TJ Math 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why yes, I have driven by and to--every damn day--because my kid can't get up early enough to take the bus. I've already told you I have a sophomore in the class. Please try to pay attention.

Wow -- if you have a child in the class also, you'd think you'd be more sympathetic to what our kids are going through and what we, as parents, are going through. If your child is doing well, that's fantastic. But as you can see from these posts, he/she is in the minority. This isn't a bunch of crazy parents just looking for their kids to make As. We're trying to keep our kids from getting Fs and Ds in a class we are confidant they can do better in if the assessments weren't so out of whack with what the majority of students can do.

I am sympathetic to what the kids are going through. A test with a 65 average sucks. However, the best way to deal with this is to lets the kids get together and advocate for themselves. My kid did better than the average, but didn't get the grade she would have liked. The thing is that you can't keep your kids from getting Ds and FSU. That is their job. Let them do it.

He is what you don't get. Many kids ARE following the self advocacy guidelines, and are getting nowhere.

Also, that the guidelines were designed for individual kids having problems they need work out with the teacher-- they don't agree with a low grade, or have several major assignments due at once, or some such. Systemic problems in the school-- which this has become, since it has not been formally addressed by the Math 4 team math department or administration, despite many kids raising concerns-- these are parent issues.

[Anonymous]

Any one know when the bonus quiz is? My son said it will be next Tuesday or Thursday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why yes, I have driven by and to--every damn day--because my kid can't get up early enough to take the bus. I've already told you I have a sophomore in the class. Please try to pay attention.

Wow -- if you have a child in the class also, you'd think you'd be more sympathetic to what our kids are going through and what we, as parents, are going through. If your child is doing well, that's fantastic. But as you can see from these posts, he/she is in the minority. This isn't a bunch of crazy parents just looking for their kids to make As. We're trying to keep our kids from getting Fs and Ds in a class we are confidant they can do better in if the assessments weren't so out of whack with what the majority of students can do.

I am sympathetic to what the kids are going through. A test with a 65 average sucks. However, the best way to deal with this is to lets the kids get together and advocate for themselves. My kid did better than the average, but didn't get the grade she would have liked. The thing is that you can't keep your kids from getting Ds and FSU. That is their job. Let them do it.

He is what you don't get. Many kids ARE following the self advocacy guidelines, and are getting nowhere.

Also, that the guidelines were designed for individual kids having problems they need work out with the teacher-- they don't agree with a low grade, or have several major assignments due at once, or some such. Systemic problems in the school-- which this has become, since it has not been formally addressed by the Math 4 team math department or administration, despite many kids raising concerns-- these are parent issues.

Then I suggest you start with the counselors. Burke and Ketchem were especially helpful and good advocates for my kids. One child had an issue with a new history teacher who was assigning 30-page short answer history packets per week which were impossible to finish with level of work in the other classes (other kids were splitting up the work in groups - an honor code violation). We went to the counselor who was able to advocate for our child and explain the issue to the teacher, who then adjusted the level of work.

And I have to laugh at the PP who said that Dr. Glazier would've helped with this - are you kidding me?

[Anonymous]

Bonus quiz was given this week. Hope it went well!!

[Anonymous]

They got a chance for 20 more points. Was this due to student advocacy or parents?

[Anonymous]

Don't know. That is more points than I thought they would offer. Guess if average on test was a 61, By offering 20 more points, it could bring the average to a high C, which is where I understand most test averages lie.

[Anonymous]

I hear some of the questions were repeats from the first test.

[Anonymous]

Math 4 classes had their second test. How did your DC fare on this one? Mine did just a bit better, but still nowhere near what she's used to. We are seriously considering some tutoring help, but really don't know where to find it. I would really appreciate any suggestion in finding a teacher familiar with TJ math curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why yes, I have driven by and to--every damn day--because my kid can't get up early enough to take the bus. I've already told you I have a sophomore in the class. Please try to pay attention.

Wow -- if you have a child in the class also, you'd think you'd be more sympathetic to what our kids are going through and what we, as parents, are going through. If your child is doing well, that's fantastic. But as you can see from these posts, he/she is in the minority. This isn't a bunch of crazy parents just looking for their kids to make As. We're trying to keep our kids from getting Fs and Ds in a class we are confidant they can do better in if the assessments weren't so out of whack with what the majority of students can do.

I am sympathetic to what the kids are going through. A test with a 65 average sucks. However, the best way to deal with this is to lets the kids get together and advocate for themselves. My kid did better than the average, but didn't get the grade she would have liked. The thing is that you can't keep your kids from getting Ds and FSU. That is their job. Let them do it.

He is what you don't get. Many kids ARE following the self advocacy guidelines, and are getting nowhere.

Also, that the guidelines were designed for individual kids having problems they need work out with the teacher-- they don't agree with a low grade, or have several major assignments due at once, or some such. Systemic problems in the school-- which this has become, since it has not been formally addressed by the Math 4 team math department or administration, despite many kids raising concerns-- these are parent issues.

Then I suggest you start with the counselors. Burke and Ketchem were especially helpful and good advocates for my kids. One child had an issue with a new history teacher who was assigning 30-page short answer history packets per week which were impossible to finish with level of work in the other classes (other kids were splitting up the work in groups - an honor code violation). We went to the counselor who was able to advocate for our child and explain the issue to the teacher, who then adjusted the level of work.

