Hello Parents and Guardians:
I hope you don’t find the pictures on this website to be self promotion. As a parent of teenagers myself, I worry about my child’s education and I want to be sure my cherished ones are in good hands. The reason for these pictures is to assure you that I am a very qualified history teacher and have won many awards. I will do the utmost to make sure your child receives the best educational experience available. For more information about me check out http://youngheroesofhistory.com/aboutauthor.htm
Indeed these pictures are even more important because your child will be stressed this year as he or she takes on the challenges of AP work. You will hear many stories, maybe see tears and feel for them as they struggle to succeed. You need to know that we are working together, that they are in good hands and that if we communicate, we can achieve what is best for your child.
So let me tell you my philosophy and a little about how this course works so that together we can help your child succeed.
To begin with, I take it as my solemn responsibility to prepare your child for the AP exam in May. They have chosen to take on this difficult task of enrolling in a college course while still in high school. (Let me make an important distinction here. AP courses are college courses, not college level courses. The difference is key. A college level course prepares you for college work. An AP class is a college course in high school. If the students pass the AP exam they get college credit.)
In order to pass the AP exam, students must be able to read at the college level. They must be able to think critically and make decisions on their own from the discernable evidence. They must arrive at the correct answer using higher level thinking skills. Like the real world, they do not get credit for working hard or trying hard. (There is no extra credit.) The final product is what matters.
Now before you pick up the phone, I realize that these students are anywhere from 14-18 years old. They are not in college. I will do everything possible to ease them into this transition. There will be projects and classwork that have different criteria and are evaluated in different ways. If your child works hard, they should do well.
To make it as easy as possible for them, I have designed this website. They can get all the work they need here. There are calendars, worksheets from class, links to outside help, links to the AP information and of course basic skills help.
If your child is in AP World History, they will also be given the option of taking on the challenge of taking part in the exciting National History Day competition. The reason for this is two-fold. National History Day is a program that helps students to learn real world and history skills at the same time. They learn how to read primary sources, how to evaluate, how to think critically and how to present their information to the public. As you can see, many of these skills are necessary for success in AP course work as well as in life. In addition, National History Day is an exciting program that will get your child to fall in love with history and with learning.
The second thing you should know about my philosophy is that it is very important to me that students learn the value of history and learn to appreciate it as many of us do. History, as Thomas Jefferson said, gives students the skills to recognize ambition, to understand motives and with that knowledge to defeat it. (For more on the power of history check out my book on http://youngheroesofhistory.com/americashistorycrisis.htm ) There is no class that gives students a better understanding of themselves, of the world they live and how to live in that world than history.
Any thing you need as a parent and anything the students need is on this website. Students can contact me whenever they have a question and so can you! Many of them have even sent me their email addresses so that they can print off the calendar assignments I send out every month in addition to any other information that might come my way.
Together, I think we can truly help your child become a life long learner and a success in history class. Grades of course will always be available on parent connect however please understand that in order to take the proper time to read essays and give students advice to improve, all grades may need as much as a week to become public.
Thanks for trusting East Lake with your precious child,
Sincerely,
Alan N. Kay
AP History Teacher