TJ Math classes: How are they run?

[Anonymous]

To add further, people routinely complain that test has material that is not covered in class. That 20% that needs deeper understanding is the issue here. That is precisely why you want to go to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To add further, people routinely complain that test has material that is not covered in class. That 20% that needs deeper understanding is the issue here. That is precisely why you want to go to TJ.

Yeah, because the teaching is certainly not the reason to go to TJ since the math teachers do not have a reputation of being good teachers.

As someone who had an excellent calculus teacher that inspired me to love math and science, I think it's a shame. But at least math is only one part of TJ and there are other parts that are better, if kids successfully self-teach themselves math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To add further, people routinely complain that test has material that is not covered in class. That 20% that needs deeper understanding is the issue here. That is precisely why you want to go to TJ.

Yeah, because the teaching is certainly not the reason to go to TJ since the math teachers do not have a reputation of being good teachers.

As someone who had an excellent calculus teacher that inspired me to love math and science, I think it's a shame. But at least math is only one part of TJ and there are other parts that are better, if kids successfully self-teach themselves math.

You shouldn't generalize. Some of the TJ math teachers are fantastic. I've heard very good things about some of the elective math classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To add further, people routinely complain that test has material that is not covered in class. That 20% that needs deeper understanding is the issue here. That is precisely why you want to go to TJ.

Yeah, because the teaching is certainly not the reason to go to TJ since the math teachers do not have a reputation of being good teachers.

As someone who had an excellent calculus teacher that inspired me to love math and science, I think it's a shame. But at least math is only one part of TJ and there are other parts that are better, if kids successfully self-teach themselves math.

You shouldn't generalize. Some of the TJ math teachers are fantastic. I've heard very good things about some of the elective math classes.

Students find TJ teachers to be fantastic only if they go in with prerequisite knowledge for their class. If student without solid Algebra skills enrolls in precalc teacher's class, then they will be shown misery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different students fare better with different teacher styles and that would hold true throughout all your DC’s schooling. Period.

But how can a student who has maintained a high 3.5 GPA in middle school is being given a C grade at TJ? If TJ teaches differently then there should be a bridge class to orient students better. Few teachers make simple math unnecessarily complex, including grading.

Because TJ math is just that much more challenging. Just about every TJ student (including students who get Cs) would have gotten As in honors (math) classes at their home school (and before the admissions change, most would be in honors algebra 2 or higher as freshmen). These are the students which the curriculum at TJ is designed to challenge, so it's unsurprising that only some of them can excel relative to other exceptional students.

+1

The key word is challenging.

I wrote this many times, but the quality of the tests is outstanding at TJ. Love it. This is exactly how it should have been at all schools.

Something like 20% of the test (not uniform across all tests), is where just knowing the concept would NOT enable you to solve the problem. You need to apply it in a different context, that means understanding the concepts deeply. Just as you would expect in undergrad. That is why TJ kids are so well prepared for college.

I dont know if any other base HS does that. Our base HS where we have experience and where I saw the tests, definitely did not. If you just pay attention in class, do a quick review, you get 100% on tests. Way too easy. No deep understanding of concepts needed.

Agree about the need for deep understanding of the concepts, not just ability to do the types of problems taught.

My TJ kid went to a highly ranked STEM university and a won an award as a freshman for best math student. Really the training at TJ was a huge part of his success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To add further, people routinely complain that test has material that is not covered in class. That 20% that needs deeper understanding is the issue here. That is precisely why you want to go to TJ.

Yeah, because the teaching is certainly not the reason to go to TJ since the math teachers do not have a reputation of being good teachers.

As someone who had an excellent calculus teacher that inspired me to love math and science, I think it's a shame. But at least math is only one part of TJ and there are other parts that are better, if kids successfully self-teach themselves math.

You shouldn't generalize. Some of the TJ math teachers are fantastic. I've heard very good things about some of the elective math classes.

Students find TJ teachers to be fantastic only if they go in with prerequisite knowledge for their class. If student without solid Algebra skills enrolls in precalc teacher's class, then they will be shown misery.

