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Home > Features > AP Calculus: A New Challenge
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AP Calculus: A New Challenge
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by Irene Torrieri
Valhalla High School
Valhalla, New York
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Getting Started
Teaching an AP class -- what a scary and exciting predicament. Scary because I wondered where to begin, but exciting because when you love math as much as I do, teaching a high-level math course is the ultimate thrill.
Six years ago, I accepted a teaching job in a public high school that required me to teach AP Calculus AB. Up until that time, I had been teaching lower-level math courses in a Catholic high school and computer courses at a local college. When I was asked during the interview if I would be willing to teach AP Calculus, of course I said yes. But when I was offered the position and told that I would be teaching the course, suddenly that scary feeling began to sink in. Not only would I teach calculus, which I had never taught and hadn't studied since college, but I would be teaching it at the AP level! Luckily, the chairperson of the science department was also teaching a new AP Physics course and suggested that we find out about College Board Summer Institutes for AP teachers at Manhattan College. I was happy to find out that indeed an AP Calculus AB workshop was being offered. It was the first of many enjoyable, encouraging, informative, and educational College Board workshops that I have taken.
During that summer, I was still nervous to teach the course, but I felt reassured that I was in good hands learning from two College Board consultants. I was lucky to have great instructors that summer, Susan Kornstein and Lin McMullin. The week was very educational, and I worked hard to make the most of all that we discussed. Did I understand everything and walk out as a pro in calculus? No. What I did walk out with was a wealth of knowledge, support, materials, textbooks, handouts, AP Exams, course outlines, timelines, examples, and knowledge of the use and importance of graphing calculators. Many of the other participants were also new to the course, but I also met experienced teachers who were willing to share tips and techniques. I made it through my first year of teaching Calculus AB with the help of all the notes and materials that were given to me. The other participants have also been a valuable resource -- I communicated with many of the teachers and our instructors via e-mail throughout that first year, and I still communicate with some of them.
A Wealth of Knowledge
The Summer Institute provided me with a wealth of knowledge. One of the most important items that I brought back to the classroom was a timeframe that gave me guidance as to what I should be teaching and when. I noticed that a significant difference between AP and regular courses is the fact that the AP Exam is scheduled for the beginning of May, which means that the teaching of new topics has to end sometime in April in order to have time for review. The timeframe and sample syllabi were goldmines! Other items that were especially helpful were handouts with explorations for students to use and recent AP Exams with the solutions and questions selected by topic. This made it much easier for me -- every time I taught a topic, I had a bank of actual AP questions that I could assign to my students. When it came time to prepare for the AP Exam, the lists of review texts and materials that my instructors had given me were also invaluable.
Since then I have taken one-day, two-day, and more weeklong workshops. I added AP Statistics to my course load four years ago, and this year I am also teaching AP Calculus BC for the first time. How did I prepare? Once again, I knew that to get ready, the best place to turn was College Board workshops and Summer Institutes. This summer, I took two AP Statistics workshops (a weeklong workshop at Manhattan College and a two-day workshop at Purchase College) and a weeklong course for Calculus BC at the Taft School in Connecticut.
These classes have given me a solid foundation for structuring my course and planning the curriculum for the entire year. I am certain I would not have been able to teach my AP courses without the instruction I gained at the workshops. It is not enough to know the subject matter -- you need to know the format of the AP Exam and what students are and are not expected to know. Even as an experienced teacher, I continue to attend workshops. Every time I attend one, the interchange of ideas is invigorating and rewarding.
Was I scared when I was asked to teach Calculus BC this year? No, because the first thing I did was go to AP Central and use the Institutes & Workshops catalog to find a list of summer courses being given for Calculus BC, and now I am ready!
Irene Torrieri teaches AP Statistics and AP Calculus at Valhalla High School in Valhalla, New York. She also has been an adjunct professor at Westchester Community College since 1987, teaching a variety of computer and math courses.
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