Our Year Together 2014 - 2015

Being a teacher is a calling and not for the faint of heart. There are endless hours of preparing lessons, setting up labs, writing assessments, correcting papers, attending meetings and professional development, tutoring students, calming fears, cheering on, encouraging creativity and collaboration, and learning. As the end of the year approaches, I feel the exhaustion and the pride that comes from a successful year.

I have been honored to work with 15 amazing, intelligent, patient, enthusiastic, young women scientists in my AP Biology class. I can't adequately express in words all that I have learned from each of them, so of course I made a video.

Each year my students impact my heart and soul and this year is no exception. As you prepare to journey into next year I wish you Good Effort! Think of me in the Fall when I will be here welcoming a new group of students with new opportunities for growth, friendships, challenges and successes.  I can't wait to hear of your adventures...you know how to find me...Twitter, G+, LinkedIn, Email.

Thank you, Team AP Bio 2014-2015 for an incredible year! 

Round-Up: AP Biology Exam

Last week, Team AP Bio arrived to school at around 8 AM to take the AP Biology Exam. There was a mixture of emotions in the class: some of us were scared and nervous, some of us felt confident, and some of us were eager to get this test out of the way. Regardless of of how we felt, our class had done a lot of preparation for this test through doing different labs, projects, and assignments in our class.

Ms. Montgomery came into the room and passed out our tests. After a long series of instructions that involved bubbling and breaking plastic seals, we were ready to begin. The clock started ticking.

The first portion of our AP exam was the multiple choice section. This section had 63 multiple choice questions, and we had 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete this portion. That's less than a question a minute, I thought. Personally for me, this portion of the test covered a variety of topics, but still much less variety than I had imagined. I felt that we had learned so much material in class, but we were only tested on a small portion of what we learned. I found the multiple choice questions to be more analytical than simple fact-based questions. It required us to think biology in a bigger picture, which I believe is the essence of biology. Most students in Team AP Bio felt that the multiple choice portion was pretty manageable and not too difficult.
Here is what Amanda Reshke, a member of Team AP Bio had to say about the mutiple choice portion:

"I had enough time to finish the multiple choice and look over my answers briefly. I feel like I did pretty well on this section."

The second portion of the AP exam was the essay section. This section had a total of 8 essays and 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete it. Before we began writing the essays, we were required to read over all the essay questions and take notes for 10 minutes. This section felt rushed and I didn't feel like I had enough time to answer all the essay questions. I used up the first 10 minutes almost solely  on the first essay prompt, which was about mice their sleeping patterns in relation to the light and dark. Each essay question had four or five parts and covered a diverse range of topics, ranging from the nervous system to cladograms. In the end, I was able to finish most portions, but I did not have enough time to answer the last question on the immune system. My classmates also agreed that there were too many questions to answer on the essay portion of the test and that there was just not enough time for 8 essays.

A cladogram

As a whole, our class felt alright about the AP Exam. When asked about how she felt about the exam, Here are Bharathi Chinnakotla's thoughts on the exam as a whole:

"Overall I think the AP Exam went pretty well. I felt more confident about the multiple choice section but the essay portion wasn't horrible." 

I personally am confident that everyone in our class did pretty well on the AP Exam because our class worked very hard this year and learned  many different things using a variety of ways. We often surprise ourselves with how much information we actually know! At the end of the day, your AP Exam score is only a number and does not define how smart or capable you are. I hope that Team AP Biology got the scores we wanted, and I'm proud of how far our class has come!

Works Cited: 

"Evolution: Synapomorphies & Cladogram." Online Homework Help SchoolWorkHelper. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.

Thompson, Bryan. "The Main Street Journal." : AP Exam Tips. N.p., 6 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 May 2015.

Round Up Post- CSI NDB and Review

Over the past two weeks in AP Biology, we had exciting investigations and a lot of time to review. We have been preparing for the AP Test by going over all the amazing things we have learned this year. It's crazy to think about all the things we have learned and all the days we have spent with each other. My AP Bio class has become like a family. I don't know if I would be able to go through all the material learned during the year without them. It's sad to see them going off to college, but I know they will have the time of their lives.

The first thing we did at the beginning of the week was the CSI Fetal Pig Investigations. There were 3 groups and they were each given a system. They formed a presentation with stations with clues to get their fellow students to guess their system. It was so fun to put the pieces together and form a hypothesis about what their system was. Not only was this project exciting to do, It was a great way to review things like cell signaling, cell structures and functions, etc. Bharathi Chinnakotla said, "It was a great experience because I have never done a project like this and used my critical thinking skills”. Simran Lubana said "This project tied mystery and bio together in a way that I didn't think was possible." These two quotes really show how amazing and fulfilling this project was for my classmates. It was something we had never done before and it allowed us to get creative and have fun. It was by far my favorite project/presentation of the year.

Picture taken by @TechBioBek 's (Rebecca Girard) twitter

Picture taken by @TechBioBek 's (Rebecca Girard) twitter

The second thing we did during these two weeks in AP Bio was reviewing for the AP Test. We played an exciting game called speed buckets. We were given a sheet with practice AP questions and had two chances to get all of them right. If we did, we got to shoot the paper into a bucket to get extra credit. This game requires you to calm yourself down and focus on the questions. Since there is a time limit, it can make students freak out and cause them to get questions wrong. This game was a great way to teach ourselves to not stress out and breathe! We all have the knowledge in our brains, we just have to breathe and calm ourselves down. Bharathi Chinnakotla said, “I really enjoyed playing a game called speed buckets because I was not only reviewing the concepts, but also having a great time with my friends." This game was a fun review and allowed us to gain new ways to calm ourselves down and do great. :)

Some things we have all used a lot over the last two weeks

We also spent time going over the practice AP test we took a while ago. We had a chance to look over our answers and the short response section. We got to ask our teacher questions we had and go over the concepts we thought we needed a refresher on. This was a great time to receive help before the AP Test. I found this time very helpful. Simran Lubana said, "Procrastination is not something that works in your favor when you're trying to cram 53 chapters a week before the test." What Simran said was completely right. Using this time in class to go over questions will definitely help you. It would be extremely hard to do it all of your own since there is so much material to go over. Overall, these weeks have definitely helped me and my classmates to feel prepared for the AP test. (I know we are all going to do great!)

In conclusion, I know we are all going to do fantastic. We have the knowledge in our heads and we have done so much over the course of a year. We have grown closer because of the love of Biology. We all are going to do great on the AP Test and be proud of all we have accomplished over the year. I love my AP Bio class. #APBIO3FOREVER

Check out the students I quoted in this post:

Simran's Blog

Bharathi's Blog

Pictures taken by me and Rebecca Girard (@TechBioBek)

Heart-Love-Sky-Hands. Digital image. Islamicity. N.p., n.d. Web.