<p>Alright, so I love math and I'm currently in AP Calc AB.
However, we just had our first chapter test today and I felt like I COMPLETELY BOMBED IT.</p>
<p>Now I'm known among my peers to be quite good at math. I mean, I received the award of the top student in math decided upon by teachers in my grade last year and I always set the curve.</p>
<p>This year, I know I'm not doing as well as I want to be.
Oh my god did this test completely shake me. I feel like I've hit rock bottom. I was discussing the questions after class and oh my gosh for some reason I didn't understand so many of the questions some of my peers did. </p>
<p>I’ll give the same advice my APUSH teacher gave us after we took our first test yesterday: “This was just the first of many tests; by the end of the year you all will do better. Figure out what you did wrong and why, and work on fixing it.”</p>
<p>Not the end of the world, you just have to adjust to the class.</p>
<p>Well you’ll just have to wait, at least until the next test. Look at the questions you got wrong, see if the ones you got wrong had something in common (e.g., all social history questions opposed to more of the factual stuff) and then work on that area especially for the next test.</p>
<p>Haha it’s funny, APUSH is currently my best class and I’ve gotten the highest scores on the past 2 tests (weird, I’m not interested in history). That and AP Lang for whatever reason I’m doing really well in (highest scores on analytical essays). </p>
<p>Ugh but the classes I’m interested in I’m not doing well in! AP Chem & AP Physics I have B’s in right now… AP Calc… AFTER THIS TEST LOL IDK</p>
<p>EDIT: WAIT GUYS I SCREWED UP CALC NOT APUSH REMEMBER BIG DIFF. I COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT BEING THE BEST IN APUSH.</p>
<p>The more challenging the classes you take, the more likely doing poorly on an occasional test is.</p>
<p>This is NOT A BAD THING. You are pushing yourself and learning difficult material.</p>
<p>Suggestion:
cry, scream, throw pillows (in private)
go talk with the teacher about what you missed, and ask for additional problems in those areas. You will learn, the teacher will like your effort and dedication, and you will re-gain your confidence.
in order to try to avoid doing #1 and #2 over too many times, try to figure out what happened. Should you do more homework, more problems, ask more questions in class, form a study group, ask for tutoring? </p>
<p>Welcome to the real world of learning. It is not all about straight As without effort and challenge.</p>
<p>Just noticed your most recent post (I think they crossed). Are you trying to do AP calc, AP chem, AP physics, APUSH and APLit all at the same time? Not a wise choice. </p>
<p>APUSH and APchem together are 3-4 hrs of homework a night, and very few students decide to try to do them together - they are by far the most demanding APs in terms of memorization and sheer time. Are you having to shortchange APPhysics and APcalculus to make up the difference. Consider dropping back from APUSH, APLit and APphysics if your real interest is math and chemistry.</p>
<p>And really? I find AP Calc this year my hardest class. Second coming in with AP Physics and AP Chem. I find APUSH and AP Lang quite easy actually. This has been the first year where it has been switched. Last year, AP Bio and Alg2H/Trig were my easiest classes (I ranked #1 in both) whereas AP World was quite challenging for me. English has always been sort of easy for me, so yes. </p>
<p>And I have a perspective of a typical AP Student. Dropping any APs will prevent me from getting into college. I’m taking 6, if it matters. It hasn’t been bad until today where AP Calc completely made me feel like a failure.</p>
<p>Just use it as motivation for the next test. I tend to think of the first tests, essays, whatever of the year as the ones where you fail/do badly, and then you figure out what the teacher wants and go from there. If you let it bother you then it’s going to affect your performance for the rest of the school year. If you honestly aren’t getting it, try talking to your teacher, or turn to another source. Maybe you just don’t get your teacher’s thought process.</p>
<p>Imagine you had waited until college to take calculus…in a couple of my classes we only have three tests the entire semester and each one counts for 15% of our grade. </p>
<p>
</p>
<ol>
<li>Why did you do badly? Were you nervous? Did you have no idea what you were doing? Can you fix whatever the problem was for the next test?</li>
<li>Math is an equalizer in some ways. It’s hard for everyone (or at least I think there’s some math everyone finds hard), and no one thinks you’re stupid for not doing well on a math test. Just because you found it easy before doesn’t necessarily mean you will now…you may have to study more this year. </li>
<li>No one is judging you because no one cares. People are too wrapped up in their own problems to worry about how someone else did on a test. They might ask for comparison purposes, and then they just forget about it.</li>
</ol>
