AP US HISTORY
AP US HISTORY
To the Student:
Welcome to AP US History. Advanced Placement US History is a college level course. That being said, I must tell you that you have not taken a course quite like this yet. THIS IS A VERY DIFFICULT COURSE. I know, many teachers say that, but I mean it. Look at it this way. This is a college course; you are a junior in high school. If you come into this course and continue to make 99’s on your tests,as you have in the past, then either you are a genius or the course is watered down. My bet is on the latter. This course is not watered down. We will not be building the Pyramids with sugar cubes and doing darling little group presentations.
Be prepared for low grades in the beginning. You have been required to do memory work before. That is not the case here. You are going to be required to tie together disparate ideas into a whole. You are going to be required to read AND UNDERSTAND fairly complex materials. You will have to learn to write AP quality essays. You will be presented with words and language you have not seen before. Usually what you call an essay, I call 3 sentences. There will be a guideline for writing essays and essay theses. You will have to learn to write an essay according to a model. These essays are not going to win Pulitzers, so don’t try to impress with empty verbiage. These essays will be the classic “tell me what you are going to tell me, tell me, tell me what you told me” style of essay. I do not take into account what you meant to say, only what you did say.
History is cumulative, so do not memorize and dump. You will be required to make connections across time. You need to learn periodization and chronology. I suggest you closely read the timelines at the beginning of every chapter in your text. The questions you will be asked will be higher level thinking questions instead of merely “write the chronology” type of question. It is very important to think across time from the very beginning and to make connections to the present day.
There is a very real battle still going on between Hamilton and Jefferson in the present day and you need to see it and understand it.
*I do not require it, but I strongly recommend you get either a Princeton Review or College Board AP US History Study guide.
These are certified crib sheets. They will not substitute for reading the text, you will fail if you rely only on the study guide. But they will help you if you don’t understand something and will put the events in context.
You can pick them up a lot of times at Half Price Books. You don’t need to have the latest edition.
To the parent(s):
Thank you for allowing your child to take AP US History. I am sure you have high hopes for your student, as do I. I believe high expectations tend to result in heightened achievement. With that said and out of the way, I would like to correct the first line of this paragraph.
Your child is not a child anymore. He or she is either driving or getting ready to. He or she will graduate in about 18 months and go away to school. He or she will soon be old enough to get tobacco, lottery tickets, birth control devices, automobiles and credit cards. They are almost legal adults.
We both know the difference between being a legal adult and being an adult. I most certainly was not an adult at 18 and I think some of you were not either. Becoming an adult is a learning process and, as such, contains the very real possibility of failure and consequence.
Which, in my verbose way, brings us to AP US History. This is a very difficult course. The course involves a huge amount of reading and writing. Till now, reading meant that the book was open in front of the student for some arbitrary length of time. What was required was for the student to memorize a few salient facts and then mindlessly regurgitate them either onto a worksheet or a sheet of paper with their name in the right location (for which they received credit). The student was then praised and told they were smart.
You and I both know that the above is an empty exercise designed more for the comfort of the teacher than the edification of the student. I believe that the kids need to learn how to think rather than simply “do” school well and get a good grade.
I try to teach the students as though they are inchoate adults. I tell them what they need to read and I ask them questions. I try to get them to discuss what they have learned and try to put everything into a modern context. I open each class with the statement “does anyone have any questions on the reading?” If there are no questions I will talk about what I think is interesting about the assignment,
which may or may not, be what the students want. What they usually want is for me to lecture through the book and let them out of having to read it.
I do not chase after them to get their assignments. When they are absent I expect them to find out what happened when they are gone. If they are gone for extracurricular reasons, I figure that that is a choice and that the student will do whatever they need to do to make the work up.
I have a low tolerance for excuses, so when a student tells me they can’t do something because all their time is taken up with (fill in the blank), I tell them to quit either (fill in the blank) or AP history.
In the wake of all this tough talk, I must be coming across as a jerk. Some think that, some don’t. I want the students to like me, but it is not a necessity. I do want them to excel. I expect them to excel.
I am available at almost all times. I give the students my phone numbers and email. I have a website with my notes and copies of all the readings and homework on it. I will work with any student as long as they are trying to do the work themselves.
I would very much like to set up an email link with each parent if possible. I do this to let you know what is going on before things get too far along. This is also to let me know when things are going on with your son or daughter that might have an impact on their life here at school. To do this, you will need to go to my website and subscribe to the E alerts. You can receive text notifications about the assignments or tests or you can receive an email.
Feel free to come to class when you want, I like having parents sit in. You will have to participate, but that’s fun too.
Yrs. Truly,
Jesse Fisher
fisherj@ ____________________
512- 943 – 5100 X 7132
512 – 736 - 1898 (cell)
*I do not require it, but I strongly recommend you get either a Princeton Review or College Board AP US History Study guide. They are a certified crib sheet. They will not substitute for reading the text, but they will help you if you don’t. You can pick them up a lot of times at Half Price Books. You don’t need to have the latest edition.
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