AP English Language

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I've read through many old threads about this, but haven't been able to find the answer to my question.

 

The two teachers we are seriously considering are Maya Inspektor and Lili Serbicki. At first I was leaning toward Lili Serbicki because it's my understanding Maya Inspektor's class has lots of student to student feedback as part of the class. I don't want a class that spends much time with this sort of work. I had read on the board that L. Seribicki's class didn't do this, but when I read a description it mentions all student work being posted and students can comment on each other's work for extra credit. Do all AP English Language classes post student work and spend time critiquing each other's work?

 

I know we've discussed this before, but I didn't realize it was so prevalent. Do any classes NOT do this? 

 

 

[Penelope]

Listening in...

 

While I have forgotten much from my school days, I do remember way back in my AP English Lit. days, that was the only class where we critiqued each other's essays. It was towards the end of the year, getting closer to the test, when we wrote so many for practice in class, that I don't know how one teacher would have been able to read them all and give meaningful feedback so quickly. Eventually she would, but the instant feedback was sometimes good. Mostly though, I learned a lot from reading the work of other students and noticing how they did or did not answer the essay question, brought out important points and did or didn't provide evidence. I don't think it should be the usual way teens are taught to write, but by the time one is taking AP lit, one should know *how* to write; it is more a matter of how well you answered the question and conveyed your ideas, basically for a testing rubric, no?

 

I know this isn't what you were asking, but maybe finding out what sorts of writing the other students are critiquing would also help. I know I would not want student evaluations to be the primary form of evaluation, and I wouldn't be happy with workshop method classes in earlier grades, as I have seen some threads comment on in the past.

[Mom22ns]

I don't know if classes that don't do that exist or not. By reading and rating others work, students get to see examples of excellent work and examples of not so excellent work. Examples are a great way to learn. By learning to critique they also learn how to critique their own work. Since there is no classroom to have discussions, this is a major way online classes facilitate discussion.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Listening in...

 

While I have forgotten much from my school days, I do remember way back in my AP English Lit. days, that was the only class where we critiqued each other's essays. It was towards the end of the year, getting closer to the test, when we wrote so many for practice in class, that I don't know how one teacher would have been able to read them all and give meaningful feedback so quickly. Eventually she would, but the instant feedback was sometimes good. Mostly though, I learned a lot from reading the work of other students and noticing how they did or did not answer the essay question, brought out important points and did or didn't provide evidence. I don't think it should be the usual way teens are taught to write, but by the time one is taking AP lit, one should know *how* to write; it is more a matter of how well you answered the question and conveyed your ideas, basically for a testing rubric, no?

 

I know this isn't what you were asking, but maybe finding out what sorts of writing the other students are critiquing would also help. I know I would not want student evaluations to be the primary form of evaluation, and I wouldn't be happy with workshop method classes in earlier grades, as I have seen some threads comment on in the past.

 

I think it depends on what you mean by knowing "how" to write.  

 

I would rather the bulk of the time be spent studying excellent writing rather than the writing of other students. 

 

I'm sure it depends on the student. My dd's writing is strongly influenced by what she reads. The tone, the structure, the phrasing, etc. From the time she was little, I could tell the caliber of she had been reading recently by what she was writing. She learns best by seeing what to do, as opposed to what not to do. 

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I don't know if classes that don't do that exist or not. By reading and rating others work, students get to see examples of excellent work and examples of not so excellent work. Examples are a great way to learn. By learning to critique they also learn how to critique their own work. Since there is no classroom to have discussions, this is a major way online classes facilitate discussion.

 

That may work well for many students, but I don't think it's a good fit for my daughter. A small amount of time would be fine, but it seems to me there is quite a bit of time spent on this in Maya Inspektor's class. Also, I think it works best if the student is lucky enough to be part of a class of students she can connect with on some level. If the student happens to be in with a mix of other students that isn't a good fit, it can be a waste of time and a miserable experience. 

Edited January 18, 2016 by Woodland Mist Academy

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I agree with you on the value of modeling after strong examples.  I also think it's important to remember that with an AP exam that includes essays, there is a standard AP grading rubric that each essay will be judged against.  It doesn't matter if an essay is compelling or uses memorable language, if it is judged to not come up to the mark in some way on the rubric.

 

So a good portion of an AP course is going to include practice essays and going through them with the rubric to see where they come short and where they hit the mark.  It can be good to look at less than perfect essays with these scoring points in mind.  

 

 

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I agree with you on the value of modeling after strong examples.  I also think it's important to remember that with an AP exam that includes essays, there is a standard AP grading rubric that each essay will be judged against.  It doesn't matter if an essay is compelling or uses memorable language, if it is judged to not come up to the mark in some way on the rubric.

 

So a good portion of an AP course is going to include practice essays and going through them with the rubric to see where they come short and where they hit the mark.  It can be good to look at less than perfect essays with these scoring points in mind.  

 

I understand about the rubrics. This isn't my daughter's first AP class. :)  She learns best -even about rubrics- by seeing what to do, not studying what not to do. 

 

In an AP class she has this year, the teacher posts exceptional student work. My daughter has benefited from this greatly. She would not have received nearly the benefit from reading student work that didn't meet the rubric standards.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Woodland Mist Academy

[Woodland Mist Academy]

In case anyone else is wondering the same thing...

 

I've received a few PMs stating the student feedback in Mrs. Serbicki's class is for optional extra credit. It is not  an integral part of the class. 

 

Good to know. Thanks everyone!

[happyhome]

Woodland Mist....Reviving this old thread to see what you thought of Lili Serbicki's class.  Did your dd take it?  What did you think?  I'm thinking of this teacher for dd's AP English classes and would love any input you have.  Thanks.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

My daughter decided on a different path. Hopefully someone else will chime in! Good luck deciding!

Edited April 18, 2017 by Woodland Mist Academy