It’s that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere. Another milestone for Musers of the Septentrion!
Patience, Please
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It’s that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere. Another milestone for Musers of the Septentrion!
I’m very, very excited. My classes will be amazing – it’s my junior year, so I really want to rock it.
I’m actually going to a school online this year. It’ll be interesting, because I’ve been public schooled all of my life. I’m extremely excited, though, because I never liked the school I went to at all, and this sounds much better!
Ooh. I did online school last year. What program?
It’s called Connections Academy,
Is it good? Better than public school? Worse?
Um… it’s 2009?
Sorry! I re-used an old template. I’ve corrected it now.
I’m going into EIGTH this year. It sounds exciting, but reaallly busy.
Any of you guys involved in “National Junior Honor Society”?
Haha, that sounds funny.
No, I’m in regular ol’ NHS, a volunteering thingy for which I missed yesterday. 
(I had just arrived from camp the day before and wasn’t feeling well.)
Just wait until ninth. It gets even worse. Well, worse in terms of workload, better in every other way.
i WISH it were that time of year
looks like i’ll be on exciting adventures for most of the remaining summer though, so that’s good (NYC (large city is large, GAPAs), uncle’s wedding, visiting a collegefriend, visiting MBfriends, and then about a week and a half and then school).
i am taking lots of classes :-! also working morning shift OH NO WAKING UP IT WILL BE AWFUL
i should see if my books are up :-/
oooh if i am awesome at life and get the right teacher for bio i might be able to keep my textbooks for next quarter under $115.
Our class schedule will be posted on August 20th. I can’t wait; I want to see if it is at all feasible for me to take 2 AP classes online (it may not be).
I’m going back to school after Labor Day, and I’m going into sixth grade.
I’m quite pleased that I don’t have a seventh period this year–I can go home early, if I want to. But four of my classes first semester and all six second semester are either AP or IB. And I have last lunch. Oh well.
(If you were wondering, my two non-weighted classes are gym and civics, both of which are just graduation requirements.)
IB being International Baccalaureate?
-A
Here are my classes (in no particular order)
English HONORS
Algebra II HONORS
Chemistry HONORS
Spanish II HONORS
AP European History
AP Computer Science
Principles of Engineering
I would like to, at home, also self study AP Comparative Government. But I’ll decide on that later. (Late August). I also want to finish the mac/iPhone programming stuff I’m doing, and write. and business stuff. Politics somehow. Japanese if I can…
School start the 19th! and registation is the 12th (and we get textbooks. I’ll have 7 (2 for english) or 8 (If engineering has a textbook).
Oh, and so everyone is aware, 10th Grade FTM (for the meh).
Wait, you’re only a sophomore? *thought you were several years older than that* *head asplode*
A young sophomore at that ( only one or two younger then me.). I’m not even 15 yet (September 15!).
But yeah, this happens a bunch, even at school. It’s werid
I didn’t turn 15 until April of my sophomore year.
I don’t turn 15 until the end of November.
Did either of you skip? or does your school have a latter deadline (you have to be five by the end of september before kindergarten here)?
I skipped fifth.
I did not skip, although 4 years of math were combined into 2 years.
i was 15 going into my junior year. i turned 15 in october sophomore year. i had to go backwards from now and it was difficult cuz it’s 4 AM and i am bad at math. also it’s more numbers for me than for you. *oldladycane*
but yeah, fall birthdays. they do that and all. i didn’t skip, skipping would have sucked so much. partly cuz i was already young and partly cuz it would just suck i think. i dunno, i didn’t do it.
I was….um, let’s see. 16 going into junior year. march birthday.
I won’t turn 15 until April of sophomore year, or 2 1/2 months after school starts. Which makes me one of the youngest as well.
I turn fifteen in November of my freshman year. I know people going into freshman year this year that are several months than me, and it’s completely unfair. I dislike being the oldest in the grade, or one of the oldest, because I’m also always the shortest and it annoys me to be the shortest in a group of people that are mainly a lot younger than me.
Ugh, that sucks. I’m often the tallest in a group of people that are mainly older than me, which is annoying sometimes but probably better than the other way.
I’m not 15 yet either! *high-five*
…But I will be a junior. Sigh.
Is it weird that I don’t know anyone my age at all?
>.< That usually means female-to-male.
-A
We have about the same schedule, except I’m taking AP bio and wind ensemble instead of AP computer science and principles of engineering.
What textbook are you using for AP euro? Mine really stinks. It’s A History of Western Society Since 1300. I already found two typos in the first chapter.
Thats interesting/creepy. I’ll tell you the textbook on thursday.
