From Fall 2014
If you get the chance to take a class with Dr Soldani consider yourself lucky. Her main priority is to make sure her students pass and most importantly actually learn. Since I have already taken her I know the ins and the outs, I can give you some advice. I myself am not an A student but I know how you can be one. It is not hard to earn an A in this class as long as you do the following steps that I provide you with.
First step would definitely have to be to GO TO CLASS. No matter what, even if you’re deathly ill, go to class. I did not always skip class but when I did it was normally on a Friday, which is when the most information is usually given out. Even though I would get the notes from another student, I still wouldn’t fully comprehend what was going on in the notes. It’s different actually being in class and hearing what’s going on rather than just copying someone’s notes due to the fact that Dr Soldani makes the notes into a story. The way she explains history makes sense because she makes it into a story rather than just feeding us information that wont make sense.
Second step to earning an A is to do all of the opportunities she gives you to earn money. I’m pretty sure this is what saved my grade in this class. Since I wouldn’t always study for our weekly quizzes, I would take the money that I had and put it towards my quizzes. You can also use this extra money towards things like projects and test. When you use your money towards the test it helps you get extra points. You can also buy out of some assignments and quizzes, which is what I did. For example when you want to buy out of a quiz it cost 20$, first you have to take the quiz, then if you are not happy with your grade you can pay 20$ and you receive a 100% for the quiz. This whole thing worked out great for me since I would usually miss Friday classes and that’s when quizzes were mostly given out. You can never have too much extra credit it can always help you so do all the extra opportunities that present themselves!
Thirdly, this is for all the students that are already A students. Study for your weekly quizzes. I had a hard time doing this, but I know for a fact other students did not. But just because you study for all of your weekly quizzes and pass them with A’s does not mean you shouldn’t do all the extra credit that is given to you. You should do all the extra credit as well as study for all the weekly quizzes. I can only imagine how high my grade would be if I actually studied for all of the weekly quizzes and did all of the extra credit. Studying for the weekly quizzes is so easy, but if youre a lazy student like me I can see how this can be difficult. But school is difficult so don’t be lazy like me. I could’ve earned an A+ in this class if I would’ve just studied for every quiz, which probably would’ve taken an hour max.
The fourth step to earning an A in this class would be to establish a relationship with Dr. Soldani. She already tries really hard to build a relationship with each and every student, but this is a two way street. If you ever have any questions about anything, it doesn’t even have to pertain to the class, do not hesitate to go to her office hours or to just shoot her an email, or even a message on Facebook! I would highly recommend adding her on Facebook because she usually posts study guides, useful links, and a lot of other important things on there. When you build a relationship with your teacher it makes coming to class easier and I feel like it makes you want to pay attention. History has usually been my worst subject because it just doesn’t make sense to me but I can honestly say I enjoyed coming to this class everyday and it was always a fun time.
Lastly, the fifth step would be to just have fun and enjoy this class. If you learn how to relax and just trust Dr. Soldani you will figure out that you actually learn more. When you sit back and relax you are not as stressed which leads you to do better in this class. If you’re always worrying about the grades that are not put in blackboard, and stressing about when the next test is you will not be able to give your whole 100% to the class. Now that I have given you everything you need to succeed in this class with an A you should do so because it is possible.
