AP American Government Class Reviews for Class taught by Rachel Califf

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AP US Govt & Politics posted by Melanie Bertotto on May 21 2008 at 16:39:13

Perspective students,

I took this course in order to better understand the structure of the United States government. Having always been interested in politics Mrs. Califf’s class opened my mind to new opinions and ideas. The course load was reasonable and we were given sufficient time to complete all assignments. Weekly essays, though not required, were a beneficial practice tool for the final AP exam and I recommend them. Discussion questions initiated class wide debate on all subject matter which I enjoyed. Mrs. Califf was involved and always available to answer questions and clarify information. This was my first AP course and I am glad I chose US Gov’t & Politics because it deepened my interest in the political process and gave me a thorough understanding of the US government.

AP U.S. Govt. & Politics review posted by Robert Peele on May 20 2008 at 13:20:13

This class provided a solid knowledge base on US Government. Although there were occasional problems with quizzes appearing out of order, they were promptly resolved and the questions on the quizzes were very helpful in preparing for the multiple-choice section on the final exam. I reccomend doing the essays each week, as they take only 25 minutes to write and another 5 minutes to type up for submission, and offer an understanding of what types of questions will appear on the real test, and what kind of knowledge is important. The discussions on the online forum were fascinating and often presented opportunities for further study.

Overall I enjoyed the class and feel that it prepared me for the AP test excellently.

Great Class! posted by Michelle Nance on May 19 2008 at 22:16:47

Dear Prospective AP US Government Student,

I hope you take this course! I have learned so much this year and feel that every high school student should have the level of political knowledge taught in this class. I will now continue this letter by specifically answering the questions Mrs. Califf has given us to answer:

Why did you take the course? As I researched colleges in the summer before my senior year in high school, I realized that a potential college required students to take a government class. That initially led me to this course, as well as the wonderful experience I had the year before taking a Pennsylvania Homeschooler AP English Language class by Mrs. Catherine Dawgert (she no longer offers the class). I have always loved government and politics anyway, so I was very excited about this course.

Did you enjoy the course? Yes, I did. I particularly enjoyed the assignments where we interacted with fellow students.

What have you gained from the year? Before this course, I had a vague knowledge of the American government, even though I loved politics. This class has enabled me to better understand what I watch on the news and read in political magazines and newspapers.

Which assignments did you like the least? Why? I can’t think of any assignments I particularly did not enjoy, but I would have appreciated more group projects. I think one of the benefits of online education is making friends from different areas and backgrounds and learning from them. Working collaboratively on activities has always helped me delve more deeply into the subject matter.

Was the amount of writing appropriate to the course objectives? Definitely! Because the AP US Gov. exam contains four essays, I am glad Mrs. Califf made it such an integral part of the class. However, I would recommend to you that you take advantage of all the essays Mrs. Califf sends you. I only wrote the minimum number of essays, and I feel that I would have been better prepared had I written more.

Did you find the "standings" and bonus credit activities helpful and enjoyable? Yes! I tend to be competitive, so having the standings and bonus credit opportunities kept me motivated!

Was your parent or guardian regularly involved in overseeing your work? No. I complete almost all my schoolwork independently. However, I don’t think anyone really needs to have a parent involved, because the coursework is explanatory and Mrs. Califf is available for questions and helps.

So overall, I have enjoyed this class and, if you take it, I hope you love it as well!!

Sincerely,

Michelle

I would recommend this course! posted by Lauren Sturdy on August 07 2007 at 20:06:12

Why did you take this course? Because I wanted to study American Government in depth

Did you enjoy this course? Why or why not? In general yes, I did. I was intrigued by learning all sorts of things about government that I had not know or thought about. I particularly liked how the course made me form opinions on political issues that I had not considered and challenged me to re-think those that I had in light of more detailed information about how the government works.

What have you gained from the course this year? A greater respect for all of the complicated forces pushing policy in different directions!

Were course objectives clear? (That this was an AP prep class?) Yes, both the subject and the purpose of the class was clear.

Were course procedures and assignments understandable? If not, how can I improve on that? The course procedures were clearly laid out at the beginning of the class and conveniently posted for reference. The assignments were understandable, and those that happened to be confusing I think were all addressed with further clarification at the beginning of the week they were assigned.