Oh, the school provides them? We had to buy ours… Everyone paid 80+ for theirs, but I found a seller on amazon that sold it for 60. Even ebay didn’t have it cheaper…
We are using The Western History by Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner, and Donald Kagan.
My classes, in random order:
AP Biology
AP Latin
AP Spanish
AP Music Theory
AP English Literature and Composition
IB Theory of Knowledge I
Gym
Civics
Following the trend, the classes I signed up for:
Multivariable Calculus
AP Chemistry
AP European History
AP English Language & Composition
Spanish 4
Study Hall
Marching Band/Gym/Mythology/British Literature (this period will change every quarter)
Study hall may be replaced by AP Biology, AP Human Geography, or both!
I will be starting school on the 31st. It’s not fair…They did this to us last year too….*proceeds into long, rambling, whine and complaint*
I will be going to 7th grade. I was all exited because it sounded like science was gunna be really cool (AND I will finally have a sort of normal math class!!!!!YAY!) but then the science teacher quit/left. She was supposed to be my new homeroom teacher, too. I wonder who will fill her place…Probably some mean, boring teacher. Blah. Sniffly whiskers. Cows. Cake. Cow cake. Sniffly whisker cow cake.
At least my closest school friend will be in all my classes!! Yummy!!
Also, I will(might) have a normalish math class this year! We will get ALEKS, and also get some projects, etc. to do with the rest of the class. Last year we just did ALEKS, and though it was enlightening, it got really boring at the end and we all just procrastinated. The year before that we went up to the 6th grade for math, and it was horrible due to the fact that we learned one thing and then spent a month or two reviewing it. I finally ended up getting homeschooled for math.
Cookie mountains if you actually read that.
What’s not fair about starting on the 31st? I start on the 12th.
*swears*
Wow. Yeah, I know it could be worst, but we always get out really late too, and we are supposed to start after Labor Day, unless Labor Day is extremely late. Which, really, it isn’t. *realises she sounds whiny; stops complaining*
The 12th? I started August 2nd!
I start on the 8th.
August 25. Two weeks… Ugh.
I know what you mean about spending so long reviewing things. My math class last year was like that, and I hated it. I think that’s part of why I decided not to go back there again…
Whooo! School!
School starts on September 9th.
My classes in order are as follows:
World History Honors
Piano
French III
English II Honors
Pre-Calculus Honors
Pre-IB Biology Honors
I started last Monday, my public school friends started last Friday, and my oh-so-lucky homeschooled friends A and Z don’t start until after Labor Day. XD School’s pretty fun as usual, except for being stuck at the same table as my sister for most of the day trying to do schoolwork is going to drive me mad.
Nyah, I’m not excited at all. I get my schedule, like, 4 days before school starts, so I have no time to visit or try out my locker combo. Plus, I’ve started getting acne on my nose, so, yeah, I’m not exactly jumping around my room waiting for school to start.
Nooooo not yet! I’m going into seventh grade this year and definitely not looking forward to it. We start on the first of September, then have Labor Day weekend off, then a few more days, then Rosh Hashana, then it starts for real.
I know how you feel.
That way you can start early and end late. And by the way, I think it’s amazing that you go to a public school that takes Jewish holidays off. In my old school, all the Christian holidays were off and if a kid was out for a Jewish holiday, they were marked absent. Seperation of church and state, hurrah! [!]
In [ name of town ] all of you get off for Rosh Hashana?
Yep. We get almost all of the Jewish holidays off, I believe, because at least 50% of [town] is Jewish.
Jonah– Like I said, I think the percentage of Jewish people is high enough to warrant having those holidays off. And we get Christian holidays off as well.
I’m probably not going to be able to take the audio recording class I really wanted to take. So I’m a bit bummed out about that.
Other than that, my schedule’s not too bad – I’ve got the mornings until 10, Monday afternoon, and Friday afternoon (and if I don’t get my recording class Thursday afternoon), free, and for the weeks I’m not in orchestra late afternoon and evening also. 17 credits, 19 if my class ends up working out.
Here’s my junior year schedule:
1st Hour-Spanish 2
2nd Hour-Anatomy and Physiology
3rd Hour-Myth Tales and Legends
4th Hour-American History
5th Hour-Algebra 2
6th Hour-Catholic Theology
7th Hour-Concert Chorale
I’m taking no AP classes, because not only is the stress of being the music honor society president, being a show choir mistress, a forensics team leader and a regular thespian this year will be insanely stressful and time consuming, but also because I’m an idiot.
ANATOMY/PHYSIOLOGY = ♥
Whatever. No big deal… It was just my favorite class and made me love medicine.
I’m so PSYCHED.
Besides the ‘dissceting a cat’ part. I’m scared.
