Last year in my APWH class, I thought it was the hardest class I had ever taken and that the teacher was cruel, even though she’d occasionally curve tests if everybody did bad. Now that I’m in APUSH, the teacher is even stricter, it’s much more college-like, and I look back at my APWH teacher as a goddess. </p>
My APUSH teacher, on the other hand, told us before the first test that 1) It’s naturally the hardest test of all because the content is just plain difficult to learn compared to the rest of the curriculum, and 2) She deliberately designs the first test to be even more difficult in order to show us what tests are going to be like. Her anticipated class mean was 50% (she expected everybody to fail, essentially; she said those exact words). Class average ended up being a 62%. Highest grade was an 82%. I got a 76%. People who are straight-A students (like myself) made Cs, Ds, and even Fs on this test. She said the first test means nothing and that we will improve as the year goes on.</p>
I took my second test this past Friday and got an 80%, the third-highest grade in the class. So obviously, she was right; there is some improvement.</p>
A former student of hers happened to stop by the class to deliver something to her and she asked the student what she made on the first two tests. The student replied, “Fs”. Then she asked what she got on the AP exam. “A 5”. “And how many other people made a 5?”. “None.”
So this girl failed the first two tests, aced the rest, and got a 5 on the AP exam.</p>
My APUSH teacher, and it seems like maybe yours too, is no-BS, “I give you what you need; the rest is up to you” person, so you aren’t going to have your hand held through this class.
All you need to do is find what type of studying works for you and how you can most efficiently grasp the content, and your grades will improve. On your first test with a new teacher, you don’t know what to expect; now you do, and you know what type of questions you’ll have (I don’t know about your teacher, but my teacher’s tests are made up of previous AP exam questions). You’ll improve. You’ll be fine. And you even have a great chance of making a 5 on the AP exam. Don’t worry. ;)</p>