<p>Huh…just texted D asking if she wants to consider dropping the course - she says “she loves it, doesn’t want to drop it”! Guess she will have to find a way to do better on those tests…</p>
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<p>I feel for your D. My two Ds are bright - above average, good students - but not geniuses. If a teacher actually TEACHES the material, they learn it. But if the teacher doesn’t teach, they have a very hard time.</p>
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<p>That’s when you do every shred of extra credit…get every single point from every possible source.</p>
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<p>Well, I have heard that some colleges strip out all the electives and recalculate the GPA without them. No idea if that is true of all. </p>
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<p>I would try to buy a teachers edition of the book. First off it will go into more detail than the student version. Second it will provide a lot more step by step answers in the book and third it will give answers to all the questions. We have done that for DS, actually have a teachers copy of his physics book which we haven’t used yet. We use it to help clarify topics he may be having issues with and to help him prepare for tests by doing additional problems to study for the tests. S is never allowed to use the book to cheat, ie- check HW answers etc, unless he asks us for help and we go over it with him. A lot of books also come with study guides. Search on line for “teachers ed” or “study guide” for XYZ Biology book. If you go to the publishers web site they may tell you what suppliments they have to go along with the student book. </p>
<p>Also, make sure she goes and gets extra help from the teacher or the NHS tutors. I hope she does well.</p>
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<p>Is there anyone else who teaches the class? Even if no one does, there may be someone who taught the class in years past, or maybe there is a good teacher among those teaching pre-AP or Honors Bio. When D had the pre-AP Geometry teacher from hell freshman year, she went to the other teacher’s tutorials…no one seemed to mind.</p>
<p>I agree that AP Bio can be really hard if the teacher’s not up to the task. We had an excellent teacher, but she got tired of ‘teaching to the test’ and trained another, younger teacher to do the class. My D2 took it the first year he taught on his own, she ended up doing well in the class and on the test, but it was a struggle all year. </p>
<p>D1 was a teacher aide in AP Bio her sr year, maybe your D could talk to a teacher aide or kids who previously took it and get some pointers on how to supplement her studies.</p>
<p>Apparently, this teacher is the only one that teaches AP Bio. She loved her Bio Honors teacher last year (part of the reason she’s taking AP Bio this year) - so I did ask her to go by and talk to her other teacher as well. And yes, missypie - she’s making sure she gets every last bit of extra credit (tissue boxes and the like!!)</p>
<p>mamom - thanks for the tip on teachers edition of the books. I’ll look for those tonight.</p>
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<p>I’ve started to realize how wearing that must be on the teachers. On one hand, if you teach the AP sections, you get classes full of bright, engaged students. On the other hand, you’re a slave to the schedule and to the test.</p>
<p>At parent night, the APUSH teacher told us that the AP exam is divided 20% Pre-Columbian to 1789, 45% 1790 to 1914 and 35% 1915 to the present, so that is exactly how much time she devotes to each era. But what if she adored the Pre-Columbian and Colonial eras and wanted to spend more time on them? Too bad.</p>
<p>If last week was one step backward, this week seems to be two steps ahead. Settling into the routine of the year, and studying seems to be going more smoothly. On her own, D1 has mentioned looking for an internship for this coming summer. Without me saying anything! And she said that she’s practicing networking by going up to college reps for schools she’s not interested in, introducing herself, and asking questions. AND she’s been thinking about application essay topics, one of which is really unique. All this from a child who got a wild hunted look in her eyes when I’d mention anything about the C word. I’m sure that in another week or two it’ll be one step backwards again. </p>
<p>Most interesting APUSH study help to date has been “The West Wing”. D1 got hooked last year, got through season 5, and now says that whenever there’s a discussion about Alexander Hamilton and whoever she just thinks about Toby and Josh having arguments. Who’d a thunk?</p>
<p><em>butting in Class of 2010 person here</em></p>
<p>SlitheyTove - I think that The West Wing is great study tool for APUSH but especially for anyone who is interested in politics. I know kids in AP Gov who have convinced their teacher to watch a couple episodes dealing with certain topics like the death penalty and presidential pressures. I am a huge fan of The West Wing since I watched it this summer when I had mono.</p>
