What kind of grades do Blair magnet kids get?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are 9th grade magnet students taking APUSH or Honors US history?

They were strongly advised against taking APUSH but some ignored that advice.

I wonder if they regret it.

I’ve heard so.

It depends. Typical non-functions magnet kid has 2-3 hours of homework a night. APUSH will add another 2 hours. If your kid gets home from the activity bus at 5 p.m. and takes a short break and dinner, they will be doing homework until 11 each night and have to be up around 6 a.m. the next day. This is seven or fewer hours of sleep a night, which is unhealthy for a teen and leaves little downtime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are 9th grade magnet students taking APUSH or Honors US history?

They were strongly advised against taking APUSH but some ignored that advice.

I wonder if they regret it.

I’ve heard so.

Some can handle it, some can't. I wonder how students in both Functions and APUSH are faring. How many of them are there?

HW load
* for magnet 2-3 hours / night
* for APUSH 1-2 hours / night
* for Functions 3-4 hours /night

With those choices expect 6-8 hours of HW / night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the most challenging classes in the first two years? Any advice for a freshman to help them manage this? Should you buy textbooks for the classes where the teachers don't teach?

Challenging classes for DC are math and comp. sci. The rest are just 1 year science classes simply compressed into 1 semester per science subject. Not a challenge for kids with stamina and focus. If that is challenging, then taking notes in class is a good habit to cultivate. DC doesn't complain that teachers don't teach. But if that becomes a problem, have the kid should go straight to the source: ask the teacher how best to prepare for tests. And, if that doesn't produce positive results, email the teacher yourself and ask how you can best support your child at home. S/he would hopefully recommend strategies.

We have gotten a fair amount of negative feedback about the Precalculus teacher in 9th. We found a tutor that my DS meets with once every week or two and now he has an A, so I don't think it's that the material is too difficult but that the teaching isn't fantastic. Every other class has been great including non-magnet classes.

Surprised to hear this. DC and their friends think she's very good.

My DC says everyone in their class has problems with her. Most struggle to understand her teaching. Are you sure you aren’t confused? Lots of complaints. This year and last.

Is this the one that does reverse teaching? There was a long post about it last year. I think they may have videos of the material for the kids to watch and uses class time for kids to work on problems and answer individual questions,

So she basically does little instruction or teaching. She tells students to watch a video on the materials or pre-read, then work together on some problems during class while she sits there. “Flip the class.”

I remember Maret talking about that during a tour of their upper school. Sounded lazy there and then, as it does here.

Personally, I'd prefer that format. Would allow me to play the videos at 2X and replay any parts that were harder. Also leaves more time for problem sets which is where the real learning happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the most challenging classes in the first two years? Any advice for a freshman to help them manage this? Should you buy textbooks for the classes where the teachers don't teach?

Challenging classes for DC are math and comp. sci. The rest are just 1 year science classes simply compressed into 1 semester per science subject. Not a challenge for kids with stamina and focus. If that is challenging, then taking notes in class is a good habit to cultivate. DC doesn't complain that teachers don't teach. But if that becomes a problem, have the kid should go straight to the source: ask the teacher how best to prepare for tests. And, if that doesn't produce positive results, email the teacher yourself and ask how you can best support your child at home. S/he would hopefully recommend strategies.

We have gotten a fair amount of negative feedback about the Precalculus teacher in 9th. We found a tutor that my DS meets with once every week or two and now he has an A, so I don't think it's that the material is too difficult but that the teaching isn't fantastic. Every other class has been great including non-magnet classes.

Surprised to hear this. DC and their friends think she's very good.

My DC says everyone in their class has problems with her. Most struggle to understand her teaching. Are you sure you aren’t confused? Lots of complaints. This year and last.

Is this the one that does reverse teaching? There was a long post about it last year. I think they may have videos of the material for the kids to watch and uses class time for kids to work on problems and answer individual questions,

So she basically does little instruction or teaching. She tells students to watch a video on the materials or pre-read, then work together on some problems during class while she sits there. “Flip the class.”

I remember Maret talking about that during a tour of their upper school. Sounded lazy there and then, as it does here.

Personally, I'd prefer that format. Would allow me to play the videos at 2X and replay any parts that were harder. Also leaves more time for problem sets which is where the real learning happens.

Oh, I should add the one thing that is better than videos is a decent textbook. It allows the reader to consume the material at their own pace and at least in my experience was more efficient than video courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about ADSA course? Heard it is very challenging? Teacher is tough.

Would like to hear more about it? Do kids have to self-study? What's so hard about it? Is there a textbook? Has anyone found a way to make this work for them? My kid will likely be taking this next semester.

Also curious about the algorithms and data structures class since DC will be taking it soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about ADSA course? Heard it is very challenging? Teacher is tough.

Would like to hear more about it? Do kids have to self-study? What's so hard about it? Is there a textbook? Has anyone found a way to make this work for them? My kid will likely be taking this next semester.

Also curious about the algorithms and data structures class since DC will be taking it soon.

Can you explain why taking it next semester? I thought all magnet students took it throughout 10th grade, not half way through 9th or another grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about ADSA course? Heard it is very challenging? Teacher is tough.

