This class was one of the most beneficial classes i have taken in my high school years. The class itself is great and it taught me many things, not all academic things either. I learned and improved upon my time management, different ways of studying and learning and how to effectively retain information in different ways. This class helped me prepare for not only college but my other classes that I was taking at the time. My writing improved along with my reasoning skills when looking at a problem. I also liked this class because of how we learned. There was little to no lectures, most of the learning in class was through demonstrations, group projects and hands on activities which helped me learn on a deeper level. The class is anything but boring the and the class makes the information you learn enjoyable. When I first signed up for "European History", I was fully prepared for a very boring class, but it the end was proven wrong.
The only things that I disliked about this class was the reading checks. I slacked on some reading checks and they really brought my grade down. So, I did not like the reading checks int he class but mostly because sometimes I did not prepare properly. But, I did feel that the reading checks were really helpful and crucial int he process of preparing for the AP exam.
A suggestion to the class that I would make would be to give more time dedicated to SAQ, DBQ and LEQs. On the AP exam, I felt a bit unprepared for them and after felt like I did not do very well. Spending more time on period four and writing assignments would have been helpful in the class. I felt very unprepared for the last period of European History going into the AP exam. Going over not only content but how to apply that content would have been helpful int eh class and would really be my only suggestion to make the next class better.
I would give this class, as a grade, a A minus. The class itself is amazing, but some of the things and concepts toward the end of the year I felt were a bit rushed leaving me feeling unprepared. But the class was informative, helpful and make me feel better about going into harder classes next year. This class made me better academically when looking at how to address a problem and looking at things logically.
Survival Tips:
Make sure you read for your reading check. They make up a very large portion of your grade and it does not take that long to read it. A little bit of effort goes a long way and will eventually pay off in the end. Time management is crazy important in this class. If you don't come in with it, the class makes you learn time management. Leaving things to the last minute does to work in this class, despite it maybe working in others. She gives you a calendar for the month, USE IT. Stay on top of your work so its not two int he morning and you have to read half a chapter for the next day. Invest in an AP European History prep book. They are like twenty dollars but helped me through out the year. It breaks chapters down into more simplified concepts making them much easier to understand. Do not just buy this book to help you on the exam, but also to help you understand the chapters more in depth through out the year. Take good and effective notes through out the year. In his class you learn about 900 years or so of European History, taking GOOD notes will help you when it comes to studying. Trying to go back into the book and cover 300 pages of reading before a test will not help you as much as notes would. And do not give up in this class. It is not made for the smartest kids int he class and with the right amount of work it is totally achievable. I finished this class with a high C-low B and I am not the smartest conventionally. As long as you put work into the class, you will see good results from it.
No comments:
Post a Comment