Help!-Maya Creamer

       Overall, I have enjoyed your class this year, and I feel that I was well prepared for the AP test; however, I do have a few suggestions for the future.
       First, although I appreciate that we focused on how to write each type of essay individually, I would have liked if we had written at least one more example of each type closer to test day. The rhetorical analysis essay, which is arguably the most difficult, was the first type we went over, which meant that we really didn't write one within two or three months of the test. This left me feeling a little nervous about this essay in particular when it came time to take the AP test.
       Second, I do not think grading the essays in small groups was as effective as grading them as a whole class. When we graded in small groups, we often ended up just writing down our scores as quickly as possible and chit-chating rather than really discussing why we gave an essay a particular score. The large group discussions of the essays were very helpful, and allowed us to come to a consensus as to what constitutes a 2, 4, 7, etc. So, although it does take more time, I think if at all possible you should grade all the essays as a class in the future.
       Finally, since junior year is the year when most of us take the ACT and SAT seriously, I think that you should definitely go over practice multiple choice questions for both tests, as well as strategies for writing the SAT essay in only 20(?) minutes. Although these tests are a sort of necessary evil and not nearly as difficult or rigorous as the AP test, I think you should spend a little more time on them, since what we score does affect our admission to colleges.
       I hope you have a good summer!