Fall 2014 class schedule

Classes are starting today. Here’s what Alex is taking this semester: 

French:  He took Latin in high school and did not learn a single thing in the two years he took it. He was enjoying it and starting to learn some at the beginning, then the teacher left to join the Peace Corp about 2 months into the year. The replacement teacher had a hugely different teaching style and he struggled through it. Then even that teacher did not return for the second year, so he had to take the class online to finish the language requirement for graduation. It was that, or start over again with Spanish; as he had to have 2 years of the same language, and he didn’t want to start over again with another language he did not really care about learning, he plodded through. He just didn’t learn anything.

Since we have family living in France, including his cousin who was born there, there is a chance he might actually be able to use a knowledge of French. Although it is not a required class, he opted to take it anyway. The class meets four days, plus he has both a scheduled lab and an open go-when-you-like lab outside the lecture times.  This is a 50-minute M/T/W/R class, plus labs. 

Intermediate C++: He did so well in the intro class this summer, he’s taking the next level of it. This is a 75-minute M/W class. 

Intro to Java: This is another computer language class that also builds on what he learned in the C++ class.  This is a 75-minute T/R class. 

CG Characters Production:  Doesn’t this sound fun? “Using computer 3D graphics programs as a medium, emphasis will be placed on 3D design, creative expression and communication of ideas.” I believe this class was picked partly from a desire to learn it and partly because he has had the teacher before.  This is a 105-minute T/R class. (It’s still only 3 credits, so I do not understand why it is an extra 30-minutes longer than typical twice a week class length.)

Summer Classes, updated

I was a little wrong about those summer classes. It turns out he signed up for the accelerated summer courses, so they were only 6 weeks rather than the whole summer. He's done already!

Results:
Composition - passed! whew. He was doing great the whole class, did not do well on the final exam, and ended up with a C+. At least he passed it. And had fun during the term admonishing his teacher on the correct use of less/fewer. His grades might not reflect it, but he really has learned proper grammar. He just is not a good essay writer.
Edit: He looked it up and thought he saw it say C+. When checking his GPA weeks later, however, it showed a B for the class. Perhaps the grade he saw previously was his final exam and not the overall class grade. I don't know, but I'm happy for the B!
 
C++ programming - 103%. Nice!  A week ago, his grade was 112%. I joked that he was slacking off the last few days, and his answer was, "It's not my fault all the assignments had a maximum grade of 100."

Since he wants to work in computers, not be an English professor, I suppose these grades are appropriate.

Summer 2014 classes

Since the summer semester is short (3 months instead of 4), and he needs to pass his Composition class in order to be eligible to take some of the other required subjects, Alex is sticking to only 2 classes for this semester. He's retaking the Composition class that he bombed last fall, and taking a C++ programming class. Two weeks in, and both are going quite well so far. Here's hoping it stays that way!

Spring semester grade report: A. Finally!

Spring 2014 classes

Remembering that he is in college, not middle school, I reminded him occasionally that he needed to find out when to register for classes, but I did my best not to pester him. Apparently I was reasonably successful, as he forgot to do it. Since he ended up selecting classes on the last day allowed to register, he ended up with only two classes: Precalculus Trigonometry and Intro to Multimedia. "Multimedia" apparently means "Flash" since that is all they are scheduled to learn about.

As for last semester... he got a B for the Psych and Algebra classes. Composition? Well, he'll be trying that one again.

First day of college

First class starts at 11 and last class gets out at 5:15, so he's there for a while. Most of his classes apparently did not do much, so he does not have a good idea how easy/difficult they will be. They don't hand out a syllabus anymore, they put them on "the blackboard" which is an online system, so he has to pull those off and take them back on Wednesday so they can review it. It seems they mostly did cursory reviews of what the classes will be, what expectations are, and a bit of 'introduce yourself'. I know the difference between high school classes and university classes was an enormous difference in how we were treated. I've gotten the impression over the years that community colleges tend to be in the middle, with many teachers treating it as more of a grade 13 than a university attitude. After just one day, he said he could probably agree with that, but that again, he would have to give it more time.

Composition:  He had a reading assignment for English, and he has to log in to take some quiz today to prove he read it. He knows one of the other students in his class, so that could be convenient for note sharing, etc. This is a 50-minute M/W/F class.

