<p>FromMD- my d was exhausted after AP exams too. The last week of school was a struggle for her. We go back to school early in August, but I am glad school finishes so quickly after AP exams. </p>
<p>Final grades all in - all A’s with a 99 in gifted Lit- Woot woot! She is headed to the pool to relax and soak up this gorgeous day.</p>
<p>It’s not a gorgeous day here. It’s raining and cold!! Our school grades with letters ie A, A+ etc. an A is a 4.0 and an A+ is a 4.33. We add .33 to an honors class and .43 to an AP/IB class. An A+ in an honors class is a 4.66 and in an AP class it’s 4.76. My daughter hates the fact that all sophomores have to take health. An A+ in an unweighted class can bring down your GPA!! Same goes for ceramics etc. these classes are not weighted and an A or an A+ can bring down your average. I guess the reverse is also true!!</p>
<p>laclos,</p>
<p>Do you mind sharing what book is used for AP bio? Is it the Campbells? What edition is it? I’ve got a 4th edition Campbells text and I was going to have my son sort of read through whatever he found interesting since he’ll probably take bio at the CC this coming year and I know most classes use this text.</p>
<p>Sally, fabulous grades!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the well wishes. We’ll see how it all turns out. His hearing test this morning showed an improvement in that ear; I am still going to ask about hearing aids since he complains about not hearing his cello well enough in a group. We shall see!</p>
<p>Enjoy the weekend everybody!! Don’t work too hard!</p>
<p>sbjdorlo - Yes it’s Campbell’s 4th edition that she was given for the summer, but they are trying to decide which book to use for next year and it may change. </p>
<p>twogirls - our grading system is a mess. Until this year, they were on the 7 point system, so my daughter’s only B is in a class where she got a 92. Next year, they are moving to a 10 point scale. I don’t know if that will make her B look even worse without an explanation… or if she would have gotten an 89 in the original class if it had been on a 10 point scale (harder grading?). She would have had an A in that class but she bombed the final because she totally studied the wrong things and wasn’t expecting it to be totally on something she didn’t. </p>
<p>I just got back from her awards ceremony, expecting her to get an award for Chem Honors at the least, and possibly World History. She tied with her friend for the highest chem SOL and had a perfect World History SOL score and high A’s in both classes, but they gave the awards to other kids. When the keyboarding teacher got up to hand out awards, I thought, “well surely she’ll get an award in that class” which I guess would be a bone. But nope. Not sure what criteria they are using. My daughter didn’t really care. And she was inducted into Beta Club so it wasn’t a total wash. </p>
<p>One more week of school (thanks to snow day make ups).</p>
<p>Have a great weekend!</p>
<p>Laclos what is SOL? Our school has an academic banquet each year for the top 50 kids in each grade. This is about the top 12%. There are no individual awards. We also have the subject honor societies in addition to NHS. I think awards ie chem etc are given out senior year in a small private ceremony before graduation. Your daughter did a great job despite the fact that she did not get the award. Congratulations! What is Beta Club?</p>
<p>My daughter stayed up the past two nights to finish a HUGE project her English teacher gave to them, which is worth 700 points! Other teachers have already submitted the term/year grades. The other English teacher is done for the year. They’re doing summer works and prep for AP lang while my D’s whole class is losing their meal and sleep for this project. It is crazy.</p>
<p>We don’t have NHS at our school, instead we have Beta. I think some schools have both because I’ve seen both listed on some kids lists of achievements. It’s an honor society that they have to be invited into, and once in, they have to maintain attendance and do some community service to keep the membership. It’s based on their achievement so it’s similar to NHS.</p>
<p>SOL = Standards of Learning. In Virginia, you can’t move on from a class without passing the SOL test. They use the tests as well for placement sometimes at lower levels. I thought it came from No Child Left Behind, but maybe not. My youngest who is in 4th told me when she was studying for hers that her teachers said they teach all year towards the test, which is sad, but probably true.</p>
<p>I think all states have tests geared towards No Child Left Behind, but they are called different things. In NY there is the English Language Assessment (ELA), math assessment and science. These go from 1st through 8th grade. In high school there are the Regents Exams which have actually been around forever, but I guess they fulfill the NCLB requirement. All kids take regents exams so you can have kids taking regular, honors and AP and they all take the same test. They recently got rid of foreign language so now the school makes the test. In June my daughter has the algebra 2/trig regents, global history, English and chemistry. The old exams are on line so they use them to study, and starting now every single class reviews for the tests and has review classes after school. They even have review sessions at local colleges that cost several hundred dollars. Kids who are in the advanced classes tend to do very well ie they usually get a 100 or close to it on these tests. My daughter began in 8th grade because she took some 9 th grade classes.many teachers use your regents test as part of your GPA for the class which is fine because the tests are not difficult for kids who are already in advanced classes. So this week my daughter has three tests plus she is studying for the Regents. Her papers are all done ( 97 on a major global research paper yippee and possibly a 100 on her English research paper because she has gotten a 100 on each step so far another yippee) and she has a Spanish project due in two weeks. She works like a crazy girl and really deserves her grades. A few months ago they had a Spanish project to do. A friend called me and said that her daughter was upset with her B- and the mom did not understand why she did not get an A. Her daughter started working on her project two nights before it was due and read the presentation off of index cards. My daughter started the project immediately, memorized the presentation so it looked natural, and made me videotape her 3 times so we can assess and critique how she looked and sounded. She deserved her