TJ Calculus BC - Junior Year - Finding it difficult
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Anonymous
| DD has been at A in Calculus BC until last few tests and now is finding it very difficult and in last 2 tests has scored between 80 - 82 / 100 which is bringing her overall percentage down. How are kids finding Calculus BC at TJ? Any tips/help would be appreciated. Thank you |
Anonymous
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but 80-82/100 is very good, I don't see a big issue. That would correlate to an easy 5 on the AP BC exam, since the bar for 5 is around 65%. I believe teacher should curve an 82 to A- or A, at least this is how it was at my magnet school. |
Anonymous
Buahahahaha. No, they don't curve like that; I wished many times they did. -TJ alumn |
Anonymous
That's too bad. TJ teachers should know that focusing on small grading trivialities leads to crazy amount of stress and just kills the joy of learning which everyone knows is inversely proportional to the amount of focus on grading/testing. And.. before others start shouting that curving will reduce rigor, let me just say that it's definitely possible to have a high bar with difficult material but also give students room to make mistakes. It happens all the in college courses where students have more breathing room to fail but still learn a lot of material. |
Anonymous
| What is TJ Calculus BC and is it a required course? For students the complete Algebra 1 in 8th grade, in what year would they be taking this course? |
Anonymous
Calculus BC is a course that a student taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade would take in 12th grade at their base school or at TJ, or they could take Calc AB at their base school. |
Anonymous
Or they could take AB at TJ. |
Anonymous
No. There is no such equivalence between what appears on a TJ test and what appears on the AP test. You can't compare percentages like that. Likewise there is no equivalence between whatever tests the TJ teacher sets and the test at whatever school you went to. |
Anonymous
Spend more time reviewing and practicing. What are the points being lost on? |
Anonymous
A Algebra 1 in 8th grade student entering TJ is unlikely to reach TJ Calculus BC unless they skip a level or take a summer math course. |
Anonymous
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All schools in FCPS teach AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC. BC is the harder of the two courses. A student who takes Algebra 1 in 7th grade would be in a position to take AP Calculus as a Junior. They can choose between AB or BC, dependent on their math ability and how confident they are in their math skills. I would guess that Pre-Calc Teachers will provide guidance to students when selecting which Calculus to take. Some kids will take Calculus AB as a Junior and then Calculus BC as a Senior but I think that is normally discouraged since BC contains the material from AB with extensions.
There is a good amount of talk that all of the math classes at TJ are more difficult then the traditional classes at base schools. I can fully see that with many of the classes since they are taught as semester long classes so students are moving through the material more quickly. I am not sure how TJ handles the AP Calculus class, it is possible that there are a lot of extensions to the class so it moves through more material then a regular AP class. |
Anonymous
A student taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade could take BC as a senior, at least at their base school it would be an option. I don't know if that is discouraged at TJ but I would be surprised to hear that kids go Calc AB and then Calc BC and then Multivariate. |
Anonymous
I would find a tutor for your daughter who can help her work through the concepts one on one and shore up her understanding of the material. These are not easy classes, there is no shame in askign for help and getting a little more focused attention. |
Anonymous
+1. TJ teachers tend to teach to the top of the class. It can be demoralizing if you hit a difficult point. Get that extra help - knowing when you need it is a life skill that translates long after TJ. |
Anonymous
FCPS Math course sequence: https://www.fcps.edu/academics/graduation-requirements-and-course-planning/high-school-course-sequencing/mathematics |