Parents of the HS Class of 2013

[RobD]

A freshman level HS English paper is not really about learning and reporting on a particular topic. It's about learning HOW to research (information literacy) and the mechanics of what a research paper should consist of, including citation mechanics. It's cumbersome, it's not fun and everyone leaves the bibliography till the end and then they spend hours trying to recreate what they forgot to write down, and then format it correctly

While it is a pain, and she's being tough, you have to realize that plagiarism (both intentional and unintentional) is rampant nowadays thanks to the interwebz Back in the stone ages when we were in school, you couldn't cut and paste handwriting or typewriting. Software such as turnitin.com picks up most stuff, but this is really an exercise for them to be intentional about what they're writing.

I am an academic librarian and let me tell you that most freshmen come into their undergraduate institution with very little research experience under their belts. I always tell them "when in doubt, cite." You can't get in trouble for citing too much, but if you don't cite enough you could face disciplinary procedures due to honor code violations. Your DS will be in good shape in 4 years because he's had to do this now.

[Longhaul]

Thanks all for your responses. The teacher is a HE fresh out of college and strict as can be. Great to me as a parent, frustrating to my son who wishes he got the other English teacher.

I don't know what format the teacher is requiring.

My son knows a lot of facts. He can be a walking encyclopedia. This particle essay he just completed was a "persuasive essay" and Son did not do any research. He just wrote based upon his knowledge & opinions. He is going back now and finding back-up for his knowledge. If it were a strict research paper things would be simplier. A research paper would provide the hard & fast rules Son is looking to define.

RobD -- I should have explained clearly, the problem is not the cut & paste type plag. -- Son (and classmates) get that. The issues seem to be more to do with paraphasing and defining "well-known facts." I do agree RobD that he will be good to go in the long run! Right now though he has gone from little citing to citing every sentence -- hoping we'll find a happy medium before the term is over.

historymom -- I'll see how this next draft goes and if I can't understand what the teacher is refering to I'll pm you.

My struggle is just getting enough info out of son to comprehend the situation.

[RobD]

1 more day left of winter break, and DD#2 starts her 2nd semester of Freshman year. By next week, the GC's at her school will begin working with them to register for their sophomore classes. Yikes! The state of TN is changing graduation requirements beginning with the graduating class of 2013 so although my oldest is graduating this year, I feel like I have to learn the ropes again for #2.

Not expecting any surprises in the scheduling; not a lot of wiggle room during 10th grade here, especially since they've added a few more requirements for graduation.

[PaperChaserPop]

Happy news to report on DS2's national chess tournament. Both his team and himself individually finished in the top three places nationally! This "Christmas present" certainly more than made up for his losing the senate race.

[Momof10of13of15]

Great news on the chess tournament PCP!

I am also jumping in here for 2nd D, (oldest is class of 10), who is a completely different kid from her older sister so I'm not sure everything I've learned with oldest D will help with this one but we'll see

She's an arts/theater/photography lover and I see her ultimately choosing a career with that bent. She's an avid reader, great tester but tends to view school like I did (a rather time-consuming nuisance ) Doesn't help that I said screw it and figured out how to graduate early at 16 so she knows there are options over and above what GCs mention. We'll see what happens!

I'm not really bugging her except that her grades do matter but I don't demand As with this kid. Her older sister is just a natural student and a hard working one at that whereas younger D is much more self-centric and laid back student.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everything - and see many familair faces from the class of 10 board!

[PaperChaserPop]

Thanks and welcome to the next round, Momof10of13of15. Btw, are you going to change your username after each kid's birthday? .

I'm looking forward to getting to know everything

You can't get off this easily, not with one already under your belt. We are looking for you to share your wisdom! .

[Momof10of13of15]

LOl - nope it's their class years which hopefully won't change In fact, youngest ('15) turns 13 in just 5 days when I officially become the mom of 3 teenagers

[Longhaul]

m101315

3 Teenagers! You will need to share more than college tips with us.

PCP - Congrats to DS2!

[mnmom62]

Need to rant. Why oh why does my child do this thing where she has perfect grades up until weeks before it really counts? First Q straight A's, coming up on end of second Q or semester grades which are reflected in GPA, they start dropping.

Arggggh!

Welcome Momof10of13of15 and grats, PaperChaserPop!

p.s. Longhaul - your son's English teacher sounds much like my daughter's.

[octoberdana]

My dd went on a college discovery day today. I kept telling her that she didn't have to do this, and we could wait until next year. She said she really wanted to- so we went.

She did feel a little awkard as she was one of, if not the only freshman. There were some sophmores and juniors but it was mostly seniors. I couldn't believe how many seniors still hadn't decided where they might like to go...

Anyway, overall she said she felt a little uncomfortable because she was younger than most, but she took away some thoughts of what she liked and didn't. It will be a good frame of reference for her for next year when we start the serious visits towards the end of her sophmore year.

Also, one parent made the comment to me that she wished she had started earlier with her daughter and that it was smart to start younger- I thought that was an interesting observation.

[Youdon'tsay]

octoberdana, ds1's first college tour was the summer after freshman year. It remains his top-choice school. You never know!

Since is the '13 thread, I guess I'll add that our schools makes freshmen take the PSAT. Ds was very happy with his score, even though it means nothing.

[PaperChaserPop]

our schools makes freshmen take the PSAT

Wow. Do they provide trainings too? I'll encourage S2 to take it next year as a sophomore. Given the trend I'm seeing now, I probably should have let D, a current sophomore, take the last one.

[RobD]

OctoberDana: you would be surprised at the number of seniors who are still making their list! And I'm talking about the AP kids too.

My freshman took the PSATs also & did well. Her 1st semester GPA is far higher than her sisters was, so my gut feeling that she'll end up being a more competitive candidate down the road seems to be holding true.

She is the process of figuring out her schedule for next year. Course selections need to be turned in within the next week or so. As of right now, this is the schedule:

English II Pre-IB
AP European History
Algebra II Honors
Chemistry Honors
Spanish III Honors
Economics Honors (1/2 year) but potentially Macroeconomics AP which is new for next year/
Personal Finance (1/2 year; new class required in TN beginning with the Class of 2013)
Theatre Arts I (there is a 1 year fine arts requirement)

[octoberdana]

Apparently, this college has a separate visitation day for just freshman and sophmores that they offer in addition to ones open to all grades. Guess it's not as unusual as I thought for her to be looking as a freshman- she would have perhaps been more comfortable on the fresh/soph only dates.

DD is currently enrolling for her Sophmore year courses. She is a year behind in Math (she wants to double up as Junior) so she is looking at:

Advanced English 10
Biology
Algebra I
Health & Computer Applications (both required for graduation)
AP US History
German II
Dance I & II (for 2nd fine Arts elective)

We think it's a pretty good schedule- 2 advanced classes- 1 of which is AP. 2nd year of foreign language and fine arts (she took a year of choral music this year).

She plans to take AP Lit & Comp, AP Psych, and ACP Lang and Comp as Junior/Senior.

[Momof10of13of15]

My D'13 is finishing up her 3rd year of Spanish this year and I do not think she'll be persuaded to keep with it so she'll have 3 elective slots open and while she could fill it with AP History, I'd rather she take that as a junior so her schedule for next year will likely be:

Int Pre-Calculus
Int English 10
Int Chemistry
PE/Health
Theater II
Technical Theater
Photography II (she's submitting a portfolio to bypass Photo I)

She is my artsy one and her transcript will certainly reflect that in the end.