<p>OK - like a number of CC’ers, my DD is very active in our school’s theater program; specifically the technical crew. Although she’s involved in a number of other activities, this one is really her passion. I’ve been a little concerned about some of the hours she keeps during “Tech Week” when she goes for about two weeks not getting home before 10:30 PM. Last night was almost the last straw (for me). I am fortunately blessed with “Mom Radar” - so I can fall asleep before my kids get home but always wake up when I hear the key turn in the door (I sleep through thunderstorms, but always hear them come in). Last night I heard the familiar sound, looked at my clock, and saw that it was 1:45 AM! On a Wednesday night! When I asked DD about it this morning (at 7:00 AM) she said that there were some last-minute changes the drama teacher wanted to make at the last minute (read: last night) so she and one of her friends (who drives her home from crew) stayed to get them done - the show starts tonight. I cannot believe they would be allowed/encouraged to stay that late. She thought I was overreacting. I don’t think so. I don’t want to get her in hot water with the teacher, but I think this is unacceptable. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Cooker - I definitely agree. I can see that the kids might have to stay a late a few nights before the show, but don’t they have homework in other classes? I assume the teacher stayed with them? It is too late now to do anything about last night, but once the show is over I would bring the subject up with the teacher.</p>
<p>Hope the show goes well.</p>
<p>1.45AM? How’s she supposed to work in school the next morning? To me, this would not be acceptable at all!</p>
<p>West Wing for APUSH? Nice idea…I watched most of the episodes and I am pretty sure I could get D to watch this. Any specific episodes that are really helpful?</p>
<p>On another note, D did get her midterms and she didn’t do too badly on AP Bio. She was pleasantly surprised to see her grade. I couldn’t find a teachers edition of the AP Bio book on Amazon…but did find a study guide and flash cards. D is going to take a look this weekend to see if that would be useful for her.</p>
<p>arisamp, no idea about specific episodes. I think it’s most useful if you look at it first as entertainment, with the educational spinach snuck in. 
mdemvizi, I agree it’s great for people interested in politics, or even as a way of getting people interested in politics! My coworker just dropped off Season 6, which is a rather meh season but will be a nice study break. </p>
<p>cooker, getting home at 10:30 PM is one thing, but not getting home until 1:45 AM is way unacceptable in my book. I’d inquire at the school to find out what policy is on how late kids can stay there for school programs. The teacher might be the one in hot water. D1 doesn’t have her license yet, her friends haven’t been driving for long enough for her to be able to ride with them, and I don’t let her ride with drivers under 18 (my personal overprotectiveness, every parent gets to pick at least one ). I really don’t like the idea of teen drivers being out late at night at all, and I’d be furious if I’d had to pick her up at 1:45 on a week night.</p>
<p>Cooker, does your town have a curfew? Ours has a midnight curfew for folks under 18.</p>
<p>Yes, we do have a curfew. It’s 11:00 PM on weeknights and midnight on weekends for kids under 18. So kids who are staying at school after 11:00 and driving home are violating curfew. As long as they’re on the way home from a school activity, the police give them a pass. Still not a good thing.</p>
<p>I would wait a bit to discuss it - opening night is probably not the time - but I would mention it in the context of curfew…such as “You know, cookerD is so devoted to the theater department that she’d do anything for you…however, I really don’t want her to get a ticket for curfew violation…”</p>
<p>Good advice. My D is mortified that I’m even considering bringing this up (“But we weren’t asked to stay … we just were told what needed to be done by showtime.” - and the difference is what?) I’ll consider this a one-off this time, but told D that if anything like this happens again, I am going to communicate my strong concern. It’s just not right.</p>
<p>PSAT’s are this Saturday. D is actually irritated since it conflicts with a meet that she badly wanted to attend. They were trying to see if the students could take the PSAT on Wed at a different school - but those plans never panned out. D wasn’t happy that I insisted she had to take the PSATs, although she did understand.</p>
<p>With the schedule being so crazy, there’s no preparation or anything involved. She rolls her eyes if I start on this topic !!</p>
<p>S’s school district moved it to Wednesday this year in hopes of increasing number of kids taking the test. I heard at PTSA meeting that 85% of our sophomores took the test (school pays for their test), but a smaller % of juniors. I guess some juniors who know they are not NMSF contenders aren’t bothering to take it, and are taking SATs in the fall instead.</p>