Psychology: He thinks he will really like the psych teacher/class based on personality first impressions. This is a class he wanted to take in high school and it never worked out. He's read some psych books (high school summer reading options) and some of our TV shows involve psychology, plus so much of that subject is just fun and somewhat 'common sense', so I was fully expecting him to like this class. Hopefully that isn't just me projecting how much I liked those classes. As obviously did his aunt, since she majored in it. This is a 50-minute M/W/F class.

Algebra:  I wish he had had time to do the tests to see if he could test out of any of the classes, since the math class is possibly too basic for him. Even not using any form of math other than basic functions for the past year, he was doing all the "review" stuff in his head. Either it will get harder, or he has absolutely no excuse not to get a good grade. The teacher explained the school rules about not having cell phones during tests, and if you so much as put your hand in your pocket, it will be assumed you are trying to cheat. Enough people DO cheat, I can understand the reason for that rule. The teacher went on to say that if it were up to him, cell phones would not even be allowed on campus. I'm sure you can all imagine how well that went over with this techno-geek.  This is a 75-minute M/W class.

So, long and short of it, nobody did enough to give him a really good idea of how the classes will go, but neither did any of them immediately scream for him to get his schedule changed. There certainly have been middle/high school classes where he's known the first day that he was going to hate it, so I figure that while the start is tentative, it isn't bad. Me trying to remember that he is in college and to let him take his own responsibility for whether he goes to class or not, whether he does the assignments or not, etc, because those are all his problem and I should not be nagging him about it? A little more challenging.

School starts Monday

Alex attended orientation at the community college today. Once Orientation was over, they had people to help him pick out and register for classes. We had thought about it before hand, and since a) he has never been a school-loving kind of kid and b) he has been out of school for a year and c) he is still working his part-time job, we thought perhaps starting with just 3 classes would be wiser than jumping right in at 4-5 classes as is a typical load. Thus, he is registered for Algebra I, Composition 1, and General Psychology. They are all Mon/Wed/Fri classes, so he has all of Tues/Thurs for assignments, studying, and working.

There are two types of programs he can do there. One is the basic AA degree that you get when you want to then transfer to another college for the BA/BS degree, and one is to earn him an AS specializing in the computer field. The AA is primarily general education classes with a few electives, while the AS is a few general education classes with a bunch of computer classes. We picked to start with the AS, but will have to speak with a guidance counselor to see which is actually better for him. We figured to get him started, he would have some of the same general ed classes, and any computer classes he took as part of the AS could count as the electives if he switches to the AA/Bachelor route, so there was no harm in choosing the AS for starters. 

Here's to his first semester of college classes! 

 

AP Exams

Besides taking his Network+ exam, Alex also struggled through three AP exams this week. Yes, it was a busy week! He tested for English Literature Composition, Government, and Statistics. He has no idea how he actually did on them. Unlike the IT tests that give instant results, AP exams take a few weeks to give results since they all have free-response and essay areas. This is only the second year his school has offered the AP Stats, he has not been happy with the teacher, he has struggled with grade (hard to tell how much is the teacher and how much is just not understanding the material) so he wasn’t expecting a great result for that. He actually was surprised that he knew more than he thought he did, but there were still topics they never discussed in class so he was obviously guessing on those. It will be interesting to see how his exam scores actually break down.

When one of the teachers asked how he thought they did on the stats test, Alex said that since it was only the second time they were testing, and nobody passed last year, he did not feel he had enough statistical data to make a reasonable estimation of their chances of passing. Cute.

Network+ certification makes #10

From Alex's network teacher, sent to school management:

He is the first student to sit for the CompTIA Network + Exam at GHS. Not only did he work hard for the privilege to sit for the exam, he PASSED with flying colors!!!! Please congratulate him when you see him!

I didn't realize he was the first student from his school to ever take this test. He now has 10 certifications earned as a result of being in this IT program at school. I got a little behind in posting his successes, but here is what he ended up with:

• CompTia A+
• CompTia Network+
• Dreamweaver CS 3
• Dreamweaver CS 4
• IC3
• Office 2007: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access
• Vista

The Final Countdown

The senior year schedule looks like this:
1st: Database Programming
2nd: Networking III
3rd: AP Statistics
4th: Economics / AP Government (each is only a semester)
5th: Web Design II
6th: AP English Literature Composition
7th: IT Internship

They don't technically offer a 7th period this year, thanks to budget cuts, but the internship option was still available and will count as an extra class. The internship is working 2 days, 5 hours a week, with the school's IT director, helping to fix things around the school once classes have let out for the day. They also have internships working with area businesses, so I'm not sure how Alex ended up staying at the school. Luck of the draw, I suppose. It still should be interesting and good experience.

