<p>My D's school is on a block schedule and she's taking an Alg II honors class. It is taking all of her free time to prep for the chapter tests - other classes may be suffering. Her ec's definitely are. Despite her total commitment to this class (over the top, I say), she's doing poorly on her tests. She "gets it" in class, on homework, on her study guide...I'm concerned that the pace is too fast - one chapter a week. Basically, they're getting a year's worth of math in half the time. Her friends in other school on a traditional schedule spend up to 3 weeks on a chapter!</p>
<p>Up to this point, math has always been her favorite subj and she's only in her first yr of HS. I don't want her to become discouraged. Not being a math person myself (I took the minimum in HS and college), I want to inform myself before I approach the teacher with my concerns. I know some people will say maybe my D doesn't belong in honors - I think its the block schedule issue as there are other students also experiencing the same difficulties(although I don't know what percentage of the class.) Help!</p>
<p>I completely agree about not burning her out on math. Better she move to another class with a slower pace than that happen.</p>
<p>Have you tried a tutor? I too struggled with math in terms of the time it took relative to my other classes. Being matched up with a tutor in high school changed my life.</p>
<p>Best of luck to both of you.</p>
<p>Edited to add: I would also speak to her teacher just to see how the teacher thinks she’s doing. I was convinced that my kid had met his match in Chemistry until I spoke with his teacher and found out he was one of her top students. The grades got better as the year went along and now he loves Chem.</p>
<p>pugmadkate, I spoke to her teacher early on when she thought she failed a test (she got a B). He thinks she should stay in the class. I think he’s got the impression that I’m looking the A grade. That’s not so. I just can’t understand the overload of work. I thought honors classes offered more depth and complexity (what I consider rigor) rather than a heavier workload. Those are two different things. She feels she belongs in honors - I’ve asked her about moving to college prep. I want her to finish the term (5 more weeks) - but I also want to give the teacher and school feedback on what she (and maybe others) are experiencing. Maybe they’ll re-evaluate the curriculum. I don’t expect them to “water it down” but I do expect them to take into consideration that the students are expected to learn one year’s worth of math in half the time. That’s a high expectation - and I think unreasonable. Maybe there are some of you who know more about block scheduling and can offer some insight? (around 10? weeks - 90min. class time).
I will also look into a tutor. It might cut down the study time she’s been putting in - an insane number of hours!!!
Thanks!</p>
<p>Also try to talk to parents who had this teacher and who are now a year ahead. Some times the tough pace causes burnout. Sometimes it means a strong foundation has been set and the kid will sail through the next course in the sequence. Or sometimes it’s a bad match of teacher and kid.</p>
<p>Ordinarily, a block schedule ought not to create more homework. The quid pro quo is that the student takes fewer classes, thus generating fewer different types of homework, though each set may well be heavier. Some students who excelled at elementary school math hit a road block with algebra. Make sure that it isn’t the case. A tutor ought to be able to assess where your D needs extra support. It is also possible that the teacher is going too fast and trying to cover too much. Finding out what percentage of the students think so would be helpful.</p>
<p>an excellent tutor my d had told us that the amount of time on math homework/reviewing the material should equal double the class time, works fine for regular 30 minute/5 day a week, but for a block schedule it would be insane.</p>
<p>Maybe more effective studying versus time.
You tube is a wonderful tool for online math tutoring of algebra specific topics if she needs to hear it explained a different way.</p>
<p>First of all, when you say Algebra II, is the course primarily algebraic (2 variables two equations type of thing, quadratic equations) or more towards trigonometry? In different schools, the content can vary greatly, courses called Algebra II in one school can be something else entirely in another. If your D is more on the trig track (sine cosine tangent - curves etc.), the course is quite another thing, and by nature quite difficult. I would be concerned if she is struggling with the two equation type questions, as much of the next levels of math depend on this. </p>
<p>As to the meaning of Honors - that also varies greatly from school to school. In some schools, the textbook might be a college textbook in a college, and in others it is just the brightest students with the same text as everyone else. Also some “lower” tracks may cover the same thing, but in more time, EXCEPT, that at the end of the year they have done less in total.</p>
<p>All that said, my D is a freshman taking geometry in a private school. This course is much more difficult than most geometry classes, other than the most challenging course in a challenging school. The examples are very unusual, and the test is way above the basics. They may cover a lot of work in a week, and can have tests anywhere from 5-10 school days apart. They will have finished most of a big book by the end of the year, and this has not happened in previous grades (in a different school system).</p>
<p>It is not easy to get an A if the class is extremely challenging. Sometimes it just does take a lot of extra work if the problems are really tough. I have studied math through calculus, and I took math as an MBA student, and I can say that I have been stumped from time to time by some of the more complex problems, and it was not just my old brain forgetting what I learned; they were hard conceptually.</p>
<p>I could be misinterpreting your situation, but what I understand about block scheduling it does not cause the class to be on an accelerated schedule. You have a longer class period but you usually only have class every other day. You said she is taking a year’s credit in one semester?</p>
