Teachers discuss midterms

by Nicole Settlow, Staff Writer

Midterms are around the corner here, and students are preparing. But what about teachers?

Midterms are exams given at the end of the first semester that are based off material the students have learned in a certain class. They are given in every class except for option and gym.

Although most students don’t love the idea of taking a huge exam, teachers believe that they benefit the students.

“They serve a purpose,” said Mrs. Diane McNicholas, who is an English teacher to freshmen and juniors.

Ms. Amanda Sproviero, who teaches algebra, geometry, and precalculus, said that it is good for the students to review, but there are some flaws.

“I don’t enjoy making it because it is a lot of work putting together all those questions,” she said. “According to various teachers, they make new midterms every year with the exception of a few good questions that are reused.”

According to The Glen Echo adviser, Mr. Jason Toncic, the purpose of the midterm is to function as a review.

“It’s not supposed to be like a pop-quiz. It’s a review. It’s supposed to test what you, as a student, know,” Toncic said

Most teachers already have what they want their midterm to contain of in their head, and they know exactly what they want and how they want it.

“The goal is to cover the important parts we have covered during the semester, to make sure everyone understands it,” McNicholas said.

Midterms are not only a grade in the gradebook  but they help teachers see where their students stand.

“I need to cover the important points we made throughout the semester,” McNicholas said.

For Sproviero, who thinks similarly to McNicholas, she wants  to include everything we’ve done so far, and I want to try to create questions that incorporate multiple topics at once.”

Toncic also thinks like these two teachers, but he has a little twist to his process “I try to create questions that  are not just straight forward, but require some type of analysis or synthesis,” Toncic said

Toncic said that he’ll take the exam as the same time as the students are to have an idea of pacing and to be able to answer any questions that arise.