I did everything right. I busted my ass to teach history; all sides.  The pov of the Japanese soldier on Chichi Jima; the German soldier in the Panzer; the Marine on Oknawa.  Slavery and Liberty.  Gen. Lee and Sherman.  Gettysburg, Shiloh....   Revolution, Washington, Jefferson, the Art. of Conf, the Constitution.  Industrial Revolution.  Expansion; Teddy R, Philippines, China, trade, commerce.  I hit it all from textbook to other books, videos, R. Lee Ermey shooting the Maxim.  WW1, Treaty of Versailles, Weimar Republic, hyper inflation, Hitler, Tojo, Mussolini, Churchill, Chamberlain, FDR, DDay, Stalingrad, tanks, Luftwaffe, B17s, Rosie the rivetor.  I hit the Nukes, the cold war, the Berlin Airdrops, Kennedy and the space race, Johnson and Vietnam, Nixon, Carter, Reagan.  

The AP exam covered cultural diversity and women in the workforce.  I was told there were no questions on Lexington, the Const convention, WW1, Industrial revolution, Midway, Okinawa, Normandy, Vicksburg...  Other than the effect on society between different cultures and genders.

I taught it right.  The kids did great and loved it and learned US History.  And they all failed that fucking AP exam because the pricks that wrote it have an ideological ax to grind.  I'm so pissed. All that work.  All that scholarship.  All the history.  Gone

Instead of learning about the sacrifice of some kid from NY on the beaches of Iwo, apparently I was supposed to be lecturing about how women were entering the workplace.  And rather than discuss a guy in the jungles of Vietnam, shot down because US politicians wouldn't allow Sam sites to be bombed; I was supposed to be lecturing on, yup, women in 1970 entering the work force.

Don't bother with AP with your kid.  Keep em with the rabble in the regular class; they'll get more out of it.  Fuck AP.  It's ruined.

Yours truly:  An infantry grunt on the front lines of ignorance, being shelled by my own goddamn artillery.

    the first real history classes I got were in Army OCS

Sorry, OP, that's a damned shame for your kids who worked so hard.

But you said yourself the kids loved all the history you opened their eyes to, and no one can take that knowledge you gave to them away from them.

You could also use this as a teaching tool. What did previous years' AP History exams cover, and was this year's exam markedly different? If so, why?

You know, use this as a lesson to open their eyes to just how much history can be disappeared down the memory hole when societies start to shift in favor of pushing ideological messages at the expense of learning real history, warts and all. What other nations did this, and to what extent? (Might be a good time to really show where certain totalitarian nations go when they take this sort of thing to its inevitable conclusion, although I am sure you probably covered this sort of thing already...but hey, your kids got a first-hand glimpse of the damage that even seemingly mild doses of a diet of nothing but "progress!" can do.)

I'd still keep teaching the kids real history, though, OP, and not pander to the test. You are giving those kids a great foundation they can build on later if they choose. Maybe teach them how to put some real history in answers to soft-soap "feelz" test questions like that to really knock it out of the park, in case the test is still screwy next year?

Good points

Well even if they didn't pass some garbage test, you still did your job by giving them quality teaching. That will make them better people more than passing some PC test will.

What in the world is "real history"?

Written by the Victors

Real history to me is this:  at the same time self government in the new world takes off, with an emphasis on individual liberty, John Rolfe finds a sweet blend of tobacco, immediately increasing demand for slavery.  Let's begin a journey of how these two things: the very best and the very worst of humanity started at the same time, and the legal, political, and social journey we've taken as a nation since.  War, sacrifice, etc...   That's real history.
This is how the college board wants history to be taught:  the US began as a racist and bigoted nation.  Explain how minorities and women have had to overcome challenges since the founding.

See the difference?  I teach real history.  As a commentor above said, warts and all.  Good and bad.  Heroes and zeroes.  Take the kids through it all so they understand the context of US History.  The AP exam and college board are ideological; they hate our history because their emotion sees only tragedy and so, only tragedy should be taught.  Racial justice is the end game: all roads lead to that.

I learned and study history differently.  I don't hate Italians for Caesar's slaughter in Gaul and Germanica.  I don't hate Egyptians because they liked cats over dogs.  I just try and learn from them.  Our kids should be taught the same way.

Good question.  Glad I could answer

Do you have an example of a test question that shows this emotional response to the past?

It sounds like you weren't teaching for the AP exam. Was this your first year doing APUSH?

