Day 46
Student Contribution by Kylie
Overview of the Period
At the beginning of the class, we were asked to answer questions regarding Unit 1 on our tables as a group. Next, we went over notes about Traditional and Postmodern architecture, Ethnic enclaves, and Indigenous communities. Lastly, we finished it off with working on our McDonalds vs Starbucks projects.
Why I like APHG
The class teaches me how the human species has populated the earth and developed different cultures, political systems, and means of production. I like this because it teaches a very wide variety of stuff I could use in my future, like for example; Identifying a certain country, calculating agricultural density, or just simply studying GDP. I’m also learning how the human species develops and grows economically, industrially, and agriculturally.
Why I don’t like APHG
The overwhelming stress can be caused by thinking about our AP exam. The daunting image of your parent’s faces can be disappointing and disapproving. I understand that the checklists are for our benefit, but I still do not like them because I have to do work at home.
My Response
Every day, Kylie says good morning to me; I have here in the afternoon. She is funny and naturally curious about everything we do. It’s a great quality to have and I’m glad she gets to remain curious in my class. The projects they are doing give a lot of choice for the students and that’s partially allowed because of the course. AP Human Geo is comprehensive and because of its scope, practically everything happening on the planet could be explored and fit in the curriculum. One of my jobs is to point out what they are learning is in the course guide. I’m constantly walking around and naming the learning.
Stress. There is a lot of it. I mitigate it as much as I can. The homework she alluded to has reviewed in it so they can constantly loop back to the information. I do retrieval practice almost every day so they can bring back the previous units. The projects are comprehensive in order to make the content useful. All of that aside, it’s still scary to potentially not get credit.
I live in that fear as well. I feel I let them down if they don’t pass. Every year in July I feel I let them down. As an AP teacher, it’s part of my responsibility to set them up for the best possible chance to pass. Sometimes that takes away some of their freedom. Most of the students pass. But, that fear is still present.