It is now time for students to pay the second AP Exam test fee ($85). Please make checks payable to Alma Public Schools.
Thank you for the opportunity to work with your student!
In AP Government and Politics we are finishing our study of political parties and interest groups. We will complete this unit next week and then we will jump into a study of the three branches of the US government. We have completed approximately 2/3 of our comparative curriculum, and will finish our study of comparative politics after we study the three branches of the US government.
It is now time for students to pay the second AP Exam test fee ($85). Please make checks payable to Alma Public Schools. Thank you for the opportunity to work with your student! This month we have studied U.S. Government and Politics. We have studied the founding of our country, focusing on the various influences on the Framers of the Constitution. Students learned of the English contributions to American government, as well as the influences of John Locke. We studied the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. We also studied the Constitutional Convention and the debate for ratification of the Constitution. Next week we will study the federal relationship. We will also briefly discuss American political culture. We will complete our first US unit by the end of the month. In November we will return to a study of comparative politics. In our next comparative unit we will study authoritarian systems and democratic systems. Iran, Mexico, and the UK will serve as case studies for these topics.
Important Dates: The next unit test is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 28th (Multiple Choice). The written portion of the test will be Tuesday, November 1st. (If the date of the test changes, it will be reflected on the course calendar. There is a link to the calendar in the AP Government dropdown list (above).) Students are currently writing their first paper. The paper is due on Monday, November 7th. It is hard to believe that September is over! In September we completed our first AP Comparative unit. In this unit students were introduced to comparative concepts that they will use throughout the course. In addition, we took a "snapshot" look at each of the countries studied in AP Comparative. As the school year continues, we will look at each of the countries in depth.
In October we will study our first AP US unit. In this unit students will study the origins of American government, as well as American political thought. They will also be introduced to the concept of federalism. The first comparative unit and the first US unit tend to be difficult for a lot of students. The units contain a lot of theory, many new terms, and difficult reading. Continue to encourage your son or daughter at home, and encourage them to see me for extra help if needed. Hello!
I hope that your son or daughter is excited about this school year and is eager to study government and politics. I am looking forward to working with your son or daughter in Advanced Placement Government and Politics. Advanced Placement Government and Politics is a full year course in which students will study both U.S. Government and Comparative Government. (The comparative part of the course includes the study of Great Britain, Russia/Former Soviet Union, China, Mexico, Iran, and Nigeria.) Students will receive two credits for successfully completing the course. This is considered a college level course, and therefore, it is a challenging course. Students who perform well on the AP College Board Test in May 2011 may earn college credit (depending on the policies of the institution of higher learning they choose to attend). As previously mentioned, this is a challenging course. The first U.S. unit is particularly challenging, as students will study the historical development of the Constitution, as well as the origins of American political theory. Much of the reading in this unit is difficult, and many students struggle. Please encourage your student to study diligently and to ask for help when needed. In addition, if your student has a habit of procrastinating, it is important that they learn to start projects and reading early. It is my hope that all of my students will be successful in this course. I will work hard to help my students achieve success, however, it will also require an effort on their part. I hope that you will encourage your son or daughter to strive to do their best work, and that you will contact me whenever you have a question or concern. I hope that AP Government is a wonderful experience for your son or daughter. In past years I have had a number of students earn college credit by scoring well on the AP test. Certainly this is fantastic for those students. But more importantly, I have had countless students, including some who did not earn college credit, come back during their freshman year of college and tell me that this class greatly prepared them for college. I hope that the experience that your son or daughter has in the class will be one that they enjoy, but will also be helpful to them in the future. |
About This BlogHello Parents and Guardians! Thank you for visiting my online classroom! I'm glad that you are here, and I hope you will visit often. The blog that you are viewing now will be updated every few weeks. It will be used to share information with you about what we are studying in class. Please feel free to visit other links on this site. Two links that may be of interest to you are the "Daily Assignments" link and the "Calendar" link. Students are required to visit the "Daily Assignments" blog whenever they are absent from class. It will tell them what they missed while they were away from the classroom. This link may be helpful to you if you are curious if your son or daughter has homework that they should be doing! Use the calendar link to see upcoming dates (tests, project due dates, etc.). Thanks again for visiting this site. I hope you will visit often! Archives
January 2012
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