Day 153 - The Final Reflection
Today in WHAP (or rather several days ago) we had our last class.
So to start this reflection off I'm basically going to go over my personal feelings about the class.
For starters, lets go from an academic standpoint. Right from the first day, WHAP is probably going to seem scary. You're going to roll up to class, and Mr. Profitt is going to show you some musty image of someone getting sprayed with a fire house, because it's so much information. Sure, their is a lot to learn, but it's really not that bad.
And that's kinda what you need to keep in mind in this class. You're going to get some low quiz grades, but there are so many that it will eventually balance out. You may get some bad mastery grades, but with revisions you'll make it an acceptable grade. Same thing with the information; if you kinda stay on top of things it won't be that bad.
That's my feeling on this class; I think it was a difficult class but I wouldn't say it's impossible or anything as people may lead you to believe. The key is to take advantage of your opportunities (like O-Points, revisions) in order to make up the points you're going to lose in the learning process. Don't be "that guy" that's complaining about how hard the class is and how bad you're grade is, but doesn't do any of that stuff.
...Who doesn't do O-Points
So let's go into some tips now on the class. First and foremost, do your revisions. As Silas said his blog, they suck. Honestly my worst memories from this class come from doing those darn revisions. You don't know the true feeling of misery until you've had to revise an LEQ. And the worst part of the revisions is that they're ALWAYS assigned right before a holiday. They really are worth it though and tremendously boost your grade, so just grind through it, or better yet get a 100 the first time so you don't have to do them.
Another this is O-Points. You can literally add 3 points to your grade, so unless you have a hundred honestly it's an amazing way to boost your average. If you are wondering, the blog is worth at least 100 points itself, with consistency and quality.
One of the first things you're going to receive for WHAP is Strayer, your textbook. If you're anything like me, you'll religiously read that puppy for the first couple of weeks and then start slowly slacking off. And quite frankly, that strategy worked. Because for the first couple of weeks, I filled in my lack of understanding of historical patterns with information about the chapter, and then as I better understood patterns I depended less on Strayer. I'll admit it; I stopped reading Strayer for a large portion of the second semester, and some of my best quiz grades came from that time period. Is there correlation? Probably not, but don't be too bummed out if you don't have time to read one week.
For studying, Thursday night before every quiz I'd get in my study group and go over the concept outline (a godsend), answer all the margin review questions, and make a HTS argument for each term. For a mastery multiple choice exam, I just looked at Freeman Pedia to get the outline of what I needed to know, then let it be. It's stimulus based, so studying doesn't do much unless you get lucky enough to study a test question. For LEQs, I just researched the chapter.
Don't skip school
An important thing for me was to find a study group; oftentimes the information is extremely boring, so oftentimes studying it is also quite boring. Find a group so that it's not as boring, and maybe you'll even learn some stuff you didn't know beforehand.
And finally, let me touch on what is considered the most important part of the class; your personal paradigm shift. Some of the stuff that you learn you'll forget (although I'll never forget about Robespierre). But I can honestly say that my point of view has changed... a little. You're going to go over so many various trends and historical examples that you'll eventually be able to relate that to current events, and perhaps realize the problems or advantages of said events. Mr. Profitt always says look at the fish (best joke of the class), and I guess by the end of the class you'll be able to.
To sum this up, it's a difficult class, and you will be challenged in it. These challenges prepare you for the AP exam. And to deal with these challenges? Take advantage of your opportunities. Put in the effort in the class, but don't put in too much effort that it dominates all of your time. If you don't have time for the Crash Course study guides... then don't do them. Don't have time for the CC videos? Read the script. Balancing what you need to and don't need to do in this class to keep other classes in equilibrium is probably the hardest part, but if you stick with it you'll eventually find that balance.
And, despite all the times I poked fun at Mr. Profitt this year, he was a pretty good teacher, and he did prepare up pretty well for the exam. I'd recommend talking to him when you get trashy grades because sometimes you can convince him to give you some points back.
To end this blog, I'm going to to tell you guys a quick quote, or rather a revision of the original quote, I thought of one day before a quiz.
- "Don't let WHAP take you, take WHAP."
While this most likely concludes my blog, the bloggers of this year just may find themselves in a Roundup article over this project.
For future bloggers, I only ask that you continue photo-shopping Mr. Profitt into pictures and stuff. It's statistically proven that those posts get WAY more views. Silas and I would both be eager to send you the necessary heads. (hmu at 20091)
So, for the sake of formality and consistency on this final blog, the bell rang and we were dismissed. Until Tomorrow!
