Re: School

[LongHairedAelita]

So, I might have to wait until 2014 to go to college. I'm so mad.

[Guest]

That sucks. Why the wait?

[Snickie]

Probably to get the in-state rates on whatever college she wants to go to in Florida.  Supposedly, even if you hadn't lived in Florida for a full year, if you graduated from a Florida high school you'd be eligible for the in-state college tuition at Florida public universities.

[eseiprahs]

Why do you have to wait, Lha? What college were you going to go to?

[Snickie]

According to her post in GC, she'll be going to State College of Florida in Bradenton.
State colleges here are basically community colleges, but the state did something so now there are no more actual community colleges and all the CCs became State Colleges.  It's really weird.

My mom thinks State College of Florida in Bradenton is formerly Manatee Community College, which is where she went back in the 80's.

[LongHairedAelita]

Well, 1: I didn't get my financial aid in on time.
2. I'm trying to get an apartment down there.
3. My mom doesn't want me to leave and is trying to hold me back and refuses to help me.
4. I got so much crap to do in such little time.
5. I'm really freaking stressed out.
6. I would go to college here in NC, but the schooling is so poor. Also, SCF offers better programs than NC does.

[eseiprahs]

You live in NC? That's cool! I used to live there. The Carolinas are my favorite states!

That's strange that your mom doesn't want you to leave though. I'm sorry :/

[LongHairedAelita]

She's just too overprotective and overly attached to me. I'm her last child.

Eh, NC is okay. It's somewhat overrated though. Lol

[eseiprahs]

I guess I love it so much because I"m from there. What part of NC are you in?

[LongHairedAelita]

Fayetteville. Lol. Where are you from? I'm originally from Cary, NC. It's up near Raleigh.

[eseiprahs]

Charlotte

[LongHairedAelita]

I've been to Charlotte. It's nice.

[eseiprahs]

I love it <3

[LongHairedAelita]

Lol. Ever been to any of the beaches here?

[eseiprahs]

Of course I have! Have you?

[LongHairedAelita]

Yupp. They're awesome. Lol. I was actually looking at colleges near there, but they're just as nu uh none of that lol.

[eseiprahs]

You should check out Coastal Carolina University. It has a beautiful campus and really, really close to the beach. They have palm trees on the campus!

I almost went there actually.

[Heart of Lyoko]

Hmm, really curious now. At what age does your school introduce Algebra and Trigonometry to you guys?

[Snickie]

Generally, kindergarten starts at age 5, so middle school (6th grade) should start for you at age 11 or 12 depending on what month you were born (and they keep pushing back the effing date and making no exceptions which is stupid) and high school (9th grade) at 14 or 15.

In my county, if you're not in any advanced classes, you take some stupid general math classes in 6th and 7th grades, pre-algebra is the regular 8th grade math, Algebra 1 is 9th grade, Geometry is 10th grade, Algebra 2 is in 11th grade, and either Trigonometry or Math for College Readiness for 12th grade.

I was in the Talented and Gifted Program, so I was learning really basic algebra in 5th grade using a balance scale, dice, and little pieces that were "x", took Pre-Algebra in 6th grade, Algebra 1 in 7th grade, Algebra 2 in 8th grade, Geometry in 9th grade, Trigonometry in 10th grade, AP Calculus and AP Statistics in 11th grade, and dual-enrolled Calculus 3 at the community college in 12th.


Some questions.  Most of them are yes/no questions but there's an invisible "Explain" prompt at the end of each question lol.  There's no right or wrong answer.  I just want to hear your opinions.

What is everyone's opinions on advanced (and remedial) classes?
Do you think they're helpful for the student to be able to interact with kids their own age with a similar level of intelligence?
Do you think students should be allowed to skip grades instead of being placed in advanced classes?
Do you think everyone within a certain age range should be in the same classes regardless of intelligence level?
Should there be a minimum national standard on what a student must learn and master before they can graduate?
What is your opinion on standardized testing and the effects it has on a student's schooling?
Should school be mandatory?

[Heart of Lyoko]

I started on Algebra in your 7th grade, and Trigonometry in your 8th grade. I think Asian countries are faster?