Well... yes... that's the definition of prerequisite, it means it will not be taught during class by the teacher; the standard expectation is for the student to work extra hard to catch up. However I believe most teachers welcome answering questions assisting during off class hours or a non-class period, so I don't see any issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different students fare better with different teacher styles and that would hold true throughout all your DC’s schooling. Period.

But how can a student who has maintained a high 3.5 GPA in middle school is being given a C grade at TJ? If TJ teaches differently then there should be a bridge class to orient students better. Few teachers make simple math unnecessarily complex, including grading.

TJ raises the bar. Plenty of Cs. In the old regime and today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please do not complain the teachers of TJ. In fact , nearly all of them are excellent and greatest. I am so happy and proud of my daughter who is studying at TJ as a freshman now. If you want your kid to have a good grade, my experience is to help your kid in studying as you can. Under the tutor of parents, it is impossible for kids not to get a good grade.

Ok. This isn’t true. I was lost after Math 3! My kid is on her own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please do not complain the teachers of TJ. In fact , nearly all of them are excellent and greatest. I am so happy and proud of my daughter who is studying at TJ as a freshman now. If you want your kid to have a good grade, my experience is to help your kid in studying as you can. Under the tutor of parents, it is impossible for kids not to get a good grade.

Ok. This isn’t true. I was lost after Math 3! My kid is on her own.

They are admitting kids without a test, and making them struggle in Math3 or 4. To add insult to the injury, kid is being told it's ok to get a C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are differences based on teacher delivery style and preferences, but more or less use same material and lesson plan. Why do you ask?

I ask because if a teacher is grading harshly despite student spending late nights on math homework alone, that student deserves a different teacher and should be allowed to switch classes. Math is math, it should not be graded differently across schools, and students shouldn't have to suffer just because it's TJ.

Math is not math. Talented students crave more.

You can transfer to home school or down to a lower class at TJ.

TJ is for student who want the challenge of TJ. Grades are for results, not effort.

Math is not math? Is that like teaching is not teaching?

Yes. There are different things both called "math". Likewise for "teaching".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the same classes run the same way, or are they teacher dependent?

So if there is a hw for grade in one class, do all other same classes have homework for grade?

Are the quizzes and tests the same across all classes? What about the allotted time per test/quiz?

They are more or less run using same content and assignments. The difference is in individual teacher's expectations. Few want to do justice and make it challenging to earn grades. Others want to keep it cool and be lenient with grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please do not complain the teachers of TJ. In fact , nearly all of them are excellent and greatest. I am so happy and proud of my daughter who is studying at TJ as a freshman now. If you want your kid to have a good grade, my experience is to help your kid in studying as you can. Under the tutor of parents, it is impossible for kids not to get a good grade.

Ok. This isn’t true. I was lost after Math 3! My kid is on her own.

They are admitting kids without a test, and making them struggle in Math3 or 4. To add insult to the injury, kid is being told it's ok to get a C.

No they aren't

[Anonymous]

My daughter is learning math 4 at TJ now. The quiz and unit test is not so hard, but the course speed is too fast. There are lots of trigonometry formulas to remember and students must be familiar with applying them in a very short time. If you can not finish 10 trigonometry questions in a 5 minutes , it will be hard for you to get a A in the quiz. The same reason for every unit test. In fact, the test content is not too hard, but there is not enough time to let student to finish the test. If you want to get A grade in TJ math in every unit test, either you take part in the math competition club to learn math early and well, or self study early.
It's impossible for not raw talent students to study well in a very short time to learn lots of math contents at TJ only depend on school. Just like a crawled baby must be run .

[Anonymous]

In the Algebra 2 and RS1 class, there are 4 questions in 10 min. in a quiz check. In math 4, there are 10 trigonometry questions in 5 min in a quiz check. If you want to finish all 10 questions correctly in 5 minutes, you must practice them with extra lots of time. Just like you must practice how to eat a big full bowl rice in one minute.

[Anonymous]

In fact, TJ math is not too hard if the course learning speed is not so fast! So I think the semester course is harder than the yearly course, due to the faster speed, more learning contents, and more unit tests in semester course.