I have taught IB Math, AP Calculus, and non-AP Calculus (which we call "On-Level Calculus"). I love Calculus. I love it because it is challenging, and I am always looking for ways to improve how I teach it. I also love teaching it because the class is generally filled with 11th and 12th graders; I prefer the older students because they view their teachers as humans, not as "grown-ups-who-are-always-telling-me-what-to-do" like their parents.
Read more about me here.
Here's how we handle the non-AP calculus class at the (independent) school where I teach:
In addition to this non-AP calculus class, our school also offers AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, and a post-AP class. All of these classes last for the entire year.
Because we offer those advanced classes, I make the non-AP calculus course like a survey course. We don't do super difficult problems. (For example, we do not cover derivatives or integrals of a^x or log(x). We do not cover derivatives of inverse functions.). I want my students to be exposed to differential and integral calculus. Still, I doubt many of them will study calculus after graduating high school (the class is usually 95% seniors, 5% juniors). If they *do* study calculus in college, it will likely be a Business Calculus class - in which case they will be at an advantage because they've already been exposed to calculus.
You might also be interested in what I teach in Algebra 2 or what I teach in Precalculus (on-level and honors).
Starting the Year
We start the year with a few days of Algebra topics (we end the year with some, too). We started this in 2019 because I was constantly going back and reminding them about point-slope form, the laws of exponents, and rational expressions as we were doing the calculus topics. Covering these topics at the beginning was successful; it prevented me from having to do it later, and it also gave the students a few days to adapt to being back in the classroom after the summer.
Textbook
I don't currently use a textbook. If you feel you need one as a reference, I suggest this open-source (and therefore FREE!) textbook: http://www.apexcalculus.com/
Pacing Guide
Below is my pacing guide for my non-AP Calculus class. Note: our classes meet for 65 minutes, and we are on a 7-period rotating schedule. Sometimes a class meets 3 times a week, sometimes 4; it depends on the week.
The links will take you to resources I have available in my TeachersPayTeachers store. You can buy all my calculus resources here: bit.ly/calcbundle.
If you want a FREE Google Sheets version of this pacing guide, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
If you want a FREE Google Sheets version of this pacing guide, scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Ending the year
I *could* end the year with a project, but I don't like the last week of the year to be a project. During the last few weeks of the school year, the senioritis is terrible, the weather is nice, and the students are not focused or interested in being in class. That's why I like to have one final unit where we cover a bit more algebra and trig topics that we think they might see on a college math placement test.
It's also beneficial to end the school year (right before exams) with a test because students with an 85% or higher can exempt the exam. I like to have a major grade at the end of the semester to keep their attention.
The structure of the class
Because we move so slowly, my lectures do not typically take the entire 65 minutes. I try to give them time to work on their homework, or I will do activities: Board Problems, Scavenger Hunts, Gimkit.com, Sticky Points review game, Raffle Ticket Review Activity, etc.
This is by far my favorite class to teach. I have a lot of autonomy; I don't have a deadline by which I have to cover all of the material. I don't have an outside entity (i.e., College Board) that dictates *what* material I have to cover; no class follows this in the sequence, and there's no external exam! What more could you ask for?!
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