introtothecourse

Intro to the Course

INTRODUCTION TO ADVANCED PLACEMENT WORLD HISTORY 2007-2008

Welcome to JMM’s Advanced Placement World History (APWH) course. This will be the seventh year that the College Board is offering the APWH exam. For the past six years JMM has had this course or had a club of regular world history students prepare for and do very well on the APWH exam. We expect nothing different from you.

This is a college level course. Your grades will largely be based on your performance on tests from the readings, in-class essays, and a few other assignments. For those of you used to having someone go over the chapter with you and filling out worksheets, this will be a change. We intend to make the transition a smooth one, teaching you the necessary skills, but considerable effort will be expected on your part.

Organization and responsibility are the two most important traits needed for success in this course. You will receive your assignments as far in advance as possible, you are expected to plan your time accordingly to get them done in a timely fashion. We will not be checking daily to see whether or not you have done the reading, however not keeping up with it will have long-term consequences. You need to accept your role in your success. To begin with, we suggest you read this handout carefully, follow the suggestions given in it, and then turn to your first reading assignment.

Content Objectives:

The goal of this course is for students to learn about world history and the skills necessary to study it. Among the topics we will cover are: geography, humans and their environment, political institutions, belief systems, economics, social structures and organizations, science and technology, art, and interactions. Our units of study and the corresponding chapters in the text are as follows:

ERA I - Foundations c. 8000 BCE to 600 CE

UNIT 1 - Geography and World History up to 3500 BCE – Part I – Chapter 1
UNIT 2 - 3500 - 500 BCE – Early Civilizations – Part I – Chapters 2 - 6
UNIT 3 - 500 BCE – 600 CE Axial/Classical Age – Part II – Chapters 7 - 12

ERA II - 600 CE – 1450

UNIT 4 - 500 CE – 1000 CE – Post-Classical/Regional Empires – Part III – Chapters 13 - 17
UNIT 5 - 1000 - 1500 CE – Transregional Empires – Part IV – Chapters 18 - 22

ERA III - 1450–1750

UNIT 6 - 1450 – 1800 – Hemispheric Integration – Part V – Chapters 23 - 29

ERA IV - 1750–1914

UNIT 7 – 1750-1914 – Revolutions/Nationalism/Imperialism – Part VI – Chapters 30 - 34

ERA V - 1914–Present

UNIT 8 - 1914 – 1960ish – Conflicts and Revolutions – Part VI – Chapters 35 - 38
UNIT 9 - 1960 – present – Globalization – Part VII – Chapters 39 and 40
UNIT 10 - Research and discussion skills unit (Post AP exam)

Required Materials:

Every day you should bring the following:

A blue or black pen (pencil will only be allowed for work that is not collected and scantron tests, so get a pen! You will be writing your APWH exam essays in pen, so you need to get used to it). Absolutely no red, pink, other light colors, or shiny metallic pen colors will be allowed.
No. 2 pencils on the day of tests.
Loose-leaf paper or a spiral notebook with perforated paper.
A binder with materials that we are currently working on (see below).
Assignment notebook (Failure to bring this will result in you not being able to leave the classroom during class).

You will not be allowed go to your locker to get these things once class has begun without being counted as tardy.

Organization of Materials:

You will be receiving assignments; readings; copies of maps that you will be responsible for; copies of PowerPoint presentations; essay rubrics; sample essays; review sheets; & your in-class essays after they have been graded. You are required to keep all of these, especially your essays, to track your progress. You will get a grade for organization / preparation for which you lose points if you do not have the necessary items in class. The best organizational device, in my opinion, is a 3-ring binder (and for this class, several of them). Your binder(s) should have the following divisions:

Things which must be there at all times:

Essays, which can be further subdivided into DBQ, COT and C&C. In here you will keep your essay rubrics, handouts on writing the essays, samples essays, grading rubrics and your own essays.
Assignments – chapter reading packet, maps, map items, etc.
Items for Exam –items that I will give you throughout the year to help review for the exam in May.

Things that can be removed or kept at home, but not thrown away, depending on which Era we are studying:

Era 1 - Foundations
Era 2 – 600-1450
Era 3 – 1450-1750
Era 4 – 1750-1914
Era 5 – 1914-present

These can be further subdivided into units. Here you should have notes from the chapter, COT charts, societies charts, art handouts, etc.

