. What I found most difficult was shifting my thinking processes for
each class. Listening to the in class group assignment for AP Lit, I kept
thinking about how lost I was in Physics just 15 minutes before.
The purpose of an AP curriculum is to provide
rigorous content previewing college level work and allowing students to explore
subjects of interest more deeply. I can clearly see how these AP courses
do these things for students. Speaking for myself, I was not interested
in every AP class I shadowed. I could not imagine taking all of these
courses because of personal interest. In terms of previewing college
level work, the high school day is nothing like a college student’s
schedule. The compression of five such rigorous subjects between 8 and 2
felt rushed. I think that this affects students’ experience and
interaction with the subject. There was never enough time to go deeper on
the concepts presented or worked on. The default then becomes what ideas
do students already know or can find and then recycle these. Perhaps this
is also a problem in student schedules that do not carry so many APs.
Perhaps the real problem is the schedule, but I do think that with each AP
added, the more intense this pressure becomes.
rigorous content previewing college level work and allowing students to explore
subjects of interest more deeply. I can clearly see how these AP courses
do these things for students. Speaking for myself, I was not interested
in every AP class I shadowed. I could not imagine taking all of these
courses because of personal interest. In terms of previewing college
level work, the high school day is nothing like a college student’s
schedule. The compression of five such rigorous subjects between 8 and 2
felt rushed. I think that this affects students’ experience and
interaction with the subject. There was never enough time to go deeper on
the concepts presented or worked on. The default then becomes what ideas
do students already know or can find and then recycle these. Perhaps this
is also a problem in student schedules that do not carry so many APs.
Perhaps the real problem is the schedule, but I do think that with each AP
added, the more intense this pressure becomes.
This
brings me to the emotional impact of the day. I felt stressed. This
stress came from the physical impact of a sedentary day punctuated by mad
dashes to the next class. This stress came from the mental shifts from
class to class. This stress came from the difficulty to go deeper with
the rigorous content in short 45 minute blocks. Rin, however, took the
whole day in stride. She worked diligently in her courses, chatted with
her friends while power walking to her next course, and used any down time in
her classes to study or do work for other courses. She did confess at the
end of the day, that she was tired. I have no doubt that she was.
So was I.
brings me to the emotional impact of the day. I felt stressed. This
stress came from the physical impact of a sedentary day punctuated by mad
dashes to the next class. This stress came from the mental shifts from
class to class. This stress came from the difficulty to go deeper with
the rigorous content in short 45 minute blocks. Rin, however, took the
whole day in stride. She worked diligently in her courses, chatted with
her friends while power walking to her next course, and used any down time in
her classes to study or do work for other courses. She did confess at the
end of the day, that she was tired. I have no doubt that she was.
So was I.