Hmm... I'm not sure what you mean by Advance and Remedial Classes, however, here in Singapore, we are split into three streams at the Secondary level: Express for the 'better' students, Normal Academic for the 'average' student and Normal Technical for the 'weaker' students. I'm in the Express stream, and I feel that it 'helps', in a way. I'm placed with students whose pace of learning matches mine, so I'm fine with it.

I have mixed views on that. On one hand, I disagree, because I personally feel the need to be challenged, and I learn from teaching as well. On the other hand, I agree, because from my experience, the 'smarter' kids will end up de-motivating the entire class, and we lose our competitive edge and drive.

I think that students should be placed in Advance class first, then be slowly expose them to the next grade. If they seem capable of skipping a grade without many major problems, then the option should be opened up to them.

Not exactly. Different people have different learning curves. Why restrict them?

I feel that the basics of each subject taken should be the minimum standard. It's no use forcing a student to do a weak or hated subject.

I find standardized testing really stressful. I think I can safely say that throughout my whole 14/15 years, I have taken at least 100 standardized tests. It's really mostly memorizing stuff, which is useless, because nothing is learnt. It's okay to have it once in a while to check if concepts are understood, but there are better ways than that.

School should be mandatory till a certain age, say, 16 or 18, so that at least some skills etc are picked up.


Speaking of standardized tests, I just had one today for Mandarin. It was terrible because I didn't study. All there was on the paper was my name and class. The rest was blank. My teacher's going to kill me LOL  I'm considering dropping to CLB (Chinese Language Basic), because I'm really bad at it. I can barely read a passage for my exams. No wonder I failed my Mid-Years.

[eseiprahs]

Hmm, really curious now. At what age does your school introduce Algebra and Trigonometry to you guys?

 Algebra started in Middle School and Trigonometry in High School I believe.

What is everyone's opinions on advanced (and remedial) classes?
Do you think they're helpful for the student to be able to interact with kids their own age with a similar level of intelligence?
Do you think students should be allowed to skip grades instead of being placed in advanced classes?
Do you think everyone within a certain age range should be in the same classes regardless of intelligence level?

I believe that advanced and remedial classes are fine as well as kids being able to interact with others of their own intelligence. I have a friend who would go to classes over at a college as a 6th class of the day. I believe that if a middle school student is smart enough to be in high school then he should be allowed to, but not forced to.

[LongHairedAelita]

I started Algebra in 7th grade & 8th grade, and took Trigonometry in 12th grade. Lol. 

I failed Pre-Calculus though to begin with. Blah. So I had to take the easier math class which is what we call "Advanced Functions & Modeling" here.

[eseiprahs]

I did like nothing in middle school so they thought I was dumb and put me in the lowest classes for rebel children haha. I was like, "Um no."

[Coto524]

In Britain, maths topics aren't split up like they are in America. You progress through various topics in what's generally a good order. We learnt basic algebra in Year 7 and gradually we learn more, and we did trigonometry a few months ago in Year 9.

Personally I believe kids should be allowed to skip grades, but I'm likely to be biased as I'm one of those kids. Never did Year 2. However, Year 7 at Emlyn was hardly brilliant and Year 7 at the school I go to now is equivalent to Year 8 in a state school, so I took entrance exams for this school's Year 7 and I'm now back in the right age group.

In our school, in maths Set 1 is the kids who are best and Set 8 is the kids who are worst. It's not really 'Advanced' vs 'Remedial'; everyone does the same stuff eventually, just at different paces. I think it's like that in most British schools - there might be after-school clinics for people who are seriously struggling, but on the whole remedial classes just aren't a thing.

In Britain schooling or apprenticeship is compulsory until 18. This means that everyone has to take their GCSE exams at the end of Year 11 and most people carry on to take their A-levels in Sixth Form. Although there are a few critics, generally I think it works and I'm surprised the US doesn't have a similar system.

[Snickie]

Early AP Score viewing is open in Florida today.
I made a 3 on US Goverrnment, a 3 on Spanish Language, and a 4 on Macroeconomics.

I'm really pleased about Spanish.  Non-native speakers rarely pass.

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