Would like to hear more about it? Do kids have to self-study? What's so hard about it? Is there a textbook? Has anyone found a way to make this work for them? My kid will likely be taking this next semester.

Also curious about the algorithms and data structures class since DC will be taking it soon.

Can you explain why taking it next semester? I thought all magnet students took it throughout 10th grade, not half way through 9th or another grade.

Magnet kids can take an exam around the winter break to skip the 2nd semester of the first year CS class and begin the magnet equivalent of AP CS A a semester early. Kids that have had previous programming experience like the ones from TPMS, often do this but it's not necessary and not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's one English teacher who teaches a lot of magnet students including the 9th period block which is all magnet students and this teacher assigns a ton of homework, much more than the other sections, and is a really tough grader.

Good to know. I haven't heard this before. I thought the curriculum was standardized. DC's English class is a joke. I'm glad this teacher takes it seriously!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's one English teacher who teaches a lot of magnet students including the 9th period block which is all magnet students and this teacher assigns a ton of homework, much more than the other sections, and is a really tough grader.

Good to know. I haven't heard this before. I thought the curriculum was standardized. DC's English class is a joke. I'm glad this teacher takes it seriously!

The MCPS curriculum is standardized. They do not get a lot of leeway so I'd take this with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's one English teacher who teaches a lot of magnet students including the 9th period block which is all magnet students and this teacher assigns a ton of homework, much more than the other sections, and is a really tough grader.

Good to know. I haven't heard this before. I thought the curriculum was standardized. DC's English class is a joke. I'm glad this teacher takes it seriously!

The MCPS curriculum is standardized. They do not get a lot of leeway so I'd take this with a grain of salt.

I can understand the "tough grader" part but having difficulty imagining how the teacher can assign extra homework that other teachers are not assigning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's one English teacher who teaches a lot of magnet students including the 9th period block which is all magnet students and this teacher assigns a ton of homework, much more than the other sections, and is a really tough grader.

Good to know. I haven't heard this before. I thought the curriculum was standardized. DC's English class is a joke. I'm glad this teacher takes it seriously!

The MCPS curriculum is standardized. They do not get a lot of leeway so I'd take this with a grain of salt.

I can understand the "tough grader" part but having difficulty imagining how the teacher can assign extra homework that other teachers are not assigning.

Maybe they hate magnet kids and want to punish them for focusing on STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are 9th grade magnet students taking APUSH or Honors US history?

They were strongly advised against taking APUSH but some ignored that advice.

I wonder if they regret it.

I’ve heard so.

It depends. Typical non-functions magnet kid has 2-3 hours of homework a night. APUSH will add another 2 hours. If your kid gets home from the activity bus at 5 p.m. and takes a short break and dinner, they will be doing homework until 11 each night and have to be up around 6 a.m. the next day. This is seven or fewer hours of sleep a night, which is unhealthy for a teen and leaves little downtime.

Parent of kid who went to Blair. My kid definitely got too little sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's one English teacher who teaches a lot of magnet students including the 9th period block which is all magnet students and this teacher assigns a ton of homework, much more than the other sections, and is a really tough grader.

Good to know. I haven't heard this before. I thought the curriculum was standardized. DC's English class is a joke. I'm glad this teacher takes it seriously!

The MCPS curriculum is standardized. They do not get a lot of leeway so I'd take this with a grain of salt.

My kid isn’t in this class but has friends who are and it definitely sounds to be accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about ADSA course? Heard it is very challenging? Teacher is tough.

Would like to hear more about it? Do kids have to self-study? What's so hard about it? Is there a textbook? Has anyone found a way to make this work for them? My kid will likely be taking this next semester.

Also curious about the algorithms and data structures class since DC will be taking it soon.

Can you explain why taking it next semester? I thought all magnet students took it throughout 10th grade, not half way through 9th or another grade.

Magnet kids can take an exam around the winter break to skip the 2nd semester of the first year CS class and begin the magnet equivalent of AP CS A a semester early. Kids that have had previous programming experience like the ones from TPMS, often do this but it's not necessary and not for everyone.

How do you learn about this? This hasn’t been shared with current students, and how do the PPs know that their kid is doing it if the test hasn’t happened yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about ADSA course? Heard it is very challenging? Teacher is tough.

Would like to hear more about it? Do kids have to self-study? What's so hard about it? Is there a textbook? Has anyone found a way to make this work for them? My kid will likely be taking this next semester.

Also curious about the algorithms and data structures class since DC will be taking it soon.

Can you explain why taking it next semester? I thought all magnet students took it throughout 10th grade, not half way through 9th or another grade.

Magnet kids can take an exam around the winter break to skip the 2nd semester of the first year CS class and begin the magnet equivalent of AP CS A a semester early. Kids that have had previous programming experience like the ones from TPMS, often do this but it's not necessary and not for everyone.

How do you learn about this? This hasn’t been shared with current students, and how do the PPs know that their kid is doing it if the test hasn’t happened yet?

This was shared at the information session, and many students heard this from older students.