<p>This is my first post here, so I'd like to apologize beforehand if this type of thread is not allowed.</p>
<p>Anyways, here is my dilemma...</p>
<p>My teacher for AP World History teacher literally does nothing to teach us in the class. Essentially, all we've done the whole year is complete quiz packets over each chapter in the textbook, whether it be through class or as homework. The quizzes themselves are open-book too. Aside from the quizzes, we also complete short answer essay questions based off of information in the textbook. Aside from the quizzes and essay questions, we have not done anything else in the class. The teacher gives us no instruction, no feedback on the essays, and we are pretty much left to our own.</p>
<p>Although we haven't covered any information in regards to world history, our teacher has introduced us slightly to the DBQ's and comparative essays. He's given us basic information, and has given us maybe one or two practice free-response questions. However, we never go over our essays after writing them, so it's impossible to know what I, as a student, need to work on. </p>
<p>Now that the AP exams are coming up in May, I wanted to take some more serious steps in preparing for it. I've purchased the Princeton Review 2010 study guide but haven't started working on it. (I am planning on starting very soon though).</p>
<p>Basically, my question is as follows: What can I do to study for the AP World History exam if my teacher does not teach us anything in class and never goes over any of the test material after assigning us practice questions? Additionally, how can I most effectively use a study guide to, well, study (since that's pretty much my only option)?</p>
<p>You don’t really a need a class, so just chill in there. Review with PR as described in the book , and you will do fine.</p>
<p>Have you been reading your textbook throughout the year? If yes, then PR is a very good choice. It provides a good deal of info pertaining to the major themes for each time period. Last year I went through this book’s historical content about a month before the exam, reading and taking notes. I also took practice tests and went over whatever I was having the most trouble on. I got a 5</p>
<p>Basically if you have been keeping up with textbook reading, regardless of how bad your teacher is [although mine was pretty helpful], just use PR and you should be fine :)</p>
<p>Well, I believe therein lies the problem. Since all we’ve had to do was use the textbook to complete the quizzes and essays, I had very little incentive to convince myself to read through the whole chapters carefully. Of course, I’ve forgotten pretty much anything I’ve read from the beginning of the year by now.</p>
<p>Actually, I would like to ask how to go about taking notes using the study guides. Do you think you could provide some suggestions on how to take notes, such as whether to take them from the study guide or textbook, what notes to actually take, how to study them effectively, etc.? I’m not very experienced with taking notes independently, much less studying them to the extent I’d need to to pass the exam, so I need a bit of help here.</p>
<p>Can I get some more help please? I really want to pass the exam…</p>
<p>If you don’t think you have enough time to go through the textbook and take notes, do it for the study guide. If you haven’t read the textbook that much then I suggest the Barron’s guide instead. It contains more detail but it will do a better job than Princeton for independent studying of the material.</p>
<p>As for what notes to take, just jot down the most important concepts/details. Asks yourself if it seems realistic that the makers of the test would ask you a question/expect you to know a certain fact. For major events focus on who,what,where,when,why, and how.</p>
<p>Methods for studying the notes vary. Memorize it in chunks and don’t forget to go back over your notes for a specific chapter as you move on. As you memorize, try to form some connections between events and ideas of different regions and time periods [how they compare/contrast, change over time] The week leading to the exam should be devoted to taking practice tests and going over them!</p>
<p>Hope that helped! Good luck 
Don’t worry too much. I expected the MC to be really picky about details, but most of them weren’t that specific.</p>
<p>Well my question about the notes was more geared towards literally how to do it, although I appreciate your answer to. Should I just annotate as I read through the chapters and highlight main ideas, or should I take notes in a separate notebook for studying?</p>
<p>(Sorry I’m fairly new to this.)</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t fancy highlighting because I feel it gets too messy. That’s why I took notes on separate pieces of paper last year However, what works for me might not work for you. Try doing that for the first couple chapters or so and if you find it’s not for you, try highlighting/annotating.</p>
<p>Another thing I wanted to ask is how much notes should I take? I am making an attempt to get down mainly the most important ideas, but I am filling up pages pretty quickly and I’m not sure if I will benefit from having to study several pages of notes.</p>
<p>I like to type voacabulary and an outline for every chapter…notes do pile up fast, even if you’re using a review book…I normally tend to spend less time reviewing notes, and more time writing them because they help me see things clearer, then I quickly review the notes</p>
<p>But who am I to know :)</p>
<p>Would reading Barrons now and then reading PR be a good plan?</p>
<p>Personally, I am using the PR study guide, as many people have said it is the best for World History along with Barron’s.</p>
<p>Anyways, could I get some more input on this? This is my first AP test, so you can probably tell how worried I am.</p>
<p>What textbook do you use?</p>
<p>Go through Princeton Review for now. The AP World History exam is actually quite easy and focuses on big picture. There is about 70 questions and my textbook has 40 chapters, each with a region and a time period. That’s about like 2 questions per chapter, per region/timezone. You have plenty of time to study, if you work hard that is…</p>
<p>My textbook is “The Earth and its Peoples: A Global History”. I do not like the textbook at all.</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History (Chs.1-35) (9780618000739): Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Its-Peoples-History-Chs-1-35/dp/0618000739/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Its-Peoples-History-Chs-1-35/dp/0618000739/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)</p>
<p>My last question (I think)…</p>
<p>Would you guys recommend taking a look over the textbook, or should the information covered in the study guide cover what I need to know for the AP exam? While the study guide recommends I skim over stuff I don’t know in the textbook, I’m not sure if I have the time to do so.</p>
<p>I think the best thing for you to do is read the book, maybe 1 chapter every other day or something like that and like others said, take notes on main themes and vocabulary. It might be helpful to make a binder with notes organized so you can memorize all the information in chunks by chapter and whatever you’re preference of studying is. Also what can help is knowing the information by time line so you can get the general idea since world history is very broad. In any case, whatever you do, you should be studying now. good luck =)</p>