<p>If she is taking half as many classes, then for each class, she should expect twice as much homework. In other words, she should be spending a good amount of time doing her math homework. How much time a week is she spending? </p>
<p>She has six hours of math class a week. Six hours of homework, or a little more, sounds about right.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I think Algebra II is one of those classes that may not be the best suited for block scheduling. My S’s school has 4x4 block scheduling. We were told at parent night when my oldest was an incoming freshman that Algebra II was probably the first truly hard math class our kids would have. Because of that, our school also offers Algebra II extended, which is a full year class (the equivalent of 2 years in the block scheduling world). </p>
<p>In the regular half-year Algebra II (we don’t have honors at our school), our math teachers have compensated to help kids move at the faster pace. If a student is unhappy with the score on their weekly test, they have the right to re-take it the following week (before or after school), and the re-take replaces the previous score. If they scored less than an 80 on the original test, however, they must show that they completed the week’s homework and get a parent signature. The math teacher’s theory is “I don’t care how long it takes a kid to get there, as long as they get there.” My oldest took advantage of the re-take option several times during the year!</p>
<p>Our math teachers also hold regular review sessions before and after school to help the kids keep up with the pace. If this is not offered at your school, then you may want to go the tutor route.</p>
<p>I didn’t expect so many replies so soon! I found out that the other level class uses the same book and slower pace. Ok, that tells me that its more content to cover in a short amount of time. As a l mentioned earlier, I thought honors was all about delving into these concepts and not just skimming. Last week, my D and her friends studied for at least 24 hours outside of class. She said she was ready - but test time came and she felt like she studied for a Spanish test and got one in French! I feel that there isn’t enough time in class to practice. They certainly get the concepts as they’re presented but if they come in different forms on the test…I don’t want to appear as one of those parents who wants to fault the school.</p>
<p>This suggests to me that they do not quite get the concept. If they did, they ought to be able to get them when they are presented in a different form. There is a difference between exercise (practicing) and problem. It’s not enough to know a formula by heart. What’s important is to know when to apply it. Perhaps the teacher did not explain things clearly enough, perhaps the students thought they understood when all they did was to know the what and the how, but not the why and the when.</p>
<p>Is teacher available outside of class time? Has she met with the teacher before tests to review notes/concepts, and after each test to review what she got wrong?</p>
<p>Seems obvious…but I know lots of kids…especially honors kids…who don’t want to go to teachers for extra help.</p>
<p>It sounds like there isn’t enough time to absorb the material which means that each chapter provides a shaky foundation for the next. This sort of thing happens in college too and it can be hard trying to catch up. The best way to take a class like this (from my observations) is to study material a few weeks ahead of time so that you have more overall time to absorb it.</p>
<p>What would it mean to delve more deeply into Algebra II? Aren’t the students just learning linear equations, graphing, solving two equations in two variables, stuff like that? If there were to be any enrichment, wouldn’t it be at the end of the year, with the time left over because the other material had been covered faster?</p>
<p>Could you give us an example of a concept that the students thought they understood, only to find they didn’t when the test rolled around?</p>
<p>It’s possible that the students are studying for the test in the wrong way. If they’re not doing problems, they’re not studying math-- reading through math notes and the math textbook is no substitute. Math is not a spectator sport. Can the students get some review problems before tests?</p>
<p>No. The key is the statement that the students were confused when the materials were presented differently on tests. I will forever remember what S1 said after he bombed a test:“I knew the formula; I just did not know that I should have applied to it.” This suggested to me that he had memorized the materials without truly understanding it. End of the year enrichment would not solve the problem which is a lack of true understanding.</p>
<p>When S2 was learning math under his dad’s supervision, H identified problems that were real problems as opposed to mere exercises. He assigned enough problems to make sure that S understood the concept and some exercises to make sure that he got the procedures down pat. That cut down homework to about 1/3 of the total.</p>
<p>Marite, I agree that the current problem with the OP’s daughter is a lack of understanding of the material. She needs to practice both the techniques and their application, or in your terminology, she needs both exercises and problems.</p>
<p>When I was talking about end of the year enrichment, I meant that students in an honors class might get end of the year enrichment after successfully mastering the standard course material. But the current problem is mastering the standard course material.</p>
<p>I know that here, when we were on a block schedule, almost all the teachers preferred it EXCEPT the math teachers who said they just could not get through the entire course in the shorter length of time. It had little to do with length of class or time available to do homework but more the time it takes to grasp some new concepts. My son, who is, by all counts, a genius in math, did not have trouble with the block schedule and was sad to see it go, but most students in his school have an easier time of it (math), now that the school is no longer on a block schedule. There is no less work, but there is more time for their minds to wrap around the info.</p>