WWYD? No Physics teacher until "October" on 4x4 schedule

[Anonymous]

I think if DCPS continues with the 4x4 they should stop pushing AP classes. It is not realistic to learn that amount of content in a short period of time and retain it for months.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm a fellow Wilson parent. Nothing you can do here but get a tutor for your kid.

Yes, it sucks, yes, it will cost a few thousand dollars. But compared to the cost of private school, or the cost of having a hellish commute to the suburbs, it is a small price to pay.

Accept it, fix it by throwing $ at the problem, and move on. It's more effective, and a better approach than making yourself crazy about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm a fellow Wilson parent. Nothing you can do here but get a tutor for your kid.

Yes, it sucks, yes, it will cost a few thousand dollars. But compared to the cost of private school, or the cost of having a hellish commute to the suburbs, it is a small price to pay.

Accept it, fix it by throwing $ at the problem, and move on. It's more effective, and a better approach than making yourself crazy about this.

Agreed. I have one kid in a top private (rest of mine are in DCPS). It is lovely and the teachers are present and attentive each day. But it is $50k. That's a whole lot of tutoring hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perry Stein should be alerted to this and there should be major pressure put on DCPS to end this 4x4 requirement.

For the record, Wilson did NOT want to be on the 4x4 schedule--DCPS forced it on them (all DCPS high schools except the "special' schools like Walls and McKinley Tech are now on it) and it's a disaster. Some kids will have no math or language for a year (if they had it last fall and not until next spring)..others--like OPs--will be without instruction if they can't get a teacher in the classroom for the bulk of a term. They are doing it because there is (limited) evidence that it increases graduation rates (because kids can more easily retake classes if they fail)...however, there is also evidence that overall learning/retention is poorer.

You can blame the Secondary Schools office for the 4x4 schedule as they railroaded the change through over the objections of the office of teaching and learning. Email Melissa Kim and tell her how bad it’s been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 11th grader has come around on the 4x4 schedule. Having 4 classes to focus on instead of 8 is quite a relief. Of course, we both recognize that its lucky that their schedule is well balanced this year.

I do think the students should have more control over how the course load scheduled - which classes are in the Fall and which in the Spring.

See how your 11th grader feels about it when AP roll around. I don't mean to be snarky- it's just that it might seem like a relief now but it's enormously stressful to take APs in the spring for classes you took in the fall....or, for that matter, to take APs for your spring classes, when teachers have to speed through the material because of the May testing dates.

[Anonymous]

As a teacher I love the 4X4 but believe that all AP classes should earn double credits and last the whole year.

[Anonymous]

The 4X4 schedule is the single reason we are considering not sending our kid to wilson next year. Asinine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm a fellow Wilson parent. Nothing you can do here but get a tutor for your kid.

Yes, it sucks, yes, it will cost a few thousand dollars. But compared to the cost of private school, or the cost of having a hellish commute to the suburbs, it is a small price to pay.

Accept it, fix it by throwing $ at the problem, and move on. It's more effective, and a better approach than making yourself crazy about this.

OP here. Thanks for the advice. If anyone has a recommendation for where I should look for a physics tutor, I am all ears!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 4X4 schedule is the single reason we are considering not sending our kid to wilson next year. Asinine.

It's why we applied out for this year. I'm a long term (15 year) DCPS parent but I did not want my rising freshman to deal with the 4x4 schedule. A long-term Wilson parent who I really respect warned me about this last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 4X4 schedule is the single reason we are considering not sending our kid to wilson next year. Asinine.

It's why we applied out for this year. I'm a long term (15 year) DCPS parent but I did not want my rising freshman to deal with the 4x4 schedule. A long-term Wilson parent who I really respect warned me about this last year.

I just cannot understand why they want to handicap their students in this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 4X4 schedule is the single reason we are considering not sending our kid to wilson next year. Asinine.

It's why we applied out for this year. I'm a long term (15 year) DCPS parent but I did not want my rising freshman to deal with the 4x4 schedule. A long-term Wilson parent who I really respect warned me about this last year.

I just cannot understand why they want to handicap their students in this way.

Honestly, so much handwringing and bedwetting about the 4 X 4 schedule. It's really not that big a deal.

I have a Wilson senior, and it worked out fine last year, and was not a problem for the APs. First, as one PP has noted, the 4 X 4 schedule is good because it lets the student focus on four classes at a time instead of 8. And it is not that big a problem for the AP's. My kid took two APs for classes that she took in the first half of the year, and nailed them both. Just do some studying and review work at the end of the year to refresh the material. If you learned it the first time through, it is not that hard to just do a bit of prep work to bring it back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 4X4 schedule is the single reason we are considering not sending our kid to wilson next year. Asinine.

It's why we applied out for this year. I'm a long term (15 year) DCPS parent but I did not want my rising freshman to deal with the 4x4 schedule. A long-term Wilson parent who I really respect warned me about this last year.

I just cannot understand why they want to handicap their students in this way.

Honestly, so much handwringing and bedwetting about the 4 X 4 schedule. It's really not that big a deal.

I have a Wilson senior, and it worked out fine last year, and was not a problem for the APs. First, as one PP has noted, the 4 X 4 schedule is good because it lets the student focus on four classes at a time instead of 8. And it is not that big a problem for the AP's. My kid took two APs for classes that she took in the first half of the year, and nailed them both. Just do some studying and review work at the end of the year to refresh the material. If you learned it the first time through, it is not that hard to just do a bit of prep work to bring it back.

This might work for your kid, but I can tell you that it won't work for mine. She doesn't have a great memory, so a bit of prep work is really having to re learn a whole lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 4X4 schedule is the single reason we are considering not sending our kid to wilson next year. Asinine.

Folks should email downtown...they claim they will be evaluating the schedule and will consider allowing schools to opt out (based, among other things, views of teachers, parents, and students). Email [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 4X4 schedule is the single reason we are considering not sending our kid to wilson next year. Asinine.

It's why we applied out for this year. I'm a long term (15 year) DCPS parent but I did not want my rising freshman to deal with the 4x4 schedule. A long-term Wilson parent who I really respect warned me about this last year.

I just cannot understand why they want to handicap their students in this way.

Honestly, so much handwringing and bedwetting about the 4 X 4 schedule. It's really not that big a deal.

I have a Wilson senior, and it worked out fine last year, and was not a problem for the APs. First, as one PP has noted, the 4 X 4 schedule is good because it lets the student focus on four classes at a time instead of 8. And it is not that big a problem for the AP's. My kid took two APs for classes that she took in the first half of the year, and nailed them both. Just do some studying and review work at the end of the year to refresh the material. If you learned it the first time through, it is not that hard to just do a bit of prep work to bring it back.

This might work for your kid, but I can tell you that it won't work for mine. She doesn't have a great memory, so a bit of prep work is really having to re learn a whole lot.

What can I tell you? Some education approaches work for some kids, but not others. There are things at Wilson that are not ideal for my kid, but I don't spend my time wetting the bed about it. That's public school for you. My kid will need to learn to navigate a universe that is not perfectly arranged for her, at school, and in life beyond school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, my kid has found some benefits in the current schedule for AP tests. Last year took 2 AP classes in the Fall and fortunately both teachers did review sessions in the Spring before the test. It worked well because they were able to get through the whole curriculum in the Fall and have review. Did well on both tests.

For some kids and some subjects it harder to have the AP class in the spring because its more compressed and there isn't time to reflect, synthesize the material and study for the test.