I did that last year and it wasn’t bad at all, really. Just go in with an open mind. And the cats used for dissection are ones that were put down in a shelter, so at least the bodies are going to science education.
That’s good, I suppose. But we did dissect pigs, so I don’t see how they’re much different.
If you really don’t want to, you can ask to do another project instead. It helps if you have one in mind already, and it would teach you the same things as dissection would…
I probably would’ve ended up asking for an alternative, but luckily I don’t have to now, because all of my dissections will be virtual.
At our school, there’s no other option. If you don’t dissect, you fail the class.
It’s not horribly bad, if you can withstand the smell. There was a vegetarian in my class, for goodness’ sake. I think you can work up the courage to dissect a poor shelter cat.
And if it helps, don’t name it! (I wanted to name ours Lucy, but that was the name of the cat of someone in our group, so it wound up being Cat.)
It’s really not a big deal. (Well, it wasn’t for me… I have no emotional attachment to dead cats. But for some it might be an issue.)
So. I am going into eighth grade…my last year of middle school! (Oh, thank goodness…I don’t think I’m going to be able to put up with much more of this nonsense.
Just kidding, I’m just tired of the social aspect of middle school and the attitude people have towards it at this point.) Which means….high school application time! Yay! (not.) There’s only two schools I really like and one or two more I’ll probably apply to as safety. The last option is the charter school here which I would love to get into because it’s got great academics and, of course, has no tuition but it’s really hard to get into, and not sure if I’d be able to since I don’t live in district.
For the most part I’m pretty excited though. I mean, like 6th and 7th grade, I’m not getting (much) choice in my schedule beyond regular/advance, and that’s not even much of a choice, so it’s just the standard English/Math (Algebra I)/Physics/World History/Latin as usual, with just slight changes in Math, Science, and History. *sigh* But it’ll be nice to be the oldest in the school for a change, although not really looking forward to all the graduation fluff… (But there’s plenty of time for that, I should probably focus on being able to graduate first…)
/long post/
I’ve always wondered what the difference between charter schools and reg. public/private schools were. They’ve just finished building a charter school where I live.
Ah yes, school. Mom hasn’t mentioned school hardly at all for quite a while. We’ll probably start eventually.
I was in eighth grade last year. I’ll be in the ninth next year. I’m apparently doing a ‘transition year’ between middle school and high school. I’m not sure what that means exactly, other than the fact that I’m NOT way behind in my math, which is a good thing.
Junior year with only 1 1/2 off periods out of an 8-period day. Including AP Calc, AP Bio, and a few other toughies.
Yeah, not exactly looking forward to this year
Here are my classes, going into sophomore year. I don’t know the periods yet.
U.S. History
Introduction to Journalism 1st semester
Social Psychology 2nd semester
Spanish 3
Acting 2
Honors Chemistry
Algebra 2
English
Now, if I could do what I actually wanted to with my education, I’d be going to an arts school. My cousin goes to one in San Francisco, and the way she talks about it, it’s apparently the best thing ever. Combine this with the mind-blowingly fantastic experience I had at arts camp, and the fact that there is little or no interest in Creative Writing at my school, and I’m feeling like my hopeful future career as a playwright/TV writer is totally not going to work out if I continue on this path. I mean, it might not work out anyway, but I’d like to do what I can to make it work out.
My parents (well, namely my mom) disagree, apparently. Although she won’t come out and say it, my mom’s in favor of my being a doctor/lawyer/other job that will make me money. The current excuse for not even thinking about going to an arts school is that it would be too hard to transfer me from my current district, which has no arts school, to another one. I’ve both talked to people and done some research, and I have found that it would actually be relatively simple. So… I’m planning on working on this during sophomore year.
(Back from my four day absence.)
Well, I do not want to go back to school. I’m going to be a freshman, therefore I’m going into a new school. My brother is a senior there, but I don’t think I’m going to like the people. Cake, I didn’t like the people in middle school, so this can only get worse.
I’m taking AP Global History and of course out of the two schools that you could go to from the middle school, I’m going to the one where supposedly the AP is harder. I’m taking an honors Spanish, Math (tenth grade math), and English next year, so I’m sure those won’t be easy either.
I’m excited for a new school, because I love exploring. I suppose I’m mostly nervous about the people… New, bigger kids, plus the kids from last year that I knew get bigger also. Kids that I don’t like. But then again I’m scared of the work load. Last year was not easy and I wasn’t taking an AP or honors English (although my English teacher was tough), so this year could be worse. Gah, freshman year is supposed to be eeeaaasssyyy apparently and just watch me be crushed, while I watch my friends take harder classes and be totally fine. Why am I so stuuuppiidd? Nah, I don’t think I’m stupid. But when most of your friends are geniuses it certainly feels that way.