So to start this reflection off I'm basically going to go over my personal feelings about the class.
For starters, lets go from an academic standpoint. Right from the first day, WHAP is probably going to seem scary. You're going to roll up to class, and Mr. Profitt is going to show you some musty image of someone getting sprayed with a fire house, because it's so much information. Sure, their is a lot to learn, but it's really not that bad.
And that's kinda what you need to keep in mind in this class. You're going to get some low quiz grades, but there are so many that it will eventually balance out. You may get some bad mastery grades, but with revisions you'll make it an acceptable grade. Same thing with the information; if you kinda stay on top of things it won't be that bad.
That's my feeling on this class; I think it was a difficult class but I wouldn't say it's impossible or anything as people may lead you to believe. The key is to take advantage of your opportunities (like O-Points, revisions) in order to make up the points you're going to lose in the learning process. Don't be "that guy" that's complaining about how hard the class is and how bad you're grade is, but doesn't do any of that stuff.
...Who doesn't do O-Points
So let's go into some tips now on the class. First and foremost, do your revisions. As Silas said his blog, they suck. Honestly my worst memories from this class come from doing those darn revisions. You don't know the true feeling of misery until you've had to revise an LEQ. And the worst part of the revisions is that they're ALWAYS assigned right before a holiday. They really are worth it though and tremendously boost your grade, so just grind through it, or better yet get a 100 the first time so you don't have to do them.
Debate Day
Another this is O-Points. You can literally add 3 points to your grade, so unless you have a hundred honestly it's an amazing way to boost your average. If you are wondering, the blog is worth at least 100 points itself, with consistency and quality.
One of the first things you're going to receive for WHAP is Strayer, your textbook. If you're anything like me, you'll religiously read that puppy for the first couple of weeks and then start slowly slacking off. And quite frankly, that strategy worked. Because for the first couple of weeks, I filled in my lack of understanding of historical patterns with information about the chapter, and then as I better understood patterns I depended less on Strayer. I'll admit it; I stopped reading Strayer for a large portion of the second semester, and some of my best quiz grades came from that time period. Is there correlation? Probably not, but don't be too bummed out if you don't have time to read one week.
For studying, Thursday night before every quiz I'd get in my study group and go over the concept outline (a godsend), answer all the margin review questions, and make a HTS argument for each term. For a mastery multiple choice exam, I just looked at Freeman Pedia to get the outline of what I needed to know, then let it be. It's stimulus based, so studying doesn't do much unless you get lucky enough to study a test question. For LEQs, I just researched the chapter.
Don't skip school
An important thing for me was to find a study group; oftentimes the information is extremely boring, so oftentimes studying it is also quite boring. Find a group so that it's not as boring, and maybe you'll even learn some stuff you didn't know beforehand.
And finally, let me touch on what is considered the most important part of the class; your personal paradigm shift. Some of the stuff that you learn you'll forget (although I'll never forget about Robespierre). But I can honestly say that my point of view has changed... a little. You're going to go over so many various trends and historical examples that you'll eventually be able to relate that to current events, and perhaps realize the problems or advantages of said events. Mr. Profitt always says look at the fish (best joke of the class), and I guess by the end of the class you'll be able to.
To sum this up, it's a difficult class, and you will be challenged in it. These challenges prepare you for the AP exam. And to deal with these challenges? Take advantage of your opportunities. Put in the effort in the class, but don't put in too much effort that it dominates all of your time. If you don't have time for the Crash Course study guides... then don't do them. Don't have time for the CC videos? Read the script. Balancing what you need to and don't need to do in this class to keep other classes in equilibrium is probably the hardest part, but if you stick with it you'll eventually find that balance.
And, despite all the times I poked fun at Mr. Profitt this year, he was a pretty good teacher, and he did prepare up pretty well for the exam. I'd recommend talking to him when you get trashy grades because sometimes you can convince him to give you some points back.
To end this blog, I'm going to to tell you guys a quick quote, or rather a revision of the original quote, I thought of one day before a quiz.
- "Don't let WHAP take you, take WHAP."
While this most likely concludes my blog, the bloggers of this year just may find themselves in a Roundup article over this project.
For future bloggers, I only ask that you continue photo-shopping Mr. Profitt into pictures and stuff. It's statistically proven that those posts get WAY more views. Silas and I would both be eager to send you the necessary heads. (hmu at 20091)
So, for the sake of formality and consistency on this final blog, the bell rang and we were dismissed. Until Tomorrow!
So you're the one who came up with that quote?
ReplyDeleteYup. Don't let Mr. Profitt trick you into thinking otherwise.
Delete