I am a junior taking AP Calc AB with seniors in the class. We took the final exam last week. As of now I have a B plus because I struggled down the stretch. But I’m ok with that. The AP Calc exam is tomorrow. I’ve thoroughly studied.
The seniors have no more school left… They are done with classes.
Today, our teacher told the juniors, that we have another final next week (during regular finals week). The score will be combined with the first final we took last week – total score will be 20 percent of our semester grade. This will be on material he is going to teach us this week - new material - taught to us Wednesday - Monday.
Seniors are done - they got their grades and are out of here.
I don’t think this is fair and am worried about losing my B plus. Should we complain (we are all pretty mad since this was not announced until today). There is nothing about this in the syllabus.
Why do you assume you’ll lose your B+? Why not assume this is an opportunity to bring it up to an A, especially since you’ve already had the opportunity to take one of his finals.
Do you seriously think that complaining will change the grading policy? My guess is that this is probably the way it’s always been done-- teachers generally don’t get to decide the weight of the final.
His class - his rules. I’m not sure what part you are complaining about. Seniors not taking finals is not a unique policy. Finals counting for 20% is also not unique. Even if the class were entirely comprised of seniors, save you, there should be no expectation that the class will end when seniors leave, or after the AP exam. The fact that part of the final grade includes fresh material should work to your advantage, IMO. Let it go and just study the material.
Juniors go an extra week and half at my daughter’s school and have different final requirements as well. As was stated above, seems like a great opportunity to improve your grade.
Seniors here have their finals next week after the AP test then are done with classes and graduate June 3rd. Other grades have finals up to June 20th. Even in classes that are mixed grades students are expected to continue going to class and do work after seniors leave. Next year you’ll be the one to finish soon. Having a test on just a few days of work sounds much easier than a test based on months of work so it sounds like it may improve your grade. I guess I am not understanding your complaint.
I can understand what the OP is saying. My daughter is taking BC exam right now and took APCSP last week. Both part of our math department. The APCSP teacher told the class you don’t have to show up for the final. The BC teacher says you have to show up and we are taking a quiz. 50% of the class is seniors and they don’t take finals. By the way finals are May 23,24,and 25. My daughter really didn’t complain but I can understand why you might.
I doubt this is very different from what has been done in the past. At most schools, seniors don’t take the same final, or take the same one but earlier, so their grades can be cleared in time for graduation. Some schools exempt seniors with an A average (only seniors) from finals.
As others have suggested, perhaps this extra test will give you an opportunity to improve your grade. Your school year is not done, so your teacher is expected to still teach, and you are still expected to learn. You could look at it from a few different perspectives: 1 - you’re being taught new material the Senior weren’t exposed to, so they’re the ones missing out, or being cheated. 2 - What do you think happens in classes in other parts of the country where they’re taking the AP test today, yet they have another MONTH of school, not just another week. Do you suppose all learning stops once they take the AP test? No, they will continue to learn as much as they can to prepare for their next class, whether that will be AP Calc BC in high school, or Calc II in college. Presumably you’re here because you care about your education, so stop acting like your grade is the only thing that matters. This “change” means the first final was worth 10% of your grade, and this next exam is worth another 10%. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something, and maybe the teacher will make this exam fairly easy to give all the juniors an opportunity to improve their grades.
If you are a football fan think about it like this:
When the Patriots have a lead in the 4th quarter does Tom Brady come out? No, he stays in and buries the opponent to remove any doubt about the outcome and goes home to Gisele. Stay in, ace the final, and get your A for the course.
disclaimer: I hate the Patriots but Brady is ridiculous.
Okay I stand corrected and understand all your points. Appreciate the feedback and will just try and do my best. To clarify however - this the first year anyone takes finals in AP classes.Last year, anyone in an AP class only took the midterm and the AP exam. No final at all. It’s a new school policy this year. I also have other AP classes that I share with seniors. We took finals last week with the seniors --(and AP exams) and we do not have any more additional testing in those classes – let alone another test worth 20 percent of the semester grade. So AP Calc AB is unique in this expectation. Lastly, there was no notice and no announcement beforehand. That all being said, I’ll shut up now and just go try to learn this material. I do appreciate those who said to look at this as an opportunity. Good perspective.
I just took my calculus 3 final. I was heading to the final with a B and the final was hard. I lost motivation and forgot to answer the last two answers. I still showed worked. The problem isn’t the “new teacher” it’s you the student. Why are you bad if you get a B? Many students fail Calculus the first time. It’s the most failed class out there for STEM majors. Just be happy
I’m not sure how much notice you would need-- you just studied for both the AP and the Senior final, right? So at this point you should be very confident in the material. This is really just an opportunity to raise your grade.
And let’s assume that you’re right- that there was a policy change. So what? Rules do change over time, when there’s a need to change them. It’s not some attempt to bring down grades, it’s probably an attempt to keep the juniors working on an advanced class they chose to take, to expose them to more material that will help them down the road and to make sure they don’t blow off these last weeks.
In my school, any juniors taking a course with seniors take both finals, no question.
Why in the world do the seniors end early?? I understand your complaint. If you think it would help, you could respectfully talk to your teacher about it, but if you think you could keep your B+ or even improve, it might not be worth complaining.
Right. It’s not fair now, but it will become VERY fair in a few months.
In my school, seniors end early to enable the kids who fail to make up a class in an abbreviated summer school session before graduation. Two seniors will be in at 8 am tomorrow to begin.