Freshman year wasn’t that bad. I feel like it wasn’t immensely hard or easy, it was just sort of in between. Of course, the first few weeks is really intimidating. Seniors are scary, but you get used to it. In my school, most classes are mixed grades, which was great because I met a lot of new friends. Don’t worry, you’ll get through it.
You’re right, seniors are scary. I’m terrified of me.
You don’t count. Didn’t you skip a grade? :p Most of the seniors in my school are 18 or 19.
I am right now rolling on the ground laughing so hard that my cat is startled.
Glad to be of service. *bows*
Actually, high school gets a lot better than middle school, according to everyone I know, and myself.
I give my affirmation to this statement. Middle school is terrible, high school’s a lot better, college, if you should choose to attend it, is the best. After that it can vary wildly.
I’m not sure I ever met anyone who preferred middle school to high school or to, um, anything, really. Even junior high (7-9) was better than middle school for me personally, in spite of the 7th-grade horrors.
I, too, attended both middle school and junior high. *was also a Navy kid*
Middle school wasn’t bad for me — but then, I had Prussiania.
i did middle school and junior high (5-6 and 7-8, 9 was high school) and they were about even. 5th and 6th grade were just okay, 7th REALLY sucked and 8th was actually fun.
but yeah, as far as i can tell, life just keeps getting better. high school is WAY better than middle school, and college so far is way more fun than high school
(don’t tell me about the work world yet, i want to pretend it’s better than college)
Meh. THERE MAY BE HOPE!
Oh yes, middle school is the worst. It’s where they toss all of the insecure hormonal kids, which inevitably leads to bullying and such. I got picked on a lot in middle school, and it didn’t help in 8th grade that my parents were waiting for their green card, which was late. (I was so stressed that if anyone said anything that remotely annoyed me I would flip out at them, and nobody could mention deportation without getting my full wrath.)
But yes. High school is a thousand times better than middle school.
Classes for junior year, in no particular order:
AP Bio
Honors Bio Lab (co-requisite)
AP French
AP Calc BC
Honors Arts Focus English III
TA-ing for my old Environmental Science teacher! (During my study hall.)
Concert Band (hopefully honors; I have to take this freshman band class because the upperclassman class conflicts with French.)
I’m actually really excited about being an upperclassman. I’m loving it in band. Actually, at band camp, from which I just returned, I had a sort of revelation moment. When I was a freshman and sophomore, the upperclassmen would always sit in the hallways at night before bed, hanging out and talking. I was always a little intimidated by them, actually. Then on the first night I was hanging out in the hallway with some of my friends, talking, and all of a sudden I realized… We’ve become them. We’ve become the upperclassmen!
Then of course N called from the guys’ dorm and C decided to pretend to give birth and A started making birth noises from the floor and D was yelling into the phone and the freshmen that were hanging out with us started looking a little scared.
I know, that kind of thing has started happening to me, too. Mostly at church. The thought that I’m one of the big kids. It’s a weird feeling.
man for reals. i went to a concert and there were all these high school kids around and i was like “…they look TINY.” and then i realized that they were me for the last four years, and that there were probably college students around looking at me and going “I WAS NEVER THAT TINY”
what a cycle
it’s the ciiircle of liiiiife, and it moves us aaallll
^necessary singing
�it’s thit’ss sAsafsdlkfjas;lkd
Yep. The other day I realized that I am now the same age as the kids that I used to be so afraid of when I was seven, the middle schoolers at my school, namely LM who was freaky tall, and Phillip who was also freaky tall. And now I’m the same age- actually even slightly older- than they were when I moved! It amuses me. A lot. I always saw them as the big kids, I was slightly scared of them, and they were almost as big as the grown-ups in my little-kid eyes… and now I’m older than they were are and realize that they were kids, too, and I’ve got a lot of growing left to do.
I am now the same age as Harry Potter was in GoF.
Holy cake, I’m OLD.
I’m going to be a SIXTH YEAR though. Like, Half-Blood Prince old.
Yeah, well I’m going to be 3 years past Hogwarts old. I mean, 2-years-before-Harry-had-his-first-child old.
I think I’m the same age Harry was in PoA or GoF. He was 14 in GoF, right?