Which assignments did you like the most? Why? My favorite assignments were the cartoons. I enjoyed looking for them and choosing amongst them, and then spending time really looking at the cartoon to try to understand their nuances.

Which assignments did you like the least? Why? I am afraid that I can’t be much help here. I didn’t particularly have a least favorite assignment. I thought that some of the extra credit work, like finding the statistics, was busy work, but since it was extra-credit, it was also optional. But I did find many of the statistics interesting, so it was not all busy work.

Was the amount of writing appropriate to the course objectives? Why or why not? The amount of writing seemed to be generally appropriate to the course objectives. I think, though, that being required to write more than 10 essays would have been helpful, especially at the end of the year as the exam loomed closer. I did not do most of the essays at the end of the year because I had done my ten and was cramped for time, and so did not work hard to find time for them because they were optional, even though they were short.

Has the course inspired you to be more involved in politics, or helped you to understand your own political viewpoints? Why or why not? Yes, this course has done both. By learning more about the details of how the government works and what influences it, I was encouraged to rethink policies that I believe would be good and also to consider becoming more involved to change many of the policies in place today.

Did you like the course materials (textbooks, etc.)? Why or why not? In general I liked the course materials, although occasionally I found myself wondering if the textbook had a point that it was trying to make, such as in the chapter on elections when it worked so adamantly to show why apathy was not the reason for low-voter turnout. I liked the fact, though, that the textbook seemed to come in general from a more conservative view-point.

Did you like having bonus activities? Why or why not? I liked having bonus activities. For one, I found many of them helpful and getting some credit for them gave me some incentive to do them.

Did you find the “standings” and bonus credit helpful and enjoyable? I think that having bonus credit is both helpful and enjoyable. It prompted me to do the review quizzes and to do some other activities to try to get points.

Did you enjoy discussions? I enjoyed the discussions, although I did not participate in all of them. The questions that you posted were thought provoking, and they also led to many different tangents!

Was your parent or guardian regularly involved in overseeing your work? Not really. I was in charge of keeping track of assignments and turning them in. Although my mother would sometimes ask how the class was going, she never checked the assignments. How does this class compare to other AP courses that you have taken? In my opinion this class provided a good balance between covering the AP material and preparing for the exam and learning the material for its own sake. I did not feel that the sole purpose of the class was to score well on the AP exam, but rather to learn about government. The class was easier than the other AP classes that I have taken, but it prepared me well for the exam, which many have not.

Would you recommend this course to a friend? Why or why not? I would. The course covered the material for the exam and provided a forum for discussions that I found very interesting. I was challenged by the material in the course.

General Evaluation of the Instructor:

Do you get clear and timely answers to your questions from the instructor? Most of the time.

Is the instructor fair and respectful? Yes

Is the instructor effective in teaching the material? Yes. Although there was not any direct teaching, the assignments did help to flesh out and cement the information in the textbook and all questions that I had were answered.

Does the instructor convey enthusiasm and knowledge about the course materials? Yes, although there were a number of quiz questions that needed to be corrected through the year.

What overall rating would you give the instructor and why? Excellent

Excellent course posted by Ian Sturdy on July 05 2007 at 11:10:54

This course was not entirely satisfying on account of how broad a subject government is, and thus how lightly any one course can cover it, but within the limitations of any school course it covered the material well and did an excellent job of preparing me for the AP exam.

I actually spent somewhat less time than is noted in the course description--probably 1-1.5 hours a day.

I particularly liked the term paper--it really got me to think about the issue (in my case, the electoral college) and, in the research for the paper, my opinion actually changed.

I recommend this course to all students, including those not planning to study government in college. It does an excellent job of framing political issues, and the background on politics that it provides did help me to understand better much of what is happening in politics and government now.

