With finals around the corner, many questions arise from students. While juniors and seniors are familiar with finals at South, they still may not know what to expect. According to social studies teacher Andrew Taylor, he’s not quite sure if finals are necessary in the first place. While he isn’t the biggest fan of high-stake exams, Taylor doesn’t think they should be canceled again.
“I don’t know if we should have finals any year,” Taylor said. “But as far as this year in particular with COVID dramas and troubles, it’s time to get back to them.”
A final isn’t only an exam, so some teachers choose to do projects. In the past, Latin teacher David Smith has issued projects, but chose to do a test version this year.
“I think it’s necessary for teachers to evaluate where students are, especially those of us that teach multi-year subjects,” Smith said.
According to Smith, he’s seen many students cram the night before and fail. His biggest piece of advice would be to begin studying weeks in advance.
“Get an accurate sense of how the test is going to look and begin to review early,” Smith said. “I have provided a review packet, so I’m hoping they will take the time to adequately prepare.”
Agreeing with Smith, math teacher Alexa McConaghy says that students should take their time to study.
“I would say organization is key, so gather up all of those notes, packets and quizzes and put it together in one place,” McConaghy said.
Finals aren’t easy on teachers or students. Now especially, students are stressed and concerned about their grades.
“Finals aren’t fun, but they are really about getting back to what we usually do,” McConaghy said. “It’s all of the good and all of the bad things about getting back to normal.”