<p>prepping for exams? What’s that?
sigh</p>
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<p>How about text message? You hear about people breaking up by text - might as well ask for a prom date by text.</p>
<p>oh forgot to add…our seniors are stressed about AP exams, graduation looming, that big summer they’re supposed to do something meaningful and income producing…and believe it or not about prom </p>
<p>my d’s prom was last Friday nite, and like most “events”–so much time and energy is spent preparing, which for my d created a sense that it all had to be just so, well “perfect”, an unusual thing for her. Of course she and her bf looked adorable, had a fun time, but on reflection she also realized, what was I getting so stressed about, it was a 4 hour party… </p>
<p>last yr my s hated when I asked about prom, he had stopped dating a girl months before prom, and he really didn’t know how he wanted to handle things. He ultimately opted to go with a group of friends, they all shared a limo, hung out together and had fun… the one friend in the group who brought his girlfriend was the exception…I think it helps when are laid back about these things, so as not to add to the social expectations, anxiety…</p>
<p>D2’s AP teachers invited students to come to school at 8 am on Sat or Sun to sit for practice exams. They even provided breakfast for those who attended. Several of the teachers are national graders so they really help the kids through this.</p>
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<p>You hate to tell your kid to blow off any exams, but Son’s school gives credit for 4s and 5s. With 4 APs and not a lot of motivation, it would be a whole lot better if he got two 4s and two 1s than four 3s.</p>
<p>Now that son knows where he’s going, he was actually studying all last night for this APGov exam, knowing he’ll get credit for a class in his major. APELit not so much, as he already has a 4 on APEComp.</p>
<p>I’m hoping he’ll start sharing info on his senior trip, prom, graduation plans, etc. with the big decision and all those related conversations over.</p>
<p>missypie–that’s a good point, to focus on those exams where it will have some personal value to them…</p>
<p>Out of the 7 AP classes S is taking this year, he’s only sitting for 4 exams. Jettisoned are: English Lit, Macroeconomics, and Latin. Our school district had an AP prep conference, with review sessions taught by several different teachers (door prizes given out to participants! free t-shirts!), which S found useful for Stats and Calculus BC.</p>
<p>If our students don’t take the AP exam, they have to take the (free) “District exam” which, according to lore, “is so hard that no one has ever passed it.” I wish someone would test that policy - I don’t see how they can count the grade on the district exam in the student’s GPA if they don’t count the score on the AP exam, and if it doesn’t count, why should the student care if no one has ever passed it?</p>
<p>D has 6 AP’s and she’s sitting for all the exams (it’s not really an option at our school not to sit for the exam). They’ve been doing practice tests in some of the classes so we’ve reserved an AP Physics review book from the library (2 different ones) which should be available Friday. She’s most concerned about art history, physics C and European Hist. Calc teacher is also doing a practice test weekend session but D doesn’t think she has any reason to go and I trust her on that. She cannot wait until this is over. The latest concern is that the teachers seem to be planning to assign projects for after the AP tests are over but they really only have 1 1/2 weeks of school left at that point so that could be a very condensed period to do 6 projects (she’s not thrilled).</p>
<p>On a positive front she has been told that she will be valedictorian (possibly sharing with one other student). D set her mind to being valedictorian in 9th grade (trust me it didn’t come from DH or me) so she’s really happy about that. She also received some small local scholarships for odds and ends. Not much money but she likes being recognized.</p>
<p>Prom weekend/college graduation plans are continuing to get messed up. DS (graduating in Cleveland) thought we could get together with his GF’s family whom we had not met previously but I told him yesterday that unless its lunch after graduation it isn’t happening (definitely not the day before when we already have to be in 2 places at the same time). </p>
<p>For everyone who finally has decisions congrats, hope this lessens the stress.</p>
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<p>That’s terrific!</p>
<p>yes ohio–love that she set that as a goal and achieved it!</p>
<p>and that’s the reason for the 6 AP classes this year. Her original plan was to take 5 and french 5 but they couldn’t figure out any way to fit french into the schedule so she said well if I can’t take french then at least find me another AP class to fit in the schedule. And so…we have Art History, a class she loves but has been more work than almost all the others combined.</p>
<p>From the school district:</p>
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<p>I don’t know what sports are still going on besides baseball and softball but so sad if someone is missing the last weeks of their high school season!</p>
