I am going to the book store tonight, and I want to pick up a good book for APUSH, because my teacher doesn’t really teach material that we need to know. He normally just gives us busy work and when he tests us in class, it has NOTHING to do with what he rambles on about everyday. It has come to the point where 3/4 of my class doesn’t even do the work he tells us to do in class because it is of NO help. It is almost as if we are all self-studying for this test. I could be spending my time in a different AP class that actually will prepare me for its test.</p>
We are using the book Out Of Many. The tests do come from that reading but he picks the most obsolete questions. He gives us about 200+ questions to look up and study, and he only picks 30 of them (he has made so many grading mistakes, he has marked so many answers wrong, when the person next to me got them right with the same answer). In my school there are 2 APUSH teachers, my teacher who’s class avg is about 85, (I have an 80, although I have received 85s and 90s on everything, literally everything) and the other teachers class avg is in the upper 90s (Ive talked to friends who have the other teacher, they tell me APUSH is SO easy. Bull ****.) I cant handle it anymore. </p>
So if anyone can offer me some advice on what book to get and how to handle this type of teacher, please let me know.</p>
Thank you in advance.</p>
sorry about your teacher; my APUSH teacher is amazing but i’ve had teachers like that, and it really sucks…i don’t think there’s much you can do about it besides just getting through the year, unfortunately :(</p>
for an actual history book i’ve heard AMSCO is very good, but it seems very long to me…if you just want a companion book to help you study, i’d recommend PR of 5 steps to a 5.</p>
I’m not sure if the PM I sent you went through (it’s not saying it did on my computer), but I am almost in the same exact situation as you. Is your teacher Mr. Glisson? If you do have him, who are you? Basically the only way to deal with him is never trust him and make sure you do everything that he has on his blackboard, even if it seems he won’t look at the assignment.</p>
If you don’t have that teacher (sorry if it makes me sound creepy that I asked :D), here are some things I do:</p>
I outline all of the textbook (even though it takes a lot of time). The outlines are usually pretty long for each chapter (I used to make them about 1500 words, but now they go to at least 3500 words usually) but they help me focus on the reading and they are a good source of later review for the AP exam. </p>
I got the Crash Course and the Sparknote’s Guide books and read them when I can. Just reading over something, even if I am not intensely studying it, helps. I also borrowed flash cards from a friend (haven’t started using them yet), and I borrowed a longer book (REA) that I use sometimes for reference.</p>
AMSCO and Crash Course are considered the best books, but AMSCO might be too long for you to study from. I would strongly suggest you get the Crash Course book (it’s only about $12 and it’s very concisely written). The Sparknotes book that I got ([SparkNotes</a> Guide to AP U.S. History (SparkNotes Test Prep), SparkNotes Test Prep Series, SparkNotes Editors, (9781411405172) Paperback - Barnes & Noble](<a href=“http://search.barnesandnoble.com/SparkNotes-Guide-to-AP-US-History/SparkNotes-Editors/e/9781411405172]SparkNotes”>http://search.barnesandnoble.com/SparkNotes-Guide-to-AP-US-History/SparkNotes-Editors/e/9781411405172)) is very easy to understand and provides a great summary of American history. I had the 5 Steps to a 5 book, because I used that book for AP European History last year, but it’s just not as good for APUSH so I returned it. PR and Barron’s are always reliable, although I heard the Barron’s book has some extra unnecessary information in it (which isn’t necessarily bad).</p>