Students have found that folders die quickly in this course and not punching holes into your handouts and putting them into your binder in a haphazard fashion is a sure recipe for disaster. Many students decided to keep several binders, keeping the eras not currently being used at home. Do not throw things away until after the exam!

You may use other ways of organizing your binders, but only if they are in addition to the above mentioned, rather than instead of, so for example, if you want to have a separate section for your COT charts, that’s fine.

Notes

Depending on your learning style, it is strongly recommended to take notes in class, it is also a good idea to take notes from your reading of the textbook - jot down questions you might have for me, write out new vocabulary, or print out summaries from the textbook’s website. Get into the habit of writing the date, topic or chapter you are taking notes from, and leave a margin on the left to help you review later. These notes should be put in the most appropriate section of your binder. You may bring a laptop if you wish to take notes (especially if it will help with legibility).

Studying for the chapter tests:

Simply printing out the chapter summaries from the website will not suffice for studying for most chapters, and most likely only for the first 12. You should look at the chapter assignments handouts for the terms to know. Otherwise you will have problems with some chapter tests, era tests, essays & the actual APWH exam.

Grading:

Grades will be determined by the points you earn divided by the total number of possible points.
Your semester grade will equal 80%. The final semester assessment (for second semester this will include your final project as well as your exam) is 20%.
20 bonus points will be given to you at the beginning of each quarter. These points will be lost through unexcused absences (- 2 points for each day absent), tardies (- 1 for each tardy), & inappropriate behavior in class - including talking or interrupting (- 1 or higher). Points remaining will be added to your final points to determine your grade.
Other than the above-mentioned points there is no extra credit available in the course. However there are optional grade helpers. That is, if you complete the society charts for each chapter, you will get a 100% on an optional assignment, which will be of equivalent value as a chapter test if you submit it on the day of the test.
Organization and reliability will be another part of your grade. If you cannot find a paper that has been given to you, you will not be given another copy; you will receive a “0.”
Assignments that are submitted in poor condition (i.e. torn or scribbled) will not be accepted. Feel free to download an electronic copy of charts from the class website if that will help with legibility. You will have to resubmit or possibly receive no credit on some assignments if they are found lacking.
Copying someone else’s work (whether a fellow student’s or from a book or web page) is considered cheating and plagiarism and will result in an automatic zero. Both the one who copies and the one who allows their work to be copied (in the case of a student) will receive zeros. In more serious cases an ‘F’ for the course could result as well as academic and athletic suspensions.
There will be cases when you can work with partners or groups, and in those cases all names of those involved should be listed on the paper. If you use papers from previous year’s students, you should cite them as sources.

Attendance Policy:

Attendance is necessary to do well in the course. You are responsible for missed material. Unexcused absences will result in “0” for all work due and class work, including tests. It is your responsibility to show me excused absence forms, especially whenever you hand in homework that was due when you were sick. Just because somebody called the school to excuse you doesn’t mean it made it to your attendance record.
If you are absent (and excused) on the day of the test or in-class essay you will make it up in the LLMC (you do not need a pass for lunch or before school) on the day that you are back at school, if you are absent two days you have two days (counting the first day you are back) to make it up, etc. The make up test could be slightly different than the test given on the test day. If you have not made up the test before the review day of the next test, you will not be allowed to make it up and instead will receive a corresponding percentage from the era test. Be warned, era tests are a lot harder and generally scores are lower.
If you have not made up an in-class essay before we hand them back (before the next essay) you might have to write both in the time allowed for one, which will be hard. Exceptions will be made only in cases of prolonged illness. If you know of an absence in advance, let me know and we can give you most tests/essays before you leave.
Be aware that the library does not open that early before school for make up tests and you cannot make up tests after school in the library. We will not be around before school either and rarely for 50 minutes in my room after school, so be ready to make arrangements to take your make ups in the LLMC. Also be warned that the LLMC (where the test make up area is) often closed on Wednesdays and Fridays and therefore no test make-ups will be available on those days.
Punctuality is vital for the success of the class. You will be considered on time if you are in your seat and ready to work when the bell rings.

