Blair math: functions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If top colleges look to see students are taking the most rigorous curriculum possible at their school, would not taking functions (when it's an option) hurt a student's potential admissions?

Yes. So would receiving B's in the functions /analysis sequence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Functions seems to be geared to students who excel at the following skills:

1. Strong ability at algebraic manipulation of complex functions, far beyond that which is offered in regular Algebra II class.
2. Ability to work both very fast and very accurately - there is no time to "proofread" the work

Finally, and most importantly:
3. Ability to solve problems above and beyond of what has been presented in class - i.e. the creative spark

The latter seems to be the greatest difference between functions and pre-calc sequence that takes 3 semesters.

Your child has to have all three qualities to do well in the class. The quality of the class can be inferred from the summer camp. However, the actual class will both move faster and demand more than the summer camp did.

Thanks for the nice summary of Function students. I need to give my DC more credits since he is doing well and enjoys the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If top colleges look to see students are taking the most rigorous curriculum possible at their school, would not taking functions (when it's an option) hurt a student's potential admissions?

Yes. So would receiving B's in the functions /analysis sequence.

Ther is no correlation between taking the Function class and going to top Ivys. Many kids admitted by top Ivys didn't take function.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Functions seems to be geared to students who excel at the following skills:

1. Strong ability at algebraic manipulation of complex functions, far beyond that which is offered in regular Algebra II class.
2. Ability to work both very fast and very accurately - there is no time to "proofread" the work

Finally, and most importantly:
3. Ability to solve problems above and beyond of what has been presented in class - i.e. the creative spark

The latter seems to be the greatest difference between functions and pre-calc sequence that takes 3 semesters.

Your child has to have all three qualities to do well in the class. The quality of the class can be inferred from the summer camp. However, the actual class will both move faster and demand more than the summer camp did.

Thanks for the nice summary of Function students. I need to give my DC more credits since he is doing well and enjoys the class.

What specifically are some of the topics they go through in this class? Is there a link to a syllabus? I'm curious why it is considered hard; is it mainly because it covers various topics very quickly? Is there a lot of problem solving involved? I'm trying to understand what is special about this class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Functions seems to be geared to students who excel at the following skills:

1. Strong ability at algebraic manipulation of complex functions, far beyond that which is offered in regular Algebra II class.
2. Ability to work both very fast and very accurately - there is no time to "proofread" the work

Finally, and most importantly:
3. Ability to solve problems above and beyond of what has been presented in class - i.e. the creative spark

The latter seems to be the greatest difference between functions and pre-calc sequence that takes 3 semesters.

Your child has to have all three qualities to do well in the class. The quality of the class can be inferred from the summer camp. However, the actual class will both move faster and demand more than the summer camp did.

Thanks for writing this. People need to realize that the Blair magnet takes the very top students in the the county (downcounty). In that sense, all Math courses are advanced, rigorous and accelerated. Some students are ready for even more acceleration in Math (Functions) because of many factors personal to them (their brain, previous learning, schedule, other activities, commute). Not being placed in Functions, dropping out of Functions, not taking Functions - all of these are absolutely ok. Parents should support the choices and interests of their children at this level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Ms. Manchester recommend your DC for Functions? I think the kids have to be recommended by current math teacher to even try it. And, I think she can only recommend 15-20 kids, and about 50 go to Blair magnet from TPMS.

We do not know as yet. In the event that the teacher recommends my DC for Functions, I would want to be prepared on how to teach my DC with the limited resources we have. If she does not get recommended, we will not have to worry about this.

How do we know if our DC gets a recommendation for Functions? Does Mrs. Manchester inform the kids or do you hear from Blair?

Not sure. We're in the same boat. Assuming Ms. M will let the kids know, since they had to write an essay to be considered in the first place.

They had to write an essay to be considered for placement in Functions? Is this a requirement by Ms. M? I thought she would have enough information already since these are her students ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Ms. Manchester recommend your DC for Functions? I think the kids have to be recommended by current math teacher to even try it. And, I think she can only recommend 15-20 kids, and about 50 go to Blair magnet from TPMS.

We do not know as yet. In the event that the teacher recommends my DC for Functions, I would want to be prepared on how to teach my DC with the limited resources we have. If she does not get recommended, we will not have to worry about this.

How do we know if our DC gets a recommendation for Functions? Does Mrs. Manchester inform the kids or do you hear from Blair?

Not sure. We're in the same boat. Assuming Ms. M will let the kids know, since they had to write an essay to be considered in the first place.

They had to write an essay to be considered for placement in Functions? Is this a requirement by Ms. M? I thought she would have enough information already since these are her students ...

Maybe they think this will help weed out if the parents want the kid to take Functions or the kid wants to take Functions.

