Advice from Former Students

Note: You will find a lot of helpful advice here, some of it contradictory. But I hope you will find suggestions that make your year better. Good luck.

MS

Tests and Readings

Don’t get discouraged at the beginning of the year. The workload is distributed fairly evenly throughout the semester. If you can survive the first week, you should be able to make it through the course.

The difficulty decreases as you learn efficient ways to manage the workload.

Don’t believe anyone who says the class gets less stressful or the workload lightens.

Read, read, read! If you divide the assigned chapters into a few pages each night, it’s a lot easier.

Start your reading before the first class of the test week, so you go into class with some idea as to what is going on. You’ll feel like an idiot if you go to class without a clue in the world.

You’re the king or queen of procrastination? I was too, and I could get by… until AP History. Keep up with the reading. It will make the final a lot less stressful and help your grade tremendously.

It’s a fast-paced class, so you have to study. Nothing you do is busywork. When you feel like burning your book from frustrations, just remember that 1) it costs about fifty bucks and 2) your studying will pay off greatly during the AP test.

Be sure to ask questions. Even if you don’t like speaking in front of the class, the questions will help you in the long run. Everything in American Pageant is connected, so if you don’t understand something early on and you don’t ask about it, then you won’t understand the later chapters.

Choose your partner wisely for oral Key ID’s tests, and make sure your partner will study as much as you do.

Make sure to have study parties with people who will actually work, not ones who will throw popcorn at your head when you get a question wrong.

Write the three pages of notes for each test. It’s relatively quick and easy, you learn from it, and you ALWAYS get a better score on the test.

Make mnemonic devices to remember facts. Even if they are really strange, it will help you remember them.

Even if you didn’t read the chapters, be sure to take three full pages of notes. A good strategy for this is to copy the Key ID’s from the web site; it only takes about half an hour, and the Key ID’s have useful information on them.

If you don’t have time to study thoroughly for the test, take an hour to go over the Key ID’s and Review Text. This isn’t the recommended option, but it’s better than not studying at all. Sometimes you underestimate your workload, and a backup option is necessary.

The AP US History Hierarchy of Learning:

Key ID’s > In-class Lectures > American Pageant > Review Text

If you don’t have time to read American Pageant, you can achieve 80%+ on the chapter tests by reading the review text and the Key ID’s.

Make sure to read the book, or no matter how thoroughly you read the Key ID’s, you won’t be happy with your test grades.

Read the Key ID’s before and after reading American Pageant. By reading beforehand, you become familiar with the key points in the chapter, and you can know which sections to pay special attention to. By reading them after, you keep the key events fresh in your mind, so they stick for the test.

Learn the Key ID’s the night before the chapter review. You’ll look really intelligent and everyone will want to be on your team.

Take notes during the chapter reviews. It’s often telling you exactly what’s going to be on the test.

Keep all your Key ID printouts. You will need them for the final.

Save the Review Text for reading the night before the test. It clarifies, summarizes, and reviews the main points that you already read in American Pageant and the Key ID’s.

Read Zinn—not for the extra credit but for the fact that he makes the history we study seem a lot more real and interesting, and because he knocks Pageant and its stupid analogies out of the park.

It is not enough to know an event. Make sure to study the effect the event or the person had on history.

For each unit, try to learn and remember at least the large events and their effects. This will help you understand the flow of history from one era to another. Details such as specific dates are less important, so don’t bust your head trying to remember them all. If you know the big events, it becomes easier to learn and remember the smaller details.

If Mr. Sherwin talks about a subject in class, it is likely that it will be on the chapter test and the AP test. So pay attention.

Don’t attempt to write down everything Mr. Sherwin puts on the overhead; it’s not humanly possible. A summary of each paragraph and the main ideas of the overhead are much more useful than only the first half of the overhead (they don’t stay up there too long).

On tests watch out for EXCEPT. Look over the test when you’re finished to make sure you didn’t overlook one.

By the end of the year, you know so much you might as well take the AP exam.

Go to the evening review sessions whether you plan to take the AP test or not. Those sessions and the review handouts can make a big difference on your class final.

Essays

Always use parallel structure and the word because in your thesis statements.

Work your hardest on the practice DBQ’s and FRQ’s. They are the hardest part of the AP test.

Don’t slack off on the essays. Even if you know you won’t be graded on one of the essays, don’t slack off. Those who take the AP exam will need the practice .

Be organized and know when the essays are due because it is not helpful to find that you have only one lunch period to write an essay.

When you write a take-home essay, have a few people read it and comment, not just one person.

If you have the class D Block, don’t listen to what previous blocks say about tests and essays because they’re rarely the same.

Don’t plagiarize. It’s not worth it; even though it seems like it at the time, it isn’t. Teachers are smart about that.

Participation, Writer’s Notebooks, Ducks, Pizza, Etc.

When Mr. Sherwin tells you to write a full page or a half page in your Writer’s Notebook, you had better fill up every line if you don’t want him to deduct points mercilessly.

Do the Writer’s Notebooks in class; resist the temptation to leave them for later. Like cheese, they only get harder with time.

Try to keep your Writer’s Notebooks somewhat organized. I ended up rewriting half of them the night before they were due because even though I actually did them thoroughly the first time I managed to lose them. Perhaps try keeping them in an actual notebook as opposed to random scattered pieces of paper.

Take advantage of the Writer’s Notebooks and projects. These are opportunities to rack up easy points that you will undoubtedly lose on one test or another.

Zinn is more easy points and can really help you if the chapters were hard for you to understand.

Do not be afraid to share your ideas in class. The more questions you ask, the more you will learn. Mr. Sherwin will not make fun of you for any relevant question.

Participate in discussions and class activities. That raises your participation score—and it makes the class more enjoyable for you and everyone else.

It is possible to have negative participation points. Make sure not to combine socializing in class, tardiness, and little participation in discussions.

Come to class on time. Tardiness can be very destructive to your participation score, and Sherwin is always annoyed if you come in after the door is closed.

Always have the corners of your book cover taped. Duct tape is your best friend.

Do a document analysis for every test. Then, while everyone else is panicking about grades at the end of the semester, you can simply smile and relax.

Refrain from idle chit-chat while Mr. Sherwin is speaking because getting hit with a rubber duck is pretty humiliating.

Don’t sleep in class, or the ducks will haunt your dreams for the rest of the year.

Never mention the name Disney.

AP does NOT stand for Always Procrastinate.

Have, fun, but remember that this class is not a walk in the park. What you get out of the class all depends on how much effort you put into the class. You usually deserve the grade you receive.

Don’t forget to sleep.

When all else fails, buy Mr. Sherwin a black olive pizza with sun-dried tomatoes on whole-wheat crust.