Columbus East High School

COURSE GUIDE FOR AP MACROECONOMICS 

MR. POTTORFF, SPRING 2011

1. Classroom Rules:

• Do not talk while I am talking.
• Do not talk while your classmates are talking during discussions, activities, etc. (they will often say wiser things than I).
• Treat all others in the class with respect at all times.
• Treat all materials in this room, the library, the computer lab, etc, with respect at all times.
• Always come to class prepared & ready to have fun.  This means that you bring your book, binder, HOMEWORK, writing utensils, etc., EVERY day.  Another daily companion of yours should be an open & inquisitive mind.
• PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE.  You certainly don’t want to hear my ramble on for 45 minutes every day.  This class is for YOU; please make the most of it. I will talk about appropriate participation in its varied forms in class.  I reserve the right to grade on your level of participation at any time, announced or unannounced.
• Do not cheat, sleep during class, or blame things on someone or something else when it is actually your fault.
• I STRONGLY encourage you to take the Macroeconomics AP exam in May.  Whether or not you take the Microeconomics exam is up to you, but I am here to help.
• Follow all rules not covered here that are in the Columbus East High School student handbook.
• MR. POTTORFF’S HOMEWORK POLICY:

2. Course Projects:
• Out-of-Class Activities: You are required to complete one activity outside-of-class per each nine-week grading period.  You will receive a sheet that goes into more detail about this. 

3. Grading Policies:
• You will be responsible for keeping an up-to-date grade sheet.  Most of you are probably familiar with these already; however, we will go over them at some point to assure that everybody knows what to do.  WHAY ARE THEY SO IMPORTANT?  I will be collecting them every three weeks for a 10-point grade each time. 
• You also need to purchase/reuse a 2-inch binder & a spiral-bound packet of note cards.  I will discuss the details about these in class, but you will receive points for keeping these up-to-date & organized.
• I will use the Columbus East Social Studies Department grading scale that can be found at the top of your grade sheet to assign all letter grades.
• Any absences that are preplanned should be brought to my attention so that I can provide you with makeup work to complete while you are gone.
• You will be given one day to make up work for any single day unexpected absence.  If you miss multiple days unexpectedly you will be given two-three days to make up your work depending on the given circumstance.

4. Tests, Quizzes, Etc.:
• Due to the nature of this course you will have a quiz, test, or similar form of assessment on a nearly weekly basis.  These not only act to measure your retention & application of the material that we have covered, they also familiarize you with the structure & flow of the AP model for economics.  My hope is to prepare you effectively for the May test, not to create unnecessary stress.
• The AP test for macroeconomics is comprised 2/3 of multiple choice questions and 1/3 of free response (not essay or DBQ) questions.  Thus, the majority of questions you encounter on tests will be of the multiple choice variety.  You will probably not even see a free response question until late September-early October as we build a solid foundation of knowledge & get some experience under our belts.

COURSE OUTLINE (SYLLABUS) 

A. Basic Economic Principles-Chapters 1 & 2

B. The Forces that Drive Markets: Supply & Demand (Microeconomic Perspective)-Chapter 3

C. The “Big” Picture of Macro: Using Economic Indicators-Chapters 22-24 & 32

D. Money, Banking, & the Fed-Chapter 30

E. Monetary & Fiscal Policies-Chapters 29 & 31

F. Theories of Macroeconomics-Chapter 33

G. Aggregate Supply & Aggregate Demand-Chapters 27 & 28

H. International Economics-Chapters 8 & 34