Greetings,
I am writing to welcome you back to a new school year at Atascocita High School. It is not my typical practice to jump the gun a bit and email students and parents before school has even begun. But, I recognize the special circumstances here and want to be sure to begin communicating with you immediately.
As of today (one week before the beginning of school), your student is scheduled to have me for AP World History. I am pleased to be working with Mr. John Gillespie this year and we will be the two AP World History teachers.
Because this is our first year to offer this course to sophomore students, I wanted you to be aware of the syllabus for this college level study of history. As students learned last spring during meetings at school, this course is fast paced but exciting. I wanted to emphasize again that our first test is on the second day of school. It will cover the summer reading assignment of chapters 1 and 2 of Bulliet and the earliest civilizations of the world. The first unit is typically a portion of the AP Exam where the lowest percentage of questions originate. So it is our hope to hit the ground running with teaching a few of the skills necessary to be successful Advanced Placement History students as the year begins.
You or your student may be experiencing some level of anxiety over this new and challenging course, but I want to assure you that I am here to help. Obviously, a key to success in this or any AP class is the dedication and drive of the student to be disciplined and do their outside of class work. With a week left until school to accomplish the summer reading, I wanted to strongly emphasize that it is not too late (although time is ticking).
I have created a website http://apworldduez.blogspot.com where I have embedded power points that will help the students to work through Chapters 1 and 2. Please contact me regarding any questions you or your student may have.
Also I wanted to emphasize to the students that working in groups to study this material is often a great way to motivate and accomplish the learning. It is not too late to arrange a study group with a few friends and review these two chapters. This is something I will be encouraging my students to do during the school year.
I am VERY MUCH looking forward to this year, this new challenge, and to working with you and your student. Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding any questions or concerns that you have now or in the future.
Sincerely,
Mr. David Duez
http://apworldduez.blogspot.com
PS - Obviously schedule changes may occur before the beginning of the school year. But, if you or your student is planning on taking AP World History and were to be switched to Mr. Gillespie's class, the test over Chapter 1 and 2 will be the very same test I am giving on day two. Our assessments (tests and quizzes) will be almost identical during the school year.
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Email to Parents & Students
This is an email I sent out to parents and students last night. I am not certain that it is working correctly. Hopefully it is, but I thought I would also post it on my website just in case.