A+. It bothers me when people just assume that their kid deserves a grade without putting in the time. We have had this problem all year in honors chem. My daughter works like a crazy person and has maintained her A+… But she studies hard!! Most of the class does not study anywhere near as hard and they are pulling B’s or even C’s and they are blaming the teacher. If they increased the study time perhaps their grades would improve. The class is taught higher than an honors class and to do well you must put the time in. The dept chair came in and told the class that if they think this is hard, wait til AP physics!! Again, people think they can get the grades without doing the work, which I find insulting to my daughter who does very well but works for 7 hours each day and even more on the weekends. Yes she is very intense and a perfectionist, but she deserves her grades. Ok I am done! Thanks for listening LOL!! I will be so happy when my daughter can relax a little… But not for long cause she has to study for SAT/ACT ugh ugh ugh.</p>
<p>I want to add that a B in honors chem is not a bad grade by any means, but these kids always get As and are not happy with the B. On another note just to show you the exhausting intensity level of my daughter- she has come up with a list of every single topic that the global history Regents essay can have. She has close to 30 topics. This weekend she is doing 30 essays or detailed outlines to memorize so that she will not be taken by surprise on the day of the test. Studying the topics is not enough. She needs to write and memorize 30 essays. That’s what I mean by intensity and perfectionism. It is exhausting, but she is happy so I am not complaining.</p>
<p>My daughter reports there are kids in her honors classes who are getting C’s as well. I just don’t understand that. When my daughter hit a wall in Algebra II, she went in every week and worked with the teacher until she was sure she understood the material. For some reason, she could never quite get it during class time and I’m no use to her with math.</p>
<p>I came up with an SAT bribe plan that even my daughter said was evil enough to make her actually work at it. And probably cause her boyfriend to encourage her to study. First, the first time she gets above 600 on all 3 sections of a practice test, I’ll get her a $25 ITunes gift card. The first time she gets above 650, I’ll spring for a mani-pedi. The first time she gets over 700, I’ll take her to get a massage (she’s been dying to do that). And if she gets over 750 on any section, I’ll take her to the Brazilian chirascuro restaurant. If she gets it on both M and W, I’ll take her and her boyfriend.</p>
<p>I was trying to find a set of rewards that encourage her to put in quality time. And it’s way cheaper if she wins the full set than paying for a tutor… Hopefully, I’ll have to buy all those things.</p>
<p>Your bribe plan sounds fun!! I would love to get a mani/pedi and eat at a Brazilian restaurant!! I agree that there is no reason to get a C, although it happens. There are many ways to get extra help and if you know at the beginning that the class is too hard you can drop down.</p>
<p>Just popping in to say hi to everyone. Hi everyone! Tried to catch up but you people are killing me!</p>
<p>D is almost done - 3 more days of exams to go. I don’t think she will take the SAT2 for AmHistory. I just don’t think she’ll be ready. Oh well.</p>
<p>It’s her 16th bday today, so I’m getting the house ready to host 14 girls for a sleepover. Yay? ;)</p>
<p>Who has a kid taking the SAT chem test June 1? Is your child studying? How? My daughter took a practice test from Barron’s book and tonight she will go through the chapters of any she got wrong. She will review each day this week and then take the test on Saturday. Studying is a bit tricky because she has other tests to study for as well. I am now totally convinced that she will do most of her SAT/ACT studying over the summer, have some tutoring August/September, and take her tests sooner rather than later. Once she gets deeply embedded in APs it will get hard to tell her to focus on the SAT/ACT.</p>
<p>twogirls, My 2015 child will be taking SAT II Chemistry next weekend, but I think her review will mainly consist of just revisiting her class notes; Math 2 is also on her schedule for June 1. With exams coming up, etc., I am not sure that the SAT subject tests are going to be getting much specialized attention from her in terms of prep work…!</p>
<p>Mayhew I am with you! My daughter has so much work to do that she won’t get much SAT work done. Yesterday she reviewed a little and maybe today I can get her to do one more practice test, but that’s about it. She has the Barron’s book and I keep reading that those practice tests are harder than the real thing and that kids typically score higher on the real test. Not sure if that’s true- I guess we will see! Last year she took bio and it worked out without studying so hopefully it will again.</p>
<p>Mayhew, good luck with the SATs. My D. will take SAT US history next Saturday. She has done several sample tests. She was debating whether to take chem. (she took AP chem.) She did a sample test. It wasn’t good. So she decided not to take it. Her school work is pretty much done. SAT II math is planned some time later this year or next January.</p>
<p>Maxwell my daughter is also signed up for lit but decided not to take it because she really has no time to review for it and it’s supposed to be hard. I am hoping that chem works out because she is not really studying for it much, but maybe studying for her class tests will help- who knows. Worst case she will not use the test and next June she can take physics and math. There is really not much time to review for the subject tests.</p>
<p>Suzy- did you survive the party? D2 is 16 at the end of June. Haven’t planned a party for her yet. We will be “home” in the UK. We always laugh that d2 celebrates her birthday all summer long. Shares it with relatives overseas ( at every house we visit) then she does something with her friends when we are back in the states. None of her friends have had any crazy sweet 16 parties.</p>
<p>Just back from a great weekend at the lake- perfect start to the summer!</p>
<p>D just opened her study guide (Barron’s) for SAT II this weekend. Doesn’t look like she will be ready for June 1 test. I am also wondering if taking SAT II AFTER AP was a good idea. I think after multiple AP exams, kids are too tired, too “checked out” to take SAT II exams. Something to think about for next year. Maybe getting SAT IIs out of the way before AP exams is better…</p>