We were a little disappointed that he still didn't get the AP Psychology class. It didn't work out with his schedule either this year or last year. He's otherwise pleased with his classes this year, which is good. It was sad to think this was his last "first day of school" as a "child".

The Senior Year Has Begun

Alex had his senior photos taken today. Oh dear, I think I'm in for an emotionally tough year! I'll get the previews in about two weeks so I can select the ones for purchase. I think most of them came out pretty good, so it will be a tough choice. We got them to take one of the head shot photos of Alex with a laptop. He's got it open, appears to be looking at something on the screen, but has his head turned toward the camera like he's trying to look at you but just can't tear himself away from the screen. It pretty much sums him up perfectly!

Junior Year Schedule

The junior year schedule looks like this:
1st: Physics
2nd: Latin II
3rd: American History
4th: Trigonometry / Calculus (one semester each)
5th: English
6th: Network Infrastructure

He liked the Latin teacher he started with last year. Halfway through, she joined the Peace Corp and left. His new teacher was ok, but not as much fun, and he did not learn it as easily. Unfortunately, now there is no local teacher at all. To avoid having to restart with Spanish and do another two years, we are doing the Virtual School option for his Latin II class. He has a teacher, and she will be in contact with us periodically. He can also contact her with any questions. Otherwise, it is primarily a work at your own pace as you teach yourself sort of thing. Not our preference, but better than starting over.

MS certifications - Vista

His computer runs XP, and my replacement laptop will be Windows 7, so I'm not sure where he might need to use this anytime soon, but the physical confirmation of the test taken back in December has arrived:

MS Office certifications - Word

As of today, Alex is a certified user of Microsoft Word 2007. He is working toward the Microsoft Certified Application Specialist certification, and he'll earn the ability to test for parts of the certification each school year as part of his I.T. program. Congrats on his good work!

IC3 certification test results

He started his test last week as planned. He finished part one, and had 3 questions left on part two, when the power went out at the school. (It's been lovely weather lately.) He had to be rescheduled to finish it today, since the electricity issue was not resolved in time for him to resume the test before the end of the school day. But now... the results are in...

The scoring is apparently not based solely on the answers provided, but also on how much clicking around you do on the example situations, how long it takes you to reply, etc. He needed a score of 800 to pass. The highest possible score is 1000.

• Test 1 = 956
• Test 2 = 956
• Test 3 = 911

If only the class grades were this good!

IC3 certification test

"The Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) is a series of three exams in the following areas - Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications and Living Online. Each exam has a 45 or 50 minute time limit."

Alex is taking this test tomorrow. He did very well on the practice exam today, so here's hoping he does even better on the real one!

He has an online video he was told to review tonight to make sure he is prepared. We are having fun pointing out all the grammar mistakes the narrator is making...

And they're off!

Why does it seem habitually acceptable for school field trips to be scheduled at a certain time, only to find the buses do not arrive promptly to pick up the students?

The kids are going on a trip today to Orlando. They have a behind-the-scenes tour at Universal Studios today, and one at Magic Kingdom tomorrow. They'll get to have fun in the parks as well, but they are also getting information about the technologies behind the park, etc. It ties in with the program's IT emphasis. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm beyond disappointed that I don't get to go. It's the first field trip he's ever had that I have not attended. Boo hoo for me...

But anyway, they were supposed to be there at 4am. Yes, four o'clock in the morning. Crazy, isn't it? That gave them time to review basic rules, take attendance, load the bus, and be ready to leave at 5am. I dutifully dragged my sleepy self out of bed at 3am so that I could wake him up, get him into the shower (I suggested numerous times that a shower the night before might be more prudent, but so much for that idea), feed him breakfast, make sure he didn't forget anything direly urgent, and get him to school on time. Although we constantly fight the 5-minutes-late-syndrome, we were actually there at the school right at 4am on the dot. Yippee for us.

We were the fourth vehicle.

We found the parking lot still gated closed.

The first teacher didn't arrive until 4:30, and that irritated me. One parent didn't show up with her child until 4:45, and commented that she could have slept in a little more since the buses were late. I confess, my thoughts were less than charitable about her loss of sleep. I'm sure those there before 4am weren't too sympathetic, either.

At 4:56am, the first bus pulled into the lot. At this point, the teachers went ahead and pulled everyone in to start their speeches, etc. Once the teachers actually started doing something, I left.