Classroom Expectations:

Respect for all and their opinion is required. We will hopefully have time to have discussions on current issues, but generally the classroom will be a no politics, no Disney or Hollywood or Dan Brown zone.
A productive classroom learning environment and behavior conducive to it is expected. This includes limiting your chatting with neighbors to announced “down time” in class. If you are too disruptive to the flow of the class, those above mentioned extra credit points will be deducted.
No unexcused late work will be accepted. Once work has been collected, or in the case of large assignments, graded, even excused late assignments will not be graded. However, if your absence is excused you will need to submit the assignment in order to receive an “Absent” grade, which means it will not count against you, even though it will not be graded.
If you have any questions about your progress, missed assigments or material covered in class, it is recommended that you email me to inquire about them.

Your Textbook:

Your textbook this year will be Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past. This will be your main source for the course, although you will have some supplemental readings from other textbooks and sources, including primary sources. You should feel free to leave it at home; we will not be using it in class.

Before you begin reading this text I suggest you do the following:

1. Cover the book – you will be made to pay for any damages at the end of the year – they are mostly in really good condition.

2. Learn about the authors (p. v).

3. Skim the Table of Contents (pp. vi-xxiv) to familiarize yourself with the periodization (how time is divided up into eras) of the book. These roughly, but not exactly, follow the Chronological Boundaries of the Course/Exam described in the Introduction to the Course handout, and show the perspectives of the authors on world history.

4. Read the Preface (pp. xxxi-xxxix) to learn more about the book and its resources (glossary, maps, timelines, visuals, summaries, primary sources, etc.)

5. Determine the weakness of the text – which regions seem to be emphasized? Which regions seem to be neglected?

WORDS OF ADVICE FROM LAST YEAR’S STUDENTS

This section with words of wisdom from last year’s students is an addendum to the “Survival Guide” available online at

http://apwhsurvivalguide.googlepages.com/ These are their words.

Words to calm you

“Chill.”

“Don’t freak out at the beginning of the year, it’s a great class once you give it a chance.”

“Stay in the class! Its not as bad as it seems.”

“Continue working on the essays, and don’t lose confidence. They become easier as time passes, and your essays are usually better than you think.”

“Do not freak out about the AP test. Take the AP exam! It sounds scary, but you will be well-prepared for it.”

“Do not think that everyone knows what they’re doing and you don’t. A lot of people pretend.”

Do the work – words to motivate you

“Don’t procrastinate.”

“READ ALL THE CHAPTERS, and take advantage of the online outlines.”

“Read all of the chapters because even if you can guess on questions on the tests and get a good grade the information might not be covered again and you might have an essay on it, or a question on the era test or AP test.”

“Make sure you understand what you read and not just read for reading’s sake.”

“Stay on top of your reading or this will DOMINATE you.”

“Read all the chapters well!!! And take notes on the terms and people. It will help SOOOO much when you’re studying for the AP test. You’ll be surprised how much sticks”

“DO ALL CHARTS (society, comparison and COT) as you can - no matter what. You won’t want to at the time but you will kick yourself at the end of the year if you don’t.”

“Take your own notes on chapters and do the society charts when reading the chapters.”

“Definitely get a headstart on your charts and read your weekly chapters because those chapter tests overall have a larger impact on your grade than other things.”

“Don’t put off studying!”

“Start studying for the test earlier!”

Words of Wisdom for APWH

““Pay attention in class!”

“Pay attention when you read the chapters, don’t just cram it in for the test.”

“Pay attention during the art presentations.”

“Find the definitions for the items on the chapter review sheet while you read the chapter, or in the outline.”

“Do the practice essays.”

“Don’t procrastinate or you will have a mountain of work before you can say ‘AP World History.’”

“If you stay ahead of schedule and constantly review you will feel better ahead and do better on the AP exam.”

“If you have questions, ASK!!!”

“Get help if you don’t understand something.”

“Take notes when talking about the essays - Really understand how to write the essays.”

“Take good era notes too.”

“Don’t talk during the AP exam!”

“Stay organized!”

“Don’t worry too much about the multiple choice questions on the AP exam; worry about the essays!”

“Use Bentley’s website. And take practice tests for each chapter and keep taking them until you get 100%.”

“Know the basic stuff like regions and beginning empires – they’re important later on.”

“Work harder than everyone else says. They’re lying.”

“Stay on-topic as much as possible and follow her directions, and life will be easier for you.”

“Ask for help, don’t wait for the last minute.”

Survival guides from previous years can be found at:

2007 APWH Student Survival Guide

2006 APWH Student Survival Guide

2005 APWH Student Survival Guide

2004 APWH Student Survival Guide

Return to: Mrs. Bond-Lamberty's JMM APWH Website