Posted on 01/29/2014 1:39:54 AM PST by MacMattico
My daughter has a very bright and sweet friend that is doing horribly in Algebra II/Trigonometry in high school in NY state. She came over today and asked me if I could Tutor her in Math because she knew I had an Education degree used in a past life. I said Math wasn't my specialty, and I wouldn't be of much help. She started to cry and say she was going to fail and even though the class took all her time, she had failed her midterm miserably and had quiz grades in the low 30's! She went in for extra help on a regular basis and thought she knew what she was doing.
I assumed she was exaggerating the actual "trying" in this class. But she showed me the rest of her grades in other classes and they are all A's! So I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. I called a friend of mine that teaches Math and she said she would tutor the girl in the summer, for free, as there was really no way at this point she was going to pass the class or the regents with her grade half way through and she didn't have time to tutor now.
In talking to this girl I found out this was the last Math class she was taking in HS. She is a sophomore and it is all that is required. The school has a policy that if you drop a full year class by the midyear point (Friday), the grade and class will be dropped from the transcript. My friend who teaches Math was nice enough to meet with the girl and go over a few things. She told the girls mom and I that this girl is in no way prepared to be in this class! The girls mom,single, rather shy and believing in all school authority asked what they should do. The advise given was drop the class, we'll set up a tutoring schedule for the summer to even get you prepared for the course, and start over. The mom called the school and then called me and said Guidance and the Principal told her under no circumstances would she be allowed to drop a core course. The girls mom wants my help in talking to the school. The girl will be 16 in two weeks, she could quit school, but they don't want her to drop a course! Also, she would pick up a half year business class, she says.
Is it good advise to drop the course and start over after more preparation? Before I'm going to go with her to any school meeting she wants to set up, I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons. I don't think it's a good idea to sit there and try and get grades in the 30's when that time could be used for working on other classes, but I wonder if taking off the next semester will have the effect of forgetting to much of what she does know?
It really bothers me that the school tells her it's a done deal she will remain in the class. What of parents rights? The girl is willing to set up the summer tutoring and start the course all over, why not?
Well, now hard is statistics anyway? Your need to learn FIFO and some other acronumb stuff. /s
LOL
I have seen schools work something out for kids who are very sincere and earnest but, they have to really demonstrate they are the exception that makes it worth while for them to do extra work.
The parents, kid and counselor all need to develop a real plan that the school will want to buy into.
They also have to ask for help, acknowledge this is an unusual request but, if they’ll do this kid a favor they’ll have the satisfaction of completing their prime directive of preparing children for college, self determined independence and laying the very important
foundation for beginning life or something like that.
The point is; people want to help others. It makes them feel good but, they don’t want to be taken advantage of or having their time wasted.
Focus on reassuring all parties with a vested interest in an awesome outcome.
The kid is really going to have demonstrate she wants this more than anything and she is willing to do whatever it takes to excel and make them proud they gave her a chance.
The parents are going to have to be that awesome partner to the people who will take a chance on her. It’s vital and their pitch has todemonstrate they are all in and there will be no failure.
It’s important they know you are asking for help and a chance but, the success of this exception is entirely up to the kid and the parents.,
No one is gonna be more key to this exception than the kid.
I think I might’ve been redundant here but....LOL
Kahn Academy is free...as in Free-O-La.
Just gotta werk it baby.
When I dropped high skrewel they had all my grades, my after school activities and my psych reports.
I don’t remember the pitch being particularly difficult.
I was also very responsible and too busy to get in trouble.
I was a Santa Cruz Sheriff Explorer. I rode in cars, worked in both jails, performed security for important events(Ms California, high profile speakers like Huey Newton, etc), I did Search and Rescue, spent summers cutting down marijuana, I worked and still got A’s, went to church on my own, was an AWANA, worked out, took Kung Fool(/s). In short, I was busy and functioned just fine.
Again, all this is not to impress you but, to give you an idea of what the sales pitch included.
If this kid is a good girl and has serious activities, while getting A’s, she stands a chance on getting buy in from the school.
She has to demonstrate nothing is more important than, with their help, she can succeed spectacularly.
Kahn Academy is free and she should get to work right away and get a head start.
Sorry for the long email.
They school most likely will not accept outside credits, as you indicate.
They will need to get a teacher who will accept the responsibility as a stake holder.
So they stake holders on their side will be:
A teacher who will gladly help a kid. I fact, the strategy should begin with whoever that willing teacher is, the kid, her counselor and the oarents.
Once y’all have worked an agreement with tools to measure progress and provide demonstrable proof, then it would be good to go to the principal and district.
Get the counselor to look up the possibilities I’ve discussed so they can make the case that policy does have exceptions or that some loop hole exists which will make this possible.
Heck, the parents and the girl should get crackin on research so they are armed with information.
Never make the conversation personal.
People are puzzles and will help but, you have to elicit that help or run the risk of alienating them.
They will absolutely revert to policy as a tool of “higher authority” if this isn’t handled right.
Don’t challenge their authority, they’ll use it.
Treat this as a process. It may be difficult and frustrating and at times you might be tempted to yell or get snide. Don’t.
You are making a sales pitch. Make it compelling, like a professional salesman does.
What state is this hapenning in?
Probably will end up needing a lawyer.
Reminds me of the scene in the movie, Peggy Sue Got Married. Kathleen Turner’s character tells the H.S. Algebra teacher “I can tell you from personal experience I will never use this shit in life.” and walks out.
