<p>OHMomof2 - you hit on a big pet peeve of mine! This trend of not giving tests back. It infuriates me. I could list why, but I have to leave so no time.</p>
<p>I’m guessing the teacher re-uses test questions and so doesn’t want old ones floating around. I get that, but there should be a way to study what was missed. Maybe in-class if he wants to keep them. I didn’t know it was a trend but i don’t like it either.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard of that strategy. I might suggest that she try that on a future practice test at home before the ACT. Thanks!</p>
<p>For those who don’t like fish…maybe just some goldfish crackers for luck? ;-)</p>
<p>For those AP classes, it can be helpful to go ahead and get the study guide book rather than waiting until closer to the test. Then the kids can review each unit as they go through it, and it might help with the tests along the way.</p>
<p>BHG if your daughter marks her answers in the test book first and then goes back and bubbles in the answers, are you nervous she will mess up the bubbles? My daughter is not having an issue with finishing the tests ( ACT or SAT) so I hesitate to make any new suggestions. Glad to hear that your daughter found a strategy that works for her!</p>
<p>Lol! D says she’s excited for tomorrow because the PSAT will be more interesting than most of the classes she’d normally have that day. Naturally she does have APUSH and naturally he assigned homework.</p>
<p>Good luck on the PSAT tomorrow! Just remember that these tests are basically a snapshot in time. These kids are going to be fine! </p>
<p>We have a mini meltdown going on here- not horrible, but it’s there. Thank goodness the season ends Monday.</p>
<p>Good luck everyone! </p>
<p>@twogirls - In our area, I don’t know if anybody has been tutored. It’s almost unheard of. Needless to say, there is no SAT tutor around here. D. wants to take the SAT in December or January and said she wanted to find a tutor. She needs to improve her CR. She is a good reader. Her CR has always been around 700, which to me is not a bad score, but she hopes to do better. so I’m thinking maybe we could find a tutor online?</p>
<p>College Board has an on line tutoring " thing" that costs about $80. I saw it at the store when I bought my daughter her AP Spanish book. A 700 is a very good CR score- at that level missing or gaining one question can cost 30- 40 points! My daughter did a practice writing section and got a good score- but if she answered one more question correctly it would have gone up 40 points. </p>
<p>I do not think your daughter needs a tutor with a 700. I think she should study vocabulary and take practice tests. Answering only one or two more questions will boost her score a lot. </p>
<p>I am keeping our tutor through December 7. He said he will come for a " tune up" for future tests but I do not think she will need it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Khan Academy online has SAT prep, with explanations of the problems that are in the official test prep book, on their website.
<a href=“https://www.khanacademy.org/math/test-prep/sat-math[/url]”>https://www.khanacademy.org/math/test-prep/sat-math</a></p>
<p>I’d actually forgotten about that until I saw your question about online tutoring!</p>
<p>Thanks shoboemom. We’ll definitely check that out. </p>
<p>@twogirls, in fact I bought the CB online “course”. D. practiced a lot with it, except she only did one sample test so far. So she still has some study materials. It’s not a bad “course.”</p>
<p>Really hoping I don’t have to administer the PSAT tomorrow. I have not been assigned a class yet but I could be asked to take one if someone calls in sick. I’m glad my son will be done with his exam around the time that I wake up so I can’t worry about it. The worst part is waiting so long for the results! When do you expect to see your student’s?</p>
<p>I think that our kids will get them sometime in mid- to late-December, but I’m not sure. I think definitely before break. </p>
<p>I can’t believe that we will get D’s SAT test scores back in a little over a week. I’m having a fantasy (along with my lottery fantasy) of her having a really high score and deciding that she doesn’t have to take the ACT that she’s scheduled to take later this month. The operative word is fantasy, but it would be nice for her to have a do-nothing Saturday this month. A girl can dream, right?</p>
<p>Good luck to PSAT-takers tomorrow!</p>
<p>Maxwell I was having a word finding issue LOl. “course” would be the right word! Meanwhile my daughter got home from her game at 6:40 last night and did not get to sleep until after 12:30. Tonight she has a game and it’s an hour away ( I really wish they would discontinue these occasional out of county games). Thankfully they have two buses otherwise she would have to stay for the JV game as well and she would not get home until after 8:00. Tonight she should be home by 7:00- not horrible but late enough to cause some stress. She has been telling me that she wants to do winter track, but yesterday she stated that she has to think about it. I am going to quietly discourage it because we need a break. She has plenty of activities to keep her busy without a winter sport. </p>
<p>Tomorrow is the first of two college fairs and there are only 4 schools out of 70 that interest her- 3 of them we have visited and one we will visit. Tomorrow’s CF is going to be a no show for her because she has tests on Friday. There is a much bigger one ( close to 300 schools) later in the month so perhaps she will attend that one. My goal is for her to introduce herself to a few admissions counselors so that they know her face.</p>