Seriously, can someone explain why this seems to happen a good 80% of the time? I have a hard time convincing myself that it really matters if I'm there at the designated time when I know good and well that everyone is just going to hang out in the parking lot for an hour anyway. That time of morning, I could have used another 45 minutes of sleep.

Now, please excuse me. I'm going to see if my friend Mr. Sandman is still in the vicinity and can return to spend a little more time with me this morning.

Out of the mouth of babes

For Alex's graduation last year, he had to write an essay about a hero in his life. He said most people were just writing something quick about a close family member, but he wanted to really put some thought into it. When Alex turned his essay in, his teacher actually contacted me to verify he'd written it himself! They read the essays out loud at graduation, and there were some real winners. The "My mom is my hero because she buys me stuff" was quite a thoughtful response, don't you think?

Apparently, the thought he put into it must have stuck with him, because this is his current tagline on one of his online games' chat boards:

"The best heroes are the people who don't even try to be one."

This caused me to look up his essay. They read it last, and it made half the auditorium cry. I publish it here with much maternal pride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My hero is…. Everyone.

You may ask, “What exactly is a hero?” You may think a hero is “someone who does great things.” My mom says it is someone who makes a positive difference in another person’s life. I think it’s more along the lines of “Someone who does good things, big or small.” You have one version and I have another, and I’ll bet someone else has another.

Why, you ask? You may not be “this” and you may not be “that”… But then again…is someone else? You may be one thing another isn’t. They may be one thing you aren’t. Can you say you are better then someone? Maybe at one particular thing…but overall we are all equals. Everyone can be a hero in one way or another. It may shock you but even you can be a hero. Whether one person is better in one sport and you are better in another, to someone you are a hero. You can be anyone, but still be a hero. Teacher, policeman, grocer, pharmacist, farmer, even a child, to someone someday you are a hero. You may be unnoticed, you may seem invisible, but you will be a hero.

Know this: There is no such thing as an ordinary person. You cannot be ordinary, you shall always be unique. Whether it is today or tomorrow, you make a difference. As long as you are doing good, you are a hero, however seemingly insignificant. Tall or short, thin or wide, homeless or CEO for a big company, you reader, can be a hero.

Be the hero you can be.

It's Wacky Tacky Day

Intro note: This is spirit week at Alex's school, leading up to homecoming this weekend.

As we were getting ready for school this morning, I asked Alex if he had any preference for what I would serve for breakfast this morning. He asked if we had any eggs left from yesterday. I said we did have some scrambled eggs and some hash browns left from yesterday, but it wasn't enough and I'd think of something to serve with it. He asked if we still had the leftover fish from Sunday that he had really liked. I replied with an affirmative, but said fish for breakfast was a little strange. (it's perfectly normal in some places, though, isn't it? just not what we are used to here in the US)

His response?

"It's Wacky Tacky Day!"

So we had fish, eggs, hash browns, and yogurt for breakfast today. Why not? Maybe we'll try green eggs and ham tomorrow.

Field Day Fun

What a blast! There were a variety of team games for the kids to play, followed by a pizza party. Parents were serving the food, to make sure kids didn't go crazy and eat it all before the other kids got a chance. I'd made that huge platter of cookies, plus 2 pans of brownies, but they disappeared quickly when attacked by 160 kids.

They also had some Best Buy gift cards donated that were awarded to the top GPA grades for the first 9 weeks. I thought that was cool.

The game I was leading involved listening as your partner gave audible directions to guide you to a goal post. You couldn't see it, since you were blindfolded. The opposing teams can shout out other directions to try to mess you up. It was hilarious both watching the kids, and listening to how the directions were given. Some used the more traditional "Turn to the right." or "Move a few steps to the left." But then I heard several that went more like this: "Take 3 steps forward then make a 38 degree turn to your left."

I heart my KitchenAid mixer

After many years of limping by with a wimpy little mixer, I was very blessed to receive this Kitchen Aid professional mixer for Christmas from my parents last year. I've used it numerous times during the year, but it seems I only had somewhat small batches of things to make.

But wait... here comes the fall! This is the time of heavy-duty usage. Bake sales for school, bake sales at work (we had one this week to raise money for the VisionWalk that it coming up this Saturday), holiday cooking... ah! Cooking and baking heaven!

I gave it quite a workout tonight, making these pumpkin cookies for tomorrow's field day. I made a double-batch, and this thing powered right through it like it was nothing. It was fantastic! I love this thing. Thank you again to my parents for such a great gift.