I took the exam 2 years ago this month and got a 5. My professor made us learn our textbook (The American Experience, I believe) inside and out and had us break down US History in an almost scientific way. We all had to understand change over time very well, and be ready to incorporate specific factual information in our exams. Unfortunately, you have to balance the fun/culturally important history with the scholarly stuff needed for the exam. Frankly, it sucks.

I was in the top handful of social studies students in my high school class. We all loved the subjects and devoured nonfiction books and documentaries outside of school, but we also dedicated ourselves to a true college workload in learning the AP material. Students and teachers alike need to strike a balance between the fun and the test prep. Maybe next time you can have one "fun day" a week, where you share stories of American heroes, great struggles, and video clips or hands on learning. The rest of the week can be memorizing stuff about feminism and the move from farms to factories to suburbs.

I hope none of this sounds harsh or haughty. As a student I understand how hard teachers have it. Best of luck to you. If you have some class time left this year, try to make the time as impactful as you can! The AP exam isn't everything.

Great information.  

The only thing I will note is that while you make a distinction between "fun/culturally important" history and "scholarly stuff," scholarly historical study very often does focus on culturally important aspects of the past.  The issues of race and gender are culturally important, even if not very many non-historians think they are "fun" topics.

Tar Heel; 1st time teaching AP us Hist.  7th year teaching the social sciences, BA in History and a JD.  I love the subject and so do the kids.  But this AP stuff is confusing.  It's nothing close to college.  I'll give an example since someone wanted it:  I covered the 15th amend from a scholarly perspective.  Slavery and civil war and the law pre 14th amend and post; all sorts of context.  Enlightenment theory....political and historical/legal context.  I'm no rookie in this stuff.  Guess what the AP folks want?  How a small group of women felt about the 15th since it only covered blacks.  Now how the hell am I supposed to predict that the study of the 15th amend focus was supposed to be how women felt?  Not former slaves............women.  And how do you know to focus the lecture of the 15th on women?  Where does that great insight come from?  I don't recall my Con Law professor ever mentioning it.  I don't recall my US Const Hist professor in undergrad ever mentioning it.  Yet, the college board is somehow more refined than they are.  They test the dark side of the moon...while we plebs focus on the side facing our telescope.

That's why it's bullshit.  And I'm no Ed degree liberal.  8 years of college.  2 substantive degrees in content.  7 years contract teaching all social sciences including college.  Lifetime of study.  Baseball coach; so you understand I'm no snot nosed academic.  2 years full time sub in 2 districts in Southern CA before I got a contract gig.  I'm in it for good reasons.  I'm not lazy.  I'm not in it just for the fun sexy stuff.  But the AP us exams are tough to predict if the focus of the 15th is women.  I think anyone, even a 5 scorers, would admit that's dirty pool.  When you think of women, you think; 19!   Anyway.  I guess I'm still heated so the rant continues.  thanks for the time to explain.  You did help.  If they give me another class I'll remember your account of it and wil give them more cultural diversity bullshit to help them.  What a learning experience.

I'm really sorry to hear all of that. My university (you can guess where I go) is full of social justice BS. You can't learn any history today without the social justice side. I had a friend getting his doctorate who TA'd for an American History since 1865 class. During the WWII segment, not a single battle or soldier was mentioned. The entire weeklong lesson was treatment of women and minorities. That's the class an US History AP credit gets you out of. I'm sure grade schools are heading that way.

Developing a student's critical thinking skills, to be shown on a test, is more important to these people than learning and cherishing American history. I guess you've seen this better than I have. The AP exam is really about explaining broader concepts. I think the best APUSH students are the ones who understand change over time, can pull random facts out of their ass, and can BS an essay really well. Practice exams can help bring the whole class up to speed with that.

I took the AP US History test in 1997 or 1998, I can't remember which. It was taught just as you did. I got a 4.

I then majored in history at a small all-male liberal arts school in the south. I enjoyed learning history.

A decade and a half later, I am back in school, getting my JD (one exam stands between me and my 3L year) and starting an MA in US History.

I heard the bullshit that the AP was pushing for; it was in the news last year some time. Looks like they got their way. Lots of folks raised hell over it, but apparently they were ignored.
I will probably run into some of this myself, as I'm hoping to do some teaching on the side in addition to practice when I graduate.

Good luck, OP, and stay strong. You're doing the right thing.