<p>Just looked at the school calendar - looks like there was one baseball game left, then the playoffs. I guess that will delay the playoffs. The State gymnastics meet was last weekend - good thing they got that in.</p>
<p>Hope they don’t go nuts and cancel prom!</p>
<p>Congrats to SharonOhio’D for being selected as Val! Tres’ cool!</p>
<p>Yippee for Marquette and WPI they are getting a couple of fine young men! And their mothers are going to be getting some well deserved peace…for now. #theory he will pull his arse out of the fire. Perhaps the no-prom-thing will be the window of time he needs to get his English papers done. </p>
<p>cpeltz- Yes D is still waiting on the Scripps WL. She does love St. Mary’s but if she comes off the WL and we can afford to send her then she will be an Athena, not a Gael. </p>
<p>Re APs. I am not hopeful. DDs have a dreadful AP Lit teacher! He hasn’t given a practice test, hasn’t spent time reviewing. In addition, he loves the sound of his own voice and doesn’t hold the kids accountable for listening to him ramble on. Still they know their terms and have had lots of practice w/ analysis this year so perhaps. They had the same guy for APUSH last year and both scored 4s so maybe my dislike of him stems from the fact that he can’t tell my DDs apart and has had them in class for 3 years straight…they last two years in the same class period!</p>
<p>APCalc has a new teacher who hasn’t taught Calc before and he’s cutting his teeth with this group. There are about 3 kids in there (of 18 I think) who get it. The rest, including my D, are floundering. She has a B but was a puddle of stress the other night because she couldn’t get it and she felt stupid and like she was wasting her time! I made the mistake of pointing out that when she retakes Calc in college she will have some background which will make it easier for her. The look of shock and panic at the thought of retaking it made me sorry I mentioned it. But on the bright side, she has come around to realize that it wont be so terrible to repeat a class with a more competent professor, in which she has some fundamentals down already.</p>
<p>I don’t care when we switch out the thread but think it might be fun to do it on this one’s anniversary, Cinco de Mayo!! We can share cyber margaritas, chips, salsa and guacamole…cpeltz you can dive in all you want! We can get cyper-sloshed and think back sloppily over the past year while we put our arms arund each other’s shoulders and sing a cacophony of fight songs from our kids’ colleges</p>
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<p>There is a set of identical twins we have known since baby-hood. I could tell them apart when they lived across the street from us. One was the “heavier one”. But then they moved to a different neighborhood and the “heavier one” got tired of being the heavier one so he lost weight. I see them on occasion at the gym and I feel so bad that I can’t greet them by name.</p>
<p>I LOVE the Cinco de Mayo idea! has it really been a year! Yikes!!</p>
<p>missypie: Oh Missypie, try not to feel badly since the encounters are chance and you have no responsibility to know who is who. This guy is grading my girls on their work and participation in class and he has had them sitting in the same class of 25 kids for two of the three years he has known them! Different situation. If these boys still lived across from you I bet you would have figured out a way to know who is who.</p>
<p>BTW, my girls don’t have the same hair style and haven’t since babyhood really the guy’s obtuseness is just laziness and apathy.</p>
<p>woody so glad you like the idea!</p>
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<p>Son is in class with a pair of identical twins - it’s as if they discussed their “role” or “costumes” before they started high school. One is the ultimate preppy - always a shirt with a collar, shirt always tucked in. The other has more of the slacker/gamer attire. They could totally switch identities like in a movie because everyone is so used to telling them apart by how they dress!</p>
<p>Kinda late?..Ya think?</p>
<p>D has already deposited at 2nd choice school because the FA was significantly better than choice #1. We had even sent in an aid appeal to school #1 and they replied with a “sorry, no can do” type answer. Well, last night D received an email offering her almost double the amount of aid School #1 had originally offered to her. Did I say they sent this LAST NIGHT??? They said that “based on the strength of our appeal (which they had already refused), and , due to the sudden availability of additional funds”, etc. </p>
<p>D simply asked, “is it enough $$$ to switch?” I told her there were NO guaranties they would be able to offer a similar amount of $$$ each year. She seems ok with that and at least feels good they responded in a positive manner to the appeal…eventually.</p>
<p>I’m guessing, they aren’t getting the acceptances they forcast. How unfortunate for everybody that there is so much uncertainty. Should they have responded to us in this manner originally, we might have actually considered.</p>