And here I’m stuck at the beginning of CoS, still… And yes, he was 14 in GoF. 13 in PoA
Me too. Oh no, do you think a baslisk will be hiding in the bowels of my school?! *vows to carry mirror with her everywhere*
Yay! I went to an orientation for the virtual school last night, and everything sounds wonderful. I don’t know my class list, though. I know I’ll be in all honors core classes, but I’m not sure what electives are available. (Though I heard something that made it seem like it might be possible that they offer Latin and Psychology! I hope so. I’d love to take either… But even if they don’t, it’ll be fine. They give all students free laptops with Internet access to keep for the entire school year! Not to mention all the other awesome things… I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for school to start since kindergarten, actually! Probably since I hated where I was last year, and this just sounds so much better it’s amazing…)
Oh, and I’m going into 7th grade.
That sounds so awesome! Wish I could do that. I’m going into 7th grade too, and because of budget cuts I think it’s going to be awful. Oh well.
WAAH THEY ARE GOING TO RIP UP THE BAND ROOM
wut
WHAT?!?!?!
They can’t do that! It’s blasphemous! *choklit and hugs and shiny new band room* (If only…)
I really love the band room because it’s a separate building from the rest of the school, so I don’t have to go in… there. They’re going to build a whole new school and have the band room in it because someone deemed the current school, which was built in 1912, unsafe.
GRRSDFGCDRHGNMJ.
D: D: D: D:
At least be glad you had a band room for a while. We had to use the gymnasium while there was basketball going on on the other side, and just a thin divider between us.
School in 33 days… I love my school… Can’t last 33 days… *dies*
33 days? I wish I had 33 days left of summer…
TOO MUCH HOMEWORK
as;ldkjf;laskdjf;laskdjf
Wanna trade?
Please?
We have 27 more days…
I’m glad you love your school so much, it sounds pretty awesome.
19 days till I start college!
I only have one more year! One more year! This year is going to be both really fun and really hard at the same time. I’m kind of psyched because I just discovered yesterday that my chemistry extended essay is basically a huge lab write-up! Yayayay! I thougt I would have to brave the horrors of evaluating sources like I did in my history internal assesment! Yippee! 4,000 words isn’t so much now! …OK, it still is a lot.
Here’s my classes in semi-random order:
TOK (Ugh, earlybird, with the same teacher that I hated last year. Fun.)
IB HL Chemistry (I think this is first period… I don’t really know. I’ll have soooo much fun though! *sarcasm hand is NOT raised*)
IB SL Physics (This will also be a blast! *sarcasm hand still NOT raised*)
IB HL 2 Math (I HATE this class! I got a 101.9% last year without listening to the teacher at all! My teacher sucks. I might as well not even go to class. Hey, that’s an idea… *is kidding*)
IB World Topics (Apparently this is supposed to be a lot more fun than history last year. I’m going to believe last year’s seniors and look forward to it.
LUNCH.
IB SL German (The most awesome class known to awesomeness. I have an ugly speech to look forward to, but I think I can brave it.)
IB HL English (A class that I know nothing about. From what others have said, there’s a good teacher and a bad teacher. I really hope I get the good teacher.)
Chamber Orchestra (I’M FINALLY SECTION LEADER. Barrett’s finally left. Thank goodness. I didn’t like him very much, but I suppose I could have been nicer to him. But now I can intimidate sophomores! HAHAHAHAHA!!!)
Anyway… I start school on the eighth. Of September. I feel so old. My mom’s making me start the college application process. I’m supposed to be writing my essay in the coming weeks. That and doing my summer homework and my extended essay… I’m still not worried. Is that bad?
From my AP Comp sci textbook preface:
“Many students will read the Random Facts on their own while pretending to follow the lecture.”
Got my schedule for high school! It changes every day on a 7 day schedule. I’ll just list my classes.
Physical Science, Honors.
Modern World History, Honors
Studies (but only two!)
PE class. D: (It’s required…)
Symphonic Band
Geometry, Honors (Yay, proofs!)
French, Honors
Foundations of English, Honors (Contradiction, much?)
Yah! Envy! *quotes Maree from Deep Secrets*
What’s Symphonic Band like?
Not sure, but it’s pretty awesome- last year they played a Michael Jackson tribute and Bolero.
Michael Jackson AND Bolero? *wants*
One more year until High School….. Ginger says she’s going to torment me all my freshman year, ’cause she’ll be a sophmore and know all the tricks. Should be fun.
i always say this, but any of you going in AP US History using “The American Pageant” are in for some laffs. A good 50% of the books i dedicated to puns and slogans of the given time period.
Some samples:
“Latter-day punsters gibed that the Mugwumps were priggish politicians who sat on the fence with their ‘mugs’ on one side and their ‘wumps’ on the other.”