You'll love teaching. I'm absolutely addicted to it, although the semester is ending and no one is happier than I am.  Thanks for the feedback guys.  Congrats on reaching your 3rd year

Please catch "The Ultimate History Lesson" on Youtube. It will surprise you considerably. It just 5 parts and about an hour on each one. Very detailed so you can check out the sources if you're inclined.

Do you think that developing a student's critical thinking skills should not be a priority in history courses?

Teach
history.
Then
teach
exam
passing

Is there not some kind of syllabus or lesson plan?

It seems they could save a lot of grief if there was a simpler pedagogy.

1.  Tell em what you're gonna teach them
2.  Teach them
3.  Tell em what you taught them.
4.  Test em on what you taught them.
5.  Go back to step 1.

The assault on our public schools around the country (MI Detroit/Metro resident) is absolutely disgusting. I'm used to neglect and incompetence in my local area, but add a layer of, let's call it "national agenda" on top of our state and local problems, and it's just a total disaster.

I want to homeschool my kids, and I'm not the traditional home-schooler. My wife and I are atheists, college grads with a BS in physical science (same, we met in college taking same courses), also I am military vet and working a government job. We should be all about public education and towing the public sector line, but I no longer have any faith in public schools. When I was in school and church, the home schooled kids I knew were all doing it for religious reasons. Public schools taught evolution and sex ed and that was too much!

I have no faith in public schools to teach my kids what you are trying to teach your students. My credentials don't even come close to yours. I shouldn't have to teach my kids STEM and history classes. I don't know if my wife and I will be able to find an acceptable home schooling curriculum with good STEM and history lesson plans. They seem to adequately cover art and music, creative play, etc.

Our economy is supposed to create specialized fields of labor and expertise. That's how we succeed. If we drive all the teachers that have a passion for their subjects out of the schools or even discourage people that have a passion for these subjects into different career fields that pay better, have less stress and hassle, or whatever; we will lose for generations to come.

Questions?
I remember the AP exam being an essay. But that was almost 25 years ago..

Maybe this will help. 11th Grade History Honors. John Simms says, "ok, I have to issue you this textbook. Take it home. Use it as door prop. Use it to level your table. Use it however you want. But you do have to bring it back in  9 months.  I'll teach out of this."  
And he holds up a ratty assed file folder.  He taught with notes, overheads, videos. You name it. But he kept it interesting and educational.

We learned history. Not with an agenda but history.  26 years later it was still my favorite academic class in four years of high school.

It sounds like a great class.

But I will ask a somewhat loaded question: can a history course truly be taught without an "agenda"?  Or, to put it another way, do you think anyone can teach history completely objectively?

Neve took AP classes, but history was m favorite subject.
But even as far back as the '80's, history isn't really 'taught'. We didn't lean about lincoln's views that blacks were inferior to whites. Hell, we didn't even learn Mary Todd was the daughter of slave owners.
Sadly, as society progresses, history classes will suffer as the disconnect from a particular event grows, and society 'evolves' into a social justice mode, as is happening now.

I had a teacher in 11th grade history who was a very steeped in the Civil War.
We had to do an essay on our choice of topics from the Civil War. I chose Andersonville.
Had neve heard about it until his class.
Never knew that no northern POW commander was held for war crimes, even though they were worse in some cases than Andersonville.
I'd bet that 99% of college kids don't even know about that.
It's a sad statement, but as we get further away, and 'new' history is incorporated, some aspects of 'old history' will have to be sacrificed...

That sucks op.  I had some great teachers and experiences in all the AP classes I took 15 years or so.

AP classes are bullshit. I took the more difficult AP courses. All they did was bring my GPA down. When I applied at colleges they didn't give a shit about the AP courses. They only looked at GPA.

Sounds like some weapons grade bullshit right there. I took AP history when I was in high school (20 years ago now) but I enjoyed it and still remember much of the class and many of the essays and reading I had to do. I'm glad I took the class even though the college I went to didn't except the credit.

I taught my kids to bullshit, without really explaining that's what they were doing.




When in doubt, refer to the topic/period as "fascinating and dynamic."  Then take one factoid they know, and blow that up into a bunch of paragraphs.






Factoid:  More women joined the workforce during wartime.




Paragraph 1)  More women joined the workforce - bullshit about proportional and/or underrepresentation previously


Paragraph 2) Expand on increased economic power, and thus autonomy, of women due to increased earnings.


Paragraph 3) Bullshit on effect on men, decreasing economic/social power at home and in public.  This is just a rehash of paragraph 2.  Throw in the word patriarchy.


Paragraph 4) Throw in some bullshit specifics, like the increased representation of women in steel mills in Pennsylvania, and textile factories in Georgia.  It's not untrue.  It's just bullshit.  Close it out with a tie-in with a good thing for women previously (easy: suffrage) along with gains to come (equal pay, or some shit they'll eat up.)




NONE of that involves actually knowing facts, except the factoid that started it.  The rest is simply a brain exercise in what the effects of the factoid is.



Part of the reason I wasn't still in love with teaching was the bullshit topics.  I was used to it, from college, but didn't know it had infected HS so badly.  I thrived in college by spewing bullshit, and could read any book I wanted on my own to learn about history.




Teaching students to bullshit is a lifelong skill.  It will get them through every English, Poli Sci, Anthro, and History class in college.  Then it translates to job interviews and working with people.




There's no shame in the bullshit.  There is shame in not teaching the history.  You taught the history.  No regrets there.


 

While bullshitting may work in the short term, the long term ramifications are monstrous. If we all bullshit each other back and forth, teacher to student, student to teacher, eventually we'll get people in society that start thinking the moon landing was bullshit. Oh shi...

AP classes are supposed to follow a very strict and defined outline. If the teacher deviates from this they are NOT doing what they are supposed to do

If you want to have a lot of latitude in what you are teaching get a job at a college.

Wow, this is depressing. Luckily for me, my father was a history major and ensured that I was well versed in all things history

This.

I know nothing about AP classes. My high school did not offer them in the late 1980s.  Is the instructor given an outline in advance of what the exam will test on?

They will know the format of the test, and a broad outline of what material might be on there.  They like cultural comparisons, but its a crapshoot every year to know if you covered the right stuff

that's a shame OP

I took AP US History in 2003 as a Junior. Even then our teacher had to essentially mix teaching history with teaching the test.

I wound up being one of two people from both AP US History classes in our school to get a 5 on the exam. I'd say that 2/3rds of the students got 3s on it.

What I do remember from the exam was that as mentioned above if you could bullshit your way through five paragraphs with an outline paragraph and a conclusion paragraph and sprinkle in a few factoids you would pass.

One question asked us to write an essay about FDR's new deal and how it changed America, I mentioned the alphabet agencies and listed three of the smaller ones but couldn't remember the NRA or WPA of all things and they were some of the most famous.

Well, you know, the guys who make the tests keep what needs to be taught a secret.  We have some sketchy intel, some good guesses, but we don't really know what will be on the test.  Plus, the content, testing methods, and software keep changing.  And then, of course, the tests happen in March, two months before the school year ends, so there's not a lot of time to get stuff taught.  But, hey, teachers suck, right?

Well, my son enters AP US History next year, in the great state of California. Hell maybe they'll go to field trips into Berkeley.

Dude, same here, same year. That year they focused on New Deal if I remember correctly, all the post-depression attempts to pull us out of the depression, etc.

I got a 4, there were only a few 4/5s across the whole program. I also got a 57 in that class because I was in a top 10% class where the other fuckers had no idea what the "Monitor versus the Merrimack/CSS Virginia" even entailed. This was Texas, and it was like a first time heard on most US history for them apparently. I stopped paying any attention and crammed the test at the end of the year despite my teacher telling my folks I wasn't ready. Senior year I had to test out of US History to graduate, walked in unprepared and got an 87 on that test.


I think what the AP program was trying to do was cram all the history points in but leave it to the student to critically think about what THEY thought the impact of those events were. It sucks when you're a military history buff and all the schools want to talk about is reconstruction and the New Deal, or the social revolutions of the 60s/70s. But ultimately I was fine because I understood the history enough to form opinions on it of my own.

Maybe that's where the gap is, your kids hadn't practiced enough on taking a point in history and then having to stretch a bit to relate it to some cultural or social movement.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. ”
    George Santayana, Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense,
    Scribner's, 1905, page 284


And it is even harder to recall history you never learned.

The test failed, not your students.

BTW - How the hell did you cover all that material in a school year?

25 years ago I bought a book called "The Almanac of American History". All the really important stuff was missing.

this makes me want to prevent my kids from taking AP classes.  The teachers don't know what questions the test will ask, it's just "cover as much as you can, and hope you covered the right stuff?"  That sucks.