<p>Ugh I did something terrible!! I emailed a teacher ( she hates when I do that) to ask a question about something on the parent portal. The teachers at back to school night gave us their email addresses and encouraged parents to email them when they needed to, but my daughter hates it. The question that I asked had to do with her test average. Her average is excellent ( which is why I am embarrassed) but nevertheless the one test ( out of two so far ) that is posted has one grade ( ie pretend it’s a 94) while the test average on the portal is two points lower ( ie pretend it says 92). I simply asked him why the one test that is posted is different than the test average- shouldn’t they be the same? I apologized for bothering him and made it very clear that I am not bothered or upset in any way- I am just curious. I would have asked my kid to check on this but she was not allowing people to speak to her last night and I doubt she would have asked. She currently has an A+ in AP physics ( tests, labs, quizzes etc) and although it sounds crazy, if she is owed two points then she should get them because you never know if she is going to need them. If she is ever borderline then those two points will push her to the other side. Ugh I know I should have let her deal with it but she had so much work to do that I realized it would not happen. Meanwhile she told me yesterday that the English teacher will be posting grades on the parent portal because too many parents were emailing her and asking. I was so happy that I did not email AND I was happy that she now knows that other parents email teachers. </p>
<p>Over the years both of my kids had the wrong report card grade for health 4x total. Weird that it’s always the same subject. Last year my daughter had an A+ in health and when she got her report card she noticed ( I did not see it) a C+ as her grade and flipped out because it was wrong. I emailed the teacher and he quickly emailed back stating that he would switch it to an A-. I was fine with that until my daughter flipped out again because she had an A+ in the class. Whenever the teacher gives back a test, paper etc he has them fill it in on a chart that they keep in their book. Sure enough when I looked at her recorded grades she absolutely had an A+, but there was no way to prove it because he does not let them take anything home!!! I would have made copies. So- once again I emailed him stating that she has an A+ and at this point I was nervous and angry because I had no proof other than what she wrote in her book ( let’s face it- some kids may record the wrong grade). Thankfully he emailed me back telling me that he was changing her grade to what she rightfully earned. </p>
<p>Ugh I am mad at myself for emailing the physics teacher. On well I will move on and try not to do it again.</p>
<p>Good luck today to all PSAT test takers. We don’t discuss the PSAT in my house because it stresses her too much. She will take the test on Saturday and whatever she gets, she gets. Good luck everybody!!</p>
<p>twogirls, your example about your daughter’s grade (or misgrades) is exactly why many other parents told me why I needed to email the teachers (some on a weekly basis) instead of having D talk to the teacher. I have wondered if D would have a higher GPA if I had been as proactive as you are. </p>
<p>The thing is if D can’t take home the tests, it is very difficult for me to challenge grades. Teachers say they don’t hand back exams because they need to reuse questions (really?) but I also think parents find grading errors. </p>
<p>D says that teachers talk about (because they gossip) which parents email a lot and which do not; they don’t mind parent who sends the occasional email about grading mistakes. It’s the parent that emails every week (or more often) they try to avoid. One teacher last year flat out told the parents at back to school might he did not want to hear from parents; if there is a problem, make sure the student talks to him. He is probably the favorite teacher of students and parents. This year, more teachers have pushed the “no parent email” message but when questioned, the teacher says they will respond to parent emails. I think they just want the weekly (or twice weekly) emails to stop.</p>
<p>I have to say you and your daughter have unbelievably full schedules. </p>
<p>Good luck to all PSAT takers today.</p>
<p>Echoing Good Luck wishes to all the PSAT takers today!! Our HS does the Saturday test, so D2 has a few days left to review/stress. Hopefully the several weeks waiting for the results to come out will pass by fairly quickly. SAT results next week, Halloween, new marking period starting, and Thanksgiving will hopefully “fill the gap” nicely. :)</p>
<p>So sad right now. S15 has threatened to harm himself. More than once now. I feel like I am looking at two different kids… the straight A, captain, class rep, perfect kid, and the sad kid who is feeling like he is at the end of his rope. Friends went to a teacher yesterday and expressed concern. So now he is ticked off and says he won’t go back to that school. I feel like he is going to throw away every chance he has earned at a spectacular future. But so sad. Prayers and advice would be so helpful. Searching for help for him today. Thanks.</p>
<p>Oh wrights1994, I am very sorry to hear this. It sounds like you are doing what I would suggest - search for help for him and try to get him in to see somebody today. This does not mean that he is throwing away anything, but just that he needs some help right now. One step at a time.</p>
<p>wrights1994,</p>
<p>(hug) (another hug for your son)</p>
<p>oh no. no advice here other than seek help. </p>
<p>Silver lining(?): he has really good friends. This is the best case scenario where kids look out for each other. He may be mad at then now but now he knows he matters and he does have friends.</p>