The Big Three :o

Hey juniors!
Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile! I have a bunch of blogs coming fast and furious, so bear with me.
My topic today are the Big Three. Nope, not cars. The big three math classes: Stats, Calc, and Advanced Topics. To help me out (since I only took Stats), I asked Stefanie Senior (Adv. Topics)and Revathi Maturi (Calc) to give me their input!

Stef and Advanced Topics
Class in General:
-Pretty cool, most of the material makes sense
-Mostly a Junior orientated class, a good half of your class will be taking this
-(been described as a repeat or extension of Algebra II)

Homework:
-Homework is assigned every night, unless it's the day before the test
-He grades randomly one or two of the problems
-You can revise problems you get wrong.

Tests:
-The test is broken down by learning goals, and there are a few problems per learning goal. He grades by the learning goal (aka, if you got all the problems right for learning goal two, then you going to you have mastered learning goal two)
-Often, the math problems are the same as the homework, just a few numbers/words changed

Stef's tips:
-Do the homework!!! Because the test often has reconfigured math homework problems on it, and doing the problems help you learn it, the best thing to do is do your homework.
-If you aren't understanding the material, go see the teacher (this will be a tip for all three!)

Revathi and Calc
Class in General:
-Calc is more difficult than all the other math classes before (difficult does NOT equal impossible)
-The grading scale is wighted, so a B in the class will be an A in your GPA :]

Homework:
-Between 50-70 problems a WEEK
-Randomly chosen problems to grade
-Homework is only worth around 10% of your grade (aka, tests tend to mean more)
-Lowest homework scores are dropped at the end of the semester.

Tests:
-There are around 3-5 tests each quarter
-No revisions! But, the lowest score is dropped.
-For the semester, the lowest score is dropped, then the second lowest will be replaced with the final (if you got a higher grade on the final).

Revathi's Tips:
-Study and work hard (no duh :])
-Go talk to the teacher if you're confused
-Refer to the textbook often, since the teacher uses that as a cornerstone of their teaching

Celinda and Stats
Class in General:
-Mostly a senior orientated class
-Mixture of lectures, activities, and projects
-Can be hard to follow the materials IN class (at least I thought)

Homework:
-Around 6-10 problems a week, usually collected on Tuesday
-Can be difficult or not, based on the material
-Graded on a 0-10 point scale (with ten being perfect), ALL the problems are graded

Tests:
-Each problem is scored 0-5, then with some voodoo algorithm, it will spit out a grade betweeen 0-50
-You can revise problems that you get wrong, (4 can be revised to a 4.5, and anything lower can be revised up to a 4)
-You can study for the tests by doing the homework and practicing!

Celinda's Tips:
-Go see your teacher if you're not getting it!! (Does this sound familiar?) Math wasn't my best topic, but I went to the math house a ton, and I raised my grade. Think: you have to really love math AND helping if you're going to be a MATH TEACHER.
-Do test revisions! I was almost always able to raise my grade a letter by taking the time to do revisions.

Heads up though! ALL the math teachers might play Musical Chairs on us, and the teachers (and their styles) might all teach different classes. So use this blog as a guiding force. Below I showed who taught what class this year, so that when you take Calc and see a totally different teacher than on the blog, you can view how they taught Advanced Topics and be prepared!
If you have any questions about any of the classes, email/comment/message/paper airplane your question :]

Advanced Topics- Mr. Bild
Calculus- Mr. Buck and Ms. Boca (Revathi had Ms. Boca)
Stats- Mr. Russell

-Celinda <3