About Me

Hello. My name is Jen Brennan. I have a B.S.E. in Secondary Social Studies Education and a M.S. in HR/Educational Leadership. My favorite subjects to learn and teach include psychology, sociology, early American history, and medieval European history.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

AP World Syllabus

AP World History and World History Seminar
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Ms. Jennifer Brennan
240-236-7461, Room 207
Jennifer.brennan@fcps.org
Course Description:
This course is designed to help students develop a greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts in different types of human societies.  We will examine the progression of world history from 8000 BCE to the present, dwelling on the causes and consequences of changes in major societies and analyzing the major themes.  In order to do this, we will emphasize factual knowledge, interpret issues, and develop skills in analyzing many different types of historical evidence.  All course content, activities, and skills are based on the guidelines published by The College Board Advanced Placement Program for World History.  All assignments are done in accordance with preparation for the AP World History Exam in May 2015.

The Five Themes of AP World 
Students in this course must learn to view history thematically. The AP World History course is organized around five overarching themes that serve as unifying threads throughout the course, helping students to relate what is particular about each time period or society to a “big picture” of history. The themes also provide a way to organize comparisons and analyze change and continuity over time. Consequently, virtually all study of history in this class will be tied back to these themes by utilizing a “SPICE” acronym.

1.       Social--Development and transformation of social structures
2.       Political--State-building, expansion, and conflict
3.       Interaction between humans and the environment
4.       Cultural--Development and interaction of cultures
5.       Economic--Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems

Student Required Materials
1)      A 1.5 or 2 inch binder with 7 dividers (1 divider for general information, the remaining for our 6 units)
2)      Loose leaf paper for the binder AND a notebook
3)      Folder for handouts
4)      3 x 5 index cards
5)      Pencils, pens, and highlighters
6)      Homework planner provided by FCPS

Resources (Provided by Teacher):
Textbook:  Stearns, et al.,  World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 4th edition, Pearson Longman, 2005

Student Responsibilities
READY:
Focused and alert | Bring required materials | Assigned work completed | Be in your assigned seat when the bell rings
If a student is not in their seat, prepared and ready to go, they are late. If a student is late to class three times, they will receive an after school teacher detention.

RESPECTFUL:
Observe classroom safety guidelines | Honor commonalities and celebrate differences | Support and encourage classmates | Use appropriate language at appropriate times | Respect themselves, other student, and any adults in the room | 
Violations will be dealt with swiftly and firmly. This includes, but is not limited to, language, tardiness, cheating, individual conduct, and bullying

RELENTLESS:
Complete all assignments on time and with integrity | Give your best effort | Be open to feedback and capitalize on opportunities to improve
Students are asked to refer to the MHS Honor Philosophy/Code and Honor Pledge. Cheating on any exam will result in a zero on the exam in addition to standard school/county disciplinary action.
Water, hard candies, gum, and mints are acceptable, as long as they are not left in the room. Sodas, sports drinks, juice, and food items are not permitted in my classroom. This is a county rule I enforce. If a student does bring in a food item, they will be asked to put it away. If they do not, they will be asked to leave for the remainder of class.

*Discipline
The following is the discipline procedure for violations to FCPS’s code of conduct or classroom rules.
1.       Verbal warning
2.       Verbal warning, phone call home
3.       Phone call home/teacher detention
4.       Phone call home/referral
*Severity Clause: A student will be sent to the office with a referral for class disruptions or endangering self or others.

Homework
Students will have homework every night. The homework will usually consist of reading an article or document, either primary or secondary. Students will have a daily quiz based on the previous night’s reading. Resources will be available on my website, as well as in class. Students are strongly encouraged to be “active” readers and take notes ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER as they read. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to review their day’s notes for a minimum of 15 minutes per night.

Classwork (15% of weighted grade)
Classwork will consist of group discussions, lectures and notes, analysis of primary and secondary historical documents, and written responses to those documents

DBQ (30% of weighted grade)
A document-based question (DBQ) is an essay or series of short-answer questions that is constructed by students using one's own knowledge combined with support from several provided sources. We will have multiple DBQs as classwork, portions of assessments, and homework. DBQs will help students learn to analyze and assess, compare and contrast, and develop mature language skills and conceptual knowledge.

Quizzes (15% of weighted grade)
Students will have daily quizzes taken from their nightly homework readings. The formats vary; sometimes it will be a few short answer questions, other times it will be a single question that requires multiple sentences to answer.

Tests (40% of weighted grade)
There will be six unit tests, a mid-term, and a final exam.

Tutoring
I am available for tutoring after school 2:15 to 3:00 Tuesday – Thursday. Please see me before hand to let me know you’ll be attending and what you need assistance with.


Student name:                                                                                                                  Signature                                                                            

Parent Signature                                                                                                                                                              Date                                     

Parent e-mail address:                                                                                                                                                

Parents: Please print your e-mail address if you would like to be added to the “Weekly E-mail” contact list for updates, test and project due dates, and course content.

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