I Am So Excited That You Will be Taking This Class posted by Rebecca Duberstein on May 07 2007 at 01:51:25

Dear Future Student of American Government,

Don't be intimidated if you don't know much about government. At the beginning of this class, almost the only things I knew about the United State's government was that it has three branches and that a presidential term lasted for four years. This class presented an understandable, systematic survey of our government and I cannot believe how much my knowledge of our government has increased in just one year! If you have never studied government before, you may be surprised to discover that it is truly fascinating. You will receive an introduction to government theory, structure, the three branches, current controversial issues, and so much more. You will probably also grow in gratitude for the amazing priviledges and advantages that we enjoy.

I am so glad that I have the opportunity to write this letter to you because I want to help you avoid a few mistakes that I made. First, I didn't know what the WWW Board was, so, for the first two or three months, I didn't participate on it. I deeply regret this. The Government Board is a wonderful place to discuss current events and be exposed to the opinions of your fellow classmates. I want to encourage you to invest some time in discussing the articles or questions that Mrs. Califf posts. This is a great opportunity for you to apply the information that you are reading in your textbook or go deeper into a government-related issue.

Second, take as many timed essays as possible. I don't enjoy taking timed essay tests. Therefore, I only took the minimum amount of essay tests required of me. This was a definite mistake. Writing essays forces you to process the information you learn each week in a completely different way and it allows you to practice for the four essays on the government exam. I would have been much stronger in my understand of our government and my readiness for the exam if I had pushed myself harder to do essay tests.

I am so excited that you will be taking this class! One reason for this is that Mrs. Califf is an excellent teacher. She is very accessible and is eager to answer questions and she is enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge of government. I'm glad that you will be able to take this class from her.

I am also excited that you will be taking this class because it is so important for you to understand the way our government works in order for you to make the wisest, and most effective use of your position in this society. As a result of this class, I have changed from someone who knew almost nothing about government to someone who is considering a major in political science. I hope you enjoy this class as much as I did! Have a wonderful year!

Sincerely,

Rebecca D.

Mark Huggins May 14 2004 at 08:24:22

hi mrs. califf,

I appreciate all you did in the class; regardless of how I do on the test, I learned a TON and really enjoyed taking the class.

Thanks a lot,

Mark

by Sean Smith, May 24 2005 at 14:18:12

I took this years AP U.S. Government and Politics course and I thought it was very well taught. Thanks to the class, my interest in politics has really increased.

I had never really payed attention to politics or government before, but thanks to this course I became interested in politics. I have never really followed an election closely before, but because of this course I really followed the 2004 presidential election. I watched every debate and even did research on the candidates.

On top of increasing my interest in politics, the assignments and books we read prepared me very well for the AP test. Every few weeks we had to write a 25 minute essay, and I thought this really prepared me well for the essay section of the test. Thanks to the essays we wrote in class, I learned how to manage my time well on the essay section of the test.

We also had a "Practice AP Test" near the end of the year. I think this really helped me alot when I took the actual test, because until I took the practice test I really wasn't exactly sure of what to expect.

Thank you very much for teaching the class Mrs. Califf! It was well taught and I feel it more than prepared me for the test.

Sean Smith

Class review by David Walker, June 02 2005 at 14:05:07

Written by David Walker (student) in response to an evaluation questionnaire.

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Yes. I don’t have a grade for it yet, so I can’t know for sure. But I did feel prepared.

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

10-12 But I spent way more time or option discussions than I had to, so you could probably cut off 2-3 of that.

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable? The timed essays were most helpful for preparing me for the test since I had only done that before once.

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Well, no. But my interest in the subject was already quite high. Still you probably should have an interest in the subject before you start, or at least be able to discipline yourself to excel in a subject you dislike. Personally I can’t.

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Um, not really. With a few notable exceptions, I found class discussion to be quite pathetic. Still that could well change next year with a new student group.

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

Well, other than students should be interested in taking in US AP gov’t class I’ve nothing really to recommend. I see nothing that really would recommend one “personality type” over any other, but I’m no psychologist.

AP Government Review by Ian Jeffries, July 12 2005 at 16:52:32

My name is Ian Jeffries, and I took Mrs. Califf's AP US Government class in 2004-05.

I enjoyed the class, and gained an understanding of the US government. I also felt very well prepared for the exam.

It was alot of work, and you have to actively work on assignments and things you don't understand.

Mrs. Califf did a great job, and this class is highly recommended.