It's our last official class before finals. Hard to believe, but true. I remember the first B day, our first class together. You were museum curators who analyzed the historical significance of images that related to the Culture Clash that became America. You listened to each other, you asked sharp questions, you made deep connections and you designed a museum exhibit that I would love to witness and enjoy.
And that was only Day 1. Nine months have passed since that Septemeber day. You have completed numerous SOAPSTones, draft after draft of DBEQs, you've read and written and read and written some more. You put the System of Empire on trial, you became the shoemakers and slaves who never made it to the original Constitutional Convention, and you interviewed (or became) Roger Sherman, Anne Hutchinson and William Penn.
You came to school on Saturday (in the snow!) You made Prezis, brochures, Powerpoints, and study guides. You taught each other and me so many things, new ways of thinking, and new information.
I could clearly go on and on. But I think I should leave something for you to write about. So with this in mind, please use your time during today's opening to answer these questions. You can send your answers directly to me via email: leslieharper75@gmail.com
- We have spent a lot of time discussing and analyzing the American Identity. Now shift your thinking to our class directly. What do you think the Identity of our class it? Explain your thinking with evidence from our year together.
- When you think of our AP US History class, what will you remember most? Why do you think will you remember this?
- When you think about your work in this class, what are you most proud of? It doesn't have to be a specific assignment, it can also be the development of new habits or new ways of thinking. Explain why you are proud of this aspect of your work and/or personal growth.
- How do you think this class has positively impacted your future? What have you learned, accomplished or made progress on that will help you as you continue on your educational journey?
- I'm going to teach AP Government next year and AP US History again the year after that. Think about the students who haven't taken an AP class yet at Metro. What advice do you want to offer them? Be as specific as possible with your advice; offer them concrete ways to succeed in a rigorous and highly-challenging class.
- Finally, please also share specific advice for me. This was my first year teaching this course. Please let me know what I did well and what I need to improve. We all rely on feedback to improve and I value your experiences and your opinions.
Respectfully,
Ms. Blatteau
1. I think the identity of our class is freedom and hard work. I say this because throughout this class we have worked on essays and other assignments where you have let us take our own stance on it. We have never really had to stay on just one specific topic we were free to express our opinions on anything we wrote about. Hard work is a big part because everyone in this class has struggled and pulled through on difficult tasks that were given to us.
ReplyDelete2. I begin to think of our AP History class whenever somebody brings up history. I look back on things we have learned about a certain topic. I will remember Saturday sessions and the DBEQ’s the most from this class. I think I’ll remember these the most because the DBEQ’s was one of the hardest assignments of the class and Saturday sessions because I’ve never gone to school on a Saturday just to take a history class.
3. I think about my work in this class whenever I’m in another one of my classes and a teacher asks me to do something similar to an assignment we’ve done. I’m most proud of my themes in the streets project because I didn’t think I would be able to breakdown such an important event in history so people younger than me who have never learned this could understand.
4. Yes, I do think this class has positive impacted my future because now I won’t have to take U.S History 2 my junior year and it looks good that I took an AP class to colleges. I think learning how to write DBEQ’s will continue to help me on my educational journey because I know there will be other times when I have to use primary sources in an essay.
5. My advice to other students who are taking AP Government next year who also have never taken an AP class before is do not underestimate the class, it may seem easy at first but it does get harder. Also, be dedicated because it’s a lot of work you will have to do so be prepared to spend a lot of time at home or after school to finish it.
6. What you’ve done well teaching AP was making sure students remembered the information you taught. Something that you could use some work on is getting through everything we are supposed to learn because I know we didn’t get to some topics in U.S History.