And I have to laugh at the PP who said that Dr. Glazier would've helped with this - are you kidding me?

+ 1. Neither Dr. Glaze nor Dr. Bonnie are going to help with kid workloads. I think the teachers for the most part think they are teaching at a college and will likely not put up with interference from the Principal. And they worry about honor code violations!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math 4 classes had their second test. How did your DC fare on this one? Mine did just a bit better, but still nowhere near what she's used to. We are seriously considering some tutoring help, but really don't know where to find it. I would really appreciate any suggestion in finding a teacher familiar with TJ math curriculum.

My son did really well in Unit Test 2. Scored 99/100. Here is what he did. Worked on most problems from the text book. It was close to around 200 problems. It took him lot of hard work to get to where he is grade wise ( which is still a upper B Plus). Rest of the other courses were either high A's or low A's. 90 percent of him time went to only Math 4. We thought of finding a tutor in the beginning of second unit. but later we thought that only way to get familiarized with all the concepts is to solve each and every problem in the text book. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - and the parents getting most fired up about Math 4 appear to be the ones who super accelerated their kids in summer school so they could take Math 4 in 9th grade ... 10th and 11th grade parents know the drill at TJ, including with retakes ...

Not really. Unhappy 10th grade parent here. I know the TJ math drill. You do not normally have to wait until the end of the quarter for retakes. You may or may not be limited to one retake per quarter, but you can retake promptly (within a week or two). A kid who can't retake until the end of the quarter does not know whether he gotten a better handle on the material. And does. It really know where he or she stands gradewise, and whether they are in trouble or not. Which is a problem, because Math 4 concepts build on each other. Also, math tests are generally curved to some version of a B. The average on this test was a 61-- a D-,and no curve is being given. Also, graded tests tests are always returned promptly. Under the self advocacy guidelines that is required so that kids can see what they missed and learn from their mistakes. These tests were graded more than a week ago. Most kids have not seen their test, and none of the tests have actually been returned. So it looks like they are trying to keep parents from seeing them.

I think the number of freshmen accelerated into Math 4 is making a bad problem worse. It is a really hard math class, and should not be your first TJ math test. I'm sure that brought the average grade down. But, it is not just freshmen parents who are unhappy. Believe me, my kid's sophomore friend's parents are also very, very unhappy. About the grades (in my kid's carpool they ranged from a 54 to a 62). About the lack of curve. Because flunking half the class is ridiculous. About the retake policy on the test. About the fact the teachers will not answer questions about point for test corrections, which is SOP in the math department. And mostly about the complete breakdown in communication.

And having a new principal is not helping this situation. For all of his faults, Dr. glazer did good job with PR. He would have recognized there were a couple hundred pissed off kids with pissed off parents, had the math department articulate a plan and emailed it out to math 4 kids and parents. There would be a curve/test corrections/retakes. And mostly, what was being done to make sure there was not a repeat on the next test. He definately had shortcomings. But, he was good on communication and damage control.

The silence from the new principal is not a good sign. The longer parents speculate among themselves and get worked up, and the longer kids TJ vent, the greater the chance Jay Matthew's writes a "Half of the Kids at the Nation's Top STEM School Can't Pass a Pre-Calculus Test" hit job article.

A D- average on a major test is a problem. Someone needs to solve it and communicate. I nominate the person in charge. But will take answers (not rumors, actual facts) from any TJ Rep.

but... but... but... how is little Kim lee going to get into HYPS if he doesn't take accelerated math at TJ??? He will NEVER be able to get a job, too!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And as a parent of a TJ senior I am telling you it will resolve itself. The entire class won't get a final D on the report card. Your students know what to do - let them talk to the teacher, their counselors, their peers, etc.

But any future TJ parents please learn from this - several of the low grades may be because the students haven't had enough preparatory math. Don't rush your 9th grader into Math 4. Call or go to ANY meeting with a college admissions officer and they will tell you that accelerating for the sake of accelerating isn't an advantage.

This is also why you should no test prep your kid since 6th grade. Many of the struggles are because he kid couldn't naturally get into TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math 4 classes had their second test. How did your DC fare on this one? Mine did just a bit better, but still nowhere near what she's used to. We are seriously considering some tutoring help, but really don't know where to find it. I would really appreciate any suggestion in finding a teacher familiar with TJ math curriculum.

My son did really well in Unit Test 2. Scored 99/100. Here is what he did. Worked on most problems from the text book. It was close to around 200 problems. It took him lot of hard work to get to where he is grade wise ( which is still a upper B Plus). Rest of the other courses were either high A's or low A's. 90 percent of him time went to only Math 4. We thought of finding a tutor in the beginning of second unit. but later we thought that only way to get familiarized with all the concepts is to solve each and every problem in the text book. Hope this helps.

It dawned on me that I don’t know how my child preps for math 4 tests, let alone the number of problems he solved. My older one recently graduated from TJ, so no math 4, but I never knew how many math problems that child solved to prep for tests either. Reading this thread makes me feel as though I am a lazy and uninvolved parent...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It dawned on me that I don’t know how my child preps for math 4 tests, let alone the number of problems he solved. My older one recently graduated from TJ, so no math 4, but I never knew how many math problems that child solved to prep for tests either. Reading this thread makes me feel as though I am a lazy and uninvolved parent...

lol +1

[Anonymous]

Agreed. Who the hell knows what their HS kid’s homework is. Scary.