[Anonymous]

This is all confusing to me. I have a non-Takoma child who will go to the Blair magnet in the fall, and we already registered for her classes. The level of math she was based on the recommendation we were given by Blair. I assume it was based on her admissions test and her previous grades and math teacher's recommendation. She will be going to the math camp in the summer. Is the camp really just an opportunity for them to assess the kids? (They did say that they might adjust placements based on what they see in the class, but they also seemed fairly confident in where the children were already placed.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all confusing to me. I have a non-Takoma child who will go to the Blair magnet in the fall, and we already registered for her classes. The level of math she was based on the recommendation we were given by Blair. I assume it was based on her admissions test and her previous grades and math teacher's recommendation. She will be going to the math camp in the summer. Is the camp really just an opportunity for them to assess the kids? (They did say that they might adjust placements based on what they see in the class, but they also seemed fairly confident in where the children were already placed.)

Do you mean you already know your cild's math class next year? If so how did you find out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Ms. Manchester recommend your DC for Functions? I think the kids have to be recommended by current math teacher to even try it. And, I think she can only recommend 15-20 kids, and about 50 go to Blair magnet from TPMS.

We do not know as yet. In the event that the teacher recommends my DC for Functions, I would want to be prepared on how to teach my DC with the limited resources we have. If she does not get recommended, we will not have to worry about this.

How do we know if our DC gets a recommendation for Functions? Does Mrs. Manchester inform the kids or do you hear from Blair?

Not sure. We're in the same boat. Assuming Ms. M will let the kids know, since they had to write an essay to be considered in the first place.

They had to write an essay to be considered for placement in Functions? Is this a requirement by Ms. M? I thought she would have enough information already since these are her students ...

Maybe they think this will help weed out if the parents want the kid to take Functions or the kid wants to take Functions.

I think it's in part to determine how dedicated the student intends to be

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all confusing to me. I have a non-Takoma child who will go to the Blair magnet in the fall, and we already registered for her classes. The level of math she was based on the recommendation we were given by Blair. I assume it was based on her admissions test and her previous grades and math teacher's recommendation. She will be going to the math camp in the summer. Is the camp really just an opportunity for them to assess the kids? (They did say that they might adjust placements based on what they see in the class, but they also seemed fairly confident in where the children were already placed.)

This is my understanding: Everyone is enrolled for pre-calc (or Geom if they're not in Geom now). They make the decisions on which of the Pre Calc students are recommended for Functions later through teacher or camp or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Ms. Manchester recommend your DC for Functions? I think the kids have to be recommended by current math teacher to even try it. And, I think she can only recommend 15-20 kids, and about 50 go to Blair magnet from TPMS.

We do not know as yet. In the event that the teacher recommends my DC for Functions, I would want to be prepared on how to teach my DC with the limited resources we have. If she does not get recommended, we will not have to worry about this.

How do we know if our DC gets a recommendation for Functions? Does Mrs. Manchester inform the kids or do you hear from Blair?

Not sure. We're in the same boat. Assuming Ms. M will let the kids know, since they had to write an essay to be considered in the first place.

They had to write an essay to be considered for placement in Functions? Is this a requirement by Ms. M? I thought she would have enough information already since these are her students ...

Maybe they think this will help weed out if the parents want the kid to take Functions or the kid wants to take Functions.

I think it's in part to determine how dedicated the student intends to be

Unless it just started last year, non-TP kids did not write an essay to be considered for Functions.

[Anonymous]

I think that is unique to TP. Part of the TP teacher's process.
--current TP parent

[Anonymous]

For non-TP students, Blair has no information to judge the potential of the students, unless the students have won an award in a math competition or already took Algebra II. Most students accepted by Blair magnet receive As in their math classes in MS and local school math classes are less rigorous than TP magnet.
The summer school is an intensive learning camp so the students with strong math foundation and potential will standout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all confusing to me. I have a non-Takoma child who will go to the Blair magnet in the fall, and we already registered for her classes. The level of math she was based on the recommendation we were given by Blair. I assume it was based on her admissions test and her previous grades and math teacher's recommendation. She will be going to the math camp in the summer. Is the camp really just an opportunity for them to assess the kids? (They did say that they might adjust placements based on what they see in the class, but they also seemed fairly confident in where the children were already placed.)

This is my understanding: Everyone is enrolled for pre-calc (or Geom if they're not in Geom now). They make the decisions on which of the Pre Calc students are recommended for Functions later through teacher or camp or whatever.

Just wondering - Is it possible to get admitted to Blair SMAC without having done Geometry? (These would be students who do IM in grade 7 and Algebra 1 in grade 8, right?)