It’s finally the season for AP testing across the country, and with all the stress of studying and reviewing it can be hard to see all the needed information in just one place. This isn’t the case for AP World History students, with a final review that includes a shower curtain and everything you could need to know from the past six or seven months.
“The shower curtain is a nationwide AP World History review project,” AP World History Teacher Alexis Mitchem said. “It is designed to help students prepare for the AP exam by having them go over past units, stuff that we learned all the way back in August and then re-learning it and re-remembering it, then put it on a big shower curtain where they have all the information that they need for the test in one spot.”
With just 10 school days remaining until the AP World History test, this is the time for students and their groups to lock-down on this project. Groups are given free will to organize and decorate their shower curtain however they like, with past student examples being recommended as guides for how to set it up and pace themselves.
“Our group decided to gather all of our information and organize it in tables on google slides first,” sophomore Lacy Hayes said. “With the first period due this week we haven’t wasted any time in class and have also taken it home and worked on it during Anchor Time.”
While being able to make it as aesthetically pleasing as they would like, students are put on a checkpoint-based schedule to keep them on track and ensure completion of the project.
April 23: Period 1 – Units 1 & 2
April 30: Period 2 – Units 3 & 4
May 6: Period 3 – Units 5 & 6
May 14: Period 4 – Units 7 & 8
With the test on May 7, students are required to complete the first three periods by May 6. Period 4 is allowed to be completed after the test date due to the units being shorter and less dense than the first six units, but with students being able to pace themselves, they are allowed to work ahead and finish each period early if they so wish.
“We are already a bit ahead and working on period 2,” Hayes said. “We want to finish before the test just so we can actually go through and review instead of just focusing on meeting the deadline and copying the info down.”
While being on a pretty tight schedule with only 4 class periods per period needed on the curtain, students have found this project enjoyable and a good way to review.
“Some students love it,” Mitchem says. “They love the aesthetic of putting it on one spot and working on it for a long time, they feel like it really helps them learn. Some students struggle with the timeline of it, because it is a lot of work in a short amount of time. But I really do, truly feel like it helps prepare them for the exam, and so that’s why I continue to do it.”