I guess I’m old, but it didn’t used to be that if someone failed or was failing a semester or a year that class could simply be ‘dropped’ and expunged from the record.(It was an odd freedom to get to college and find that that could be done if one dropped the course early enough in the semester.)
Seems like allowing that is not only as you suggest, giving the already-coddled another out from any consequences, but contributing to an unfair devaluing of those who stick with their classes—and with the actual GPA that they’ve genuinely earned.
Did someone drop the ball on her meeting the prerequisite for the course—presumably a sufficient grade for Algebra I and/or geometry? If so, was that a case of her being ‘helped’ to decent grades even though she didn’t master the material at that level?
If not, does she simply have a terrible mind for math somehow, for which a poor grade would provide accurate information to her, her school, and college admissions about her capabilities?
As a homeschooler I know there are LOTS on online courses
this girl can take, to boost her math skills while getting tutored.
Like IXL math (subscription but worth every penny and has all state required math skills now through algebra), PLATO Math, or taking an online course or courses from K12 International Academy (offers HS transcript credits)
Check out Math classes like Thinkwell and PLATO from Homeschool Buyers Co Op for discounts
She should go to a service like Sylvan for a test assessing her current level in math, then go from there. Or spring for an education psychologist and testing for learning disability- and use results to leverage the school into proving special support, like an IEP.
And yes- armed with a full understanding of actual requirements and students rights, force the school to let her withdraw from this course with NO PUNITIVE ACTION OR TRANSCRIPT ZERO, drop back and enroll in a remedial or prep course and don't let them tell her mother they don't do that.
Unfortunately those remedial classes are like zoos, packed with members of the under-served who have NO interest in learning anything, and she might face rasism from class and teacher (happened to me in similar situation in college when I tried to take remedial math class)
Best solution: withdraw NOW from class with no punitive action. Get permission to take online prep course and get tutored, then if class is really required for graduation, enroll again before senior year and in section taught by teacher who manages the classroom, or get permission to take it online, for credit that will show on transcript
Pretty much...
The way they teach math is stupid. I was helping my 8th grader with Pre-Algebra. Some of the questions were to work the problem “mentally” which means rounding and estimating. He would get answers like 12.75 and the answer would be 13. Teacher counted it wrong. They give them one day on the topic and they take a quiz on day 2. The next day they move on. Later they have a test covering 4-5 concepts then never touch it again. There is no mastery to the curriculum.
Her mom needs to call the school principle about getting it dropped if that is still her intentions. If the school principle refuses to help, then go to their boss in the school district.
They need to explain why they are refusing to allow her to drop the course? Maybe because it is a core class, that is the reason?
Also, there are other tutors available.
Math, like music, seems to be something some people “get” and some people don’t. I struggled with middle school algebra, but by time I got to high school, something clicked and it all made sense. But my son is going through the same thing. I have a minor in math and I can’t explain even the most basic concepts to him in any way that he can understand. I just hope he has the same epiphany I did.
Nowadays I do math puzzles for fun.
So if a train leaves Chicago going west at 50 miles an hour ...
I remember when I took algebra II. Since I dropped another class and transferred into the class a week after the school year started, there was no book for me to use almost the entire first quarter. They eventually bought me a new book.
I was failing the course, but the teacher told one day after class that he was going to give me a ‘D’ because I did not have a book almost the entire quarter.
After that, my grade started to improve and by the end of the school year, I was an ‘A’ student, top of the class.
Just curious, how did she do in algebra I?
The Khan materials are completely FREE. I went to the website, they explain it right there.
First off, the girl and her mom need to get a grip. High school transcripts do not stain you for the rest of your life. Yes, the tutoring plan for summer is a good idea. But if she can’t drop the class, it is no big deal. Just re take the class next year.
Second, most people fail Algebra due to a lack of memorization. My recommendation would be to keep the class and fail it good. Meaning, if you know you are going to fail the class, don’t do the home work, don’t do the assignments and in class, work on the thing that will help you the most. There are a number of mnemonics courses that are available that she can use to first train herself HOW to memorize, and then go back and memorize multiplication tables, fraction rules, order of operations, math properties etc. Then when she gets out for the summer, she will have far more success with the tutoring program and will be better prepared for next year.
This of course will mean a level of self discipline that many do not have in their teen years and I only recommend this approach to those that can actually sit in the class, not participate, not talk to their friends and actually do the work that is needed. Because this girl has all A’s in other classes, this tells me that she might have the required inner strenght.
There also needs to be an attitude change with both the mom and the girl. It is her TIME that she needs to manage and invest. Invest the time in the things that will achieve her goals. This of course means that she needs to know what her goals are and what she wants to do.
I know of a guy who got his GED at 16 so he could start college early, got his associates just as he turned 18 and had his masters (Electrical Engineering) by the time he was 23.
I can see it happening in a class like Alegbra II. If you get behind in the first few weeks and don't have a grasp of the fundamentals, the rest of the course as it moves to higher concepts will be like a totally foreign language. Once you get behind, it's really hard, and frustrating trying to catch up.
It doesn’t surprise me. There is no intent to teach competence.
Is Obama on it and is it heading on the same track towards another train rushing towards it?
If her grade half way through the course is ~30, she would need 100 in the second half just to get a 65 for the course. I don't know about this school but at my high school 70 was passing. Even if passing is 60 it seems unlikely that she could get a 90 for the rest of the course.
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