Welcome to AP Euro

Outside the gates of Versailles

Welcome to AP European History! I know it’s summer, but my hope is that you will choose to pick up one of the books on our recommended reading list and read a couple of chapters. Don’t worry, I am very realistic about the chances of this happening for everyone. It is summer, and this is Southern California. You should be outside soaking up some sun and enjoying the fact that you live in one of the best climates in the world. However, a key to success in high school (in life, really) is to develop a balance in your life. This means that you should not let your mind go idle over the break. That is the reason why we continue to encourage you to give the summer reading a shot, even though it is not a required assignment.

So, why is the summer reading no longer a required assignment? Well, there are a couple of reasons for this. The practical reason is that there are more teachers teaching AP European History at Westview than there were in earlier times. This course has become one of the more popular AP options for sophomores on this campus. We currently have four AP Euro teachers teaching seven sections of the course. That means approximately 300 or more students enrolled in the course! Traditional summer assignments usually come with written assignments. Trying to manage all of those assignments between four teachers, and trying to grade them before the beginning of the year is absolute madness! More importantly, requiring a summer assignment limits access to the course. Required summer assignments have been used as a way to thin the AP student herd before the course begins. Our goal at Westview has always been to open up access to rigorous AP courses to all students, and then to retain these students throughout the length of the course. Requiring a summer assignment seemed like one hurdle that should be removed.

So, what’s so important about the summer reading. Well, beyond keeping your mind sharp over the summer, the summer reading selections have been designed to give you a taste of “historical thinking” before you get dropped into an AP Euro classroom. Historians tend to think a bit differently about history than the rest of the population. Where most people think of history as just a collection of dates, dead people, events, and facts to memorize, historians see a series of patterns, trends, and relationships amongst the facts. Because history is based upon the written record left by past generations, the historian sees history as something to be interpreted and (most importantly) argued. The mind-numbing pile of facts are used to support the bigger idea being argued by the historian. It is not enough to memorize a pile of facts. You must learn to see these bigger ideas and patterns in history. This kind of thinking is something to which you must acclimate yourself. It does not come easily and will require patience. Yoda said it best; “You must unlearn what you have learned.” I will address this kind of thinking more in future blog posts.

That is enough for now. Follow my blog or follow me on twitter (@wvapeuro) for future updates. If you have questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.  Enjoy your summer.