“To conservatives this orgy seemed like the end of the world.” <– about jackson's election, i don't have words for the lols i had when i read this
and my personal favorite:
"Jovial Taft, with ‘mirthquakes’ of laughter bubblings up from his abundant abdomen was personally popular."
but more to the point i start college two weeks from today….eep
those of you going into junior year don't get too crazy about college stuff it's ultimately not worth it. and by that i mean LITERALLY INSANE like i was. *sigh*
also general announcement anyone who tells you senior year is a cakewalk is A LIAR AND A CHEAT, it is certainly not easy, you just tend to care less by the end :/
classes i am taking…one core "humanties"/enlightenment ideas kinda class, one core writing class, japanese and one more space i haven't totally decided on yet. only four classes cause i'm planning on workstudy too. humm.
YES. I used American Pageant. Good times. The people who write that textbook are insane.
Well, I have my first AP Bio test tomorrow. *does a homework dance*
How do you have a test the second day of school?
It’s AP Bio. That’s how.
Returned from vacation and discovered my schedule for 7th grade this year. It’s not particularly exciting to look at, but I decided to post it anyway because I have nothing else to do. (Except clean out the monster that will henceforth be known as my backpack, a task I have avoided thus far)
Free period, I think? There’s just a blank space in the chart…?
Social Science
Environmental Science (They cover epidemiology at the end of the year!!! Giddiness!)
Division (Ten minutes of hanging out in my homeroom with everybody else. Woohoo!)
Dance (urgh. It was either that or gym. Seeing as I’m a fantastic klutz, neither sounded very appealing, but somehow my mom talked me into doing dance.)
Language Arts
Latin II Honors (So excited!!!)
High School Algebra
I have to purchase an absurdly expensive calculator for algebra. I’m pretty sure it’s going to get lost within 2 and a half weeks of school.
We’re starting orientation tomorrow. I’m going to get so incredibly lost. The school is technically a selective enrollment high school with a 7th and 8th grade program tacked on. That beastly edifice will be my downfall, especially coming from an elementary school with a singular hallway and barely 300 students. This ought to be interesting…
By an ‘absurdly expensive calculator’, do you mean a graphing calculator? TI-84s are nice; TI-89s are better, but when it comes to user-friendliness you should not be purchasing a graphing calculator. -_- I have been using my 89 for three years and I still have no idea how to use it.
It is a graphing calculator. (Doom!) They told us at orientation today to go out and buy TI-84s. I had a really nice, intuitive calculator last year, but it’s not a graphing calculator. I would really rather not have a graphing calculator, but for some unfathomable reason, it’s required. I’m intimidated by the idea of doing complex things with a calculator because there are so many commands you always seem to have to learn, and I have a tendency to really screw them up.Cake, cake and cake again. Layer Cake.
graphing calculators like the TI83 / TI84s are really easy to use – TI-89s are completely different. All your normal calculator stuff is right there, and then it can also do neat stuff like solve equations for you (math -> 0:Solver, or you can just plug it into the graph) and all your steps are saved so you don’t lose track of where you are like you do with a four-function and, my favorite part, it can play games. On mine, I have various racing games – falldown, zcart, etc; snake; hangman and connect four; rush hour; a submarine game; bomberkids; various shooter games – phoenix, phantom, missle, ufo attack; pong; minesweeper; pacman; tetris; mario; and snood.
Okay, I’ve never actually had a TI 84 (although I may have used a TI 84 on occasion when I was borrowing from friends), but TI 83s (which are pretty simple) are nice and simple. It’s really easy to figure out how to do basic stuff, and then if you actually need to use the more complicated features, you’ll figure them out. (At this point, I can do a fair bit of programming on mine, which is useful if I have to do brute force-y stuff that would take a bit of time by hand. Or if I don’t feel like doing the quadratic formula by hand.) TI 89s are more powerful, but they’re also pretty hard to use IMO. (I own one. I don’t use it.)
I feel like I know how to use my 89 pretty well, actually, but I don’t know what half the functions even do. It can’t play games (probably a positive) but I’m so used to the 89 that I don’t know how to use an 84. It seems a lot harder to use (in an 89 if you mistype an equation it shows it back to you and then you can fix whatever parenthetical error you have made).
I do like it, deep down – it is a good little calculator – but when it says things like ‘questionable accuracy’ I want to fling it against a wall.
Oh, and it’s sustained countless droppings and hot chocolate spilled on it.
I’m so glad that school doesn’t start ’til september… bleh, I took way to many classes *took the maximum available* See, I only have the classes I take for 2-3 hrs a week, which means I’ve got lots of different ones, and there are so many fascinating others besides the mandatory ones.
So, my classes:
), Geography (with my other favorite teacher), Math, Chemistry, Physics, Music, PE, P&P (psychology and philosophy), Spanish, an extra psychology class (for the first semester, about common mental illnesses) and Chinese (mandarin) and Chess (which technically isn’t a class). My grade in Chinese doesn’t really count because it’s an extra class (you’re only allowed to take 14 (or 15, if you bother with religion) but you can wiggle in two more).
German (duh!), French, Latin, English (boringly easy), History (with my favorite teacher
Thank goodness I don’t have biology this year! I just can’t remember any more boring details about my inner digestive tract and for one whole year I won’t have too! *happydance*
OH GOD I SIGNED UP FOR BOTH AP BIOLOGY AND AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ONLINE IN A FIT OF ACADEMIC-NESS
WHAT HAVE I DONE? JUNIOR YEAR WILL TRULY SUCK
BUT I AM STILL EXCITED
How do you do AP classes online?
I found this thing with Northwestern University called CTD; they have a program called Gifted Learning Links. It’s intended toward homeschoolers, so they have oodles of AP and honors classes there.
That’s what I thought, but it was worth a shot to see if there was something else
*remembers to check site again about comp gov.*
no ap comp gov. Cake.
No, wait. They have a combo US/Comp.
Hmmm.
Yes! CTD! Awesomeness! I’ve done the summer camps before, and they’re really good. I’m sure Learning Links is awesome too. I wanted to take a psychology course last year, (Just for fun. My friends think I have a distorted idea of fun, especially when I announced I was excited to be taking Latin II Honors. I really don’t see their logic…) but I never really got around to signing up for it…
You’ve done the summer camps? Wait, when? I’ve done them too!
I’ve done Learning Links before, and took Latin 1 Honors and some random forensic science class in middle school. It’s really a fantastic program, but SO EXPENSIVE OH MY GOODNESS.
I did a genetics summer camp last year and an epidemiology & immunology the year before that. They were awesome! Oh, but how obscenely expensive! I think the amount of money you have to pay for them is equivalent to sacrificing your internal organs one at a time, one for every class you take. And then you become somewhat obsessed with the classes and you’re left with an empty abdomen where all of your vital organs used to be.
bubbles:
You weren’t by any chance hungry when you came up with that analogy, were you?
*giggles* Well, maybe a little bit…
I was also trying to think of a more original version of “paying/costing an arm and a leg.” Reading my comment again makes me sound like someone who has starved half to death, though. Now that I think about it, I have a tendency to come up with strange analogies depending on my physical state of being. When I was about 8 years old and suffering terribly from seasonal allergies I once said:
“It’s none of your business! Blow your nose in your own tissue!”
Um… yeah. I completely understand that analogy?
What group were you in in 2008? I was in Spectrum, doing Honors Chemistry. Did we perhaps accidentally meet without knowing it? *excitement*
Erm, no. I was in Apogee. I’ve only just reached the age where I can do Spectrum next summer. Sorry it took me so long to reply, you were probably hoping to discover some long lost friend. Nope, I was just another one of the smallest kids on campus that year.
Aww. Well, take comfort in knowing that the Spectrum kids made fun of you constantly.
Did you happen to see anyone retching over a small puddle of goo one day in front of the dining hall around lunch?
‘Cause that was my class, and we just combined everything in the cafeteria and used it to freak out Apogee kids.
Well, just about everybody makes fun of the Apogee kids, it seems.
I did not witness that particular incident (should I be glad?) but we did that a lot, too. My friend insisted I try sprite with olives in it. Eurgh.
I took AP Chem online through….*googles* ChemAdvantage. It was an excellent course, most involved distance ed teacher I’ve ever come across in all my years of homeschooling. And probably one of the courses in which i’ve learned the most, too. Got me a 4 on the AP Chem test.
Awesome! I’ve always wanted to take AP Biology! And I almsot got it to make this year too, but our principal (who is not my pal) decided that he would only run the Biology 2 Honors part of it and not the AP part so he could ‘build up the class’ which doesn’t make sense because how can you build up a class without running it in the first place?! Anyway… that’s cool. Good luck. ^^
I’m taking:
2D Art, Math, World Geography, Language Arts, and Science. I’m taking the Advanced classes in Math, along with the normal classes.
LIFE SUCKS.
But not so much as I’m doing it on the computer.
Oh dear. Trying to arrange a way to meet up with my friend on the train on the way to school/orientation because her stop is the one right after mine. My suggestions for finding each other involve me shoving my way through commuters at the train doors in order to start shouting and waving frantically in order to get her attention, sitting in a predetermined spot, or using smoke signals from the roof. I’m sure we’ll figure something out.
Today, my friend G and I had everything worked out. I would take the train that left my station at 7:11 AM and reached hers at about 7:15. I would sit near the door in the first car, and when the train arrived at her station, I would wave to her when the doors opened.
I got on the wrong train.
Luckily, I managed to squeeze out the closing doors, narrowly avoiding having my right arm crushed as I shoved my way out and meet her on the platform after sending her an embarrassed text message. Tomorrow, I am going to check my watch! (Then again, I told myself that last night and look what happened)
Then, on the way back from orientation, some different friends and I rode the train home together (G had a ride home with somebody else) and one of them managed to break his cell phone with a piece of twine. He has one of those sliding ones with a vertical screen, and then you slide it out and there’s a keyboard. He was sliding (I seem to be using that verb a lot) the piece of twine into the gap between these two components, and one time it got stuck and he had to yank it out pretty hard. When he tried to use his phone, which had been charged the night before and turned off during the day, it wouldn’t turn on. We were led to believe he’d managed to damage some of the wires between the two main components. That was our little technology lesson of the day: never mix twine and cell phones!
I’m going to be a high school senior! YIKES! The year should be rather interesting since my school is hosting the annual convention, I’m on yearbook staff, and I’m taking college courses on top of my other classes.
Unfortunately, I cannot list what classes I am in because I don’t have my schedule yet and I won’t get it until the day before school starts (August 30th).
Here are the classes that I know I will be taking:
>Honors English (semi-geared toward AP. Not sure if it’s LIT or COMP)
>Psychology 101
>Child Development 120
On the subject of graphing calculators, I inherited one from Groundhog, but we didn’t use it at all in Algebra II last year and I’m still not quite sure how to work it.
I wish I could take more A.P.s, but my school only offers A.P. English for seniors
. My lucky twin brother is taking A.P. Euro. Methinks I shall try to find a way to take it also.
Yay seniordom! ^^
-high fives for seniors!- =D
Squee! Not only is the science teacher at my new school willing to organize a Science Olympiad team, I also got extra credit points for finding information about it for him! (We’re getting credit, and therefore, extra credit as well, for all the work we do in orientation) Science Olympiad team! Science Olympiad team! *Bliss*
I also got my behemoth graphing calculator today. It’s a TI-84. Terrifically exciting, isn’t it?
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD! What state are you in?
Illinois. What about you?
Minnesota! If you make nats we may see each other! ^^
First few days of high school have been, well…interesting. In some ways, it’s better than middle school, and in some ways, it’s worse. I like how we have free dress now, though. Everyone does. And the teachers are a lot more serious about learning, which is a good thing (at least for me).
What I really don’t like is PE – it’s a LOT more about fitness – they grade you on how fit you are! – and it’s going to drag my GPA waaaaay down. Boo hoo. We had to do a twelve-minute swim yesterday, which I hated. Anyway, at least PE is only every Day 2 and 6 (out of an 8 day cycle). But still.
AND I signed up for 7.5 credits but they only gave me 7 on my schedule! I’d much rather get things over with in 9th grade when I don’t have to worry about APs and things. Though I might take the AP French Lang. exam without taking the course this year.
This is my schedule, in case anyone might be interested:
-Humanities I
-Advanced Algebra
-Chemistry (Honours)
-String Ensemble
-Mandarin
-Orchestra
-Freshman Seminar (this thing all freshmen have to take)
-PE
What’s a 12-minute-swim? Is it just where you get in the pool and swim around for 12 minutes? Or do you do laps?
We see how many metres we can swim in 12 minutes. It’s painful, trust me.
They grade you on how fit you are? That’s completely idiotic. If that’s how it was, I would instantly fail every PE course ever.
Me, too. I didn’t take Freshman P.E. and instead took an entire year of Team Sports in sophomore year. That was an awesome class. Basically the teacher gave you an A if you a) were a girl b) seemed like a good person and c) ran around a bit each class. He also gave me and my friend cookies, once which was weird. We jokingly thought they might have been poisoned, because he had no reason to give us cookies.
I know. That’s exactly what’s going to happen to me this year. And the next. And the next, probably.
Yeah, they do. We grades in our class as to how fast we could run the mile my freshman year. At least I didn’t have to do what my sister did, which was jump 120 times with a jumprope in a minute because I’m not cooordinated at all and somehow can’t understand jumpropes. I mean, I can jump and I can swing a rope, but jumping over the rope as I swing it at the same time is simply beyond me. I have to stand for a second and think really hard and then jump. Then sometimes the rope just hits me in the head. lol
First two weeks of AP Euro: HARD.
And it’s just the first day.
AP European History? *gulp*
You know how I said before I was excited? I am now cycling between foreboding and excitement.
Right now I am feeling foreboding. 5 AP classes, at least 2 of them independent study/online? With debate, marching band, Science Olympiad, etc? o.0
I don’t think I’