APUSH

As each new school year begins, whispers of the Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) course begin to fill the hallways. With many unsure of how to best study for the class, APUSH Teacher Christopher Johnson and senior Shinmu Jiang offer tips to help students succeed in the course.

For Johnson, student success is heavily determined by students’ willingness to review and practice material outside of school. “For decades, people have done well taking notes and reading textbooks,” he said. “The best method is just to read the textbook and take notes.”

The YouTube channel Jocz Productions by Daniel Jocz is an additional resource that students can turn to accompany the textbook readings. In senior Shinmu Jiang’s experience, using Jocz has proven to work for him. “When I get stuck on a topic or feel shaky about it, I will take a trip to the YouTube Channel Jocz Productions,” Jiang said. “Jocz helps me break down and give a quick summary of what I read.”

Johnson suggests handwriting  notecards to review key topics. “Besides the textbook, flashcards can be another tool for studying,” he said. “However, make sure you make the cards yourself.”

For reading quizzes and large tests, reviewing is often paramount to success. For assessments, Jiang recommends taking another trip to Jocz Productions as a quick refresher. Another tool Jiang recommends is Quizlet, allowing him to both learn and test himself at the same time.

When the May deadline approaches, Johnson suggests some preparatory materials for the test. “Aside from studying the textbook, you should get a test preparation book,” he said. Due to their heightened demand during AP practice season, Johnson strongly suggests purchasing preparatory books as soon as possible to maximize the chance of getting a book before they go out of stock.

Finally, for the official May test, Jiang has one important tip. “You should relax; the test is usually much easier than you think, ” he said. “I honestly think the earlier test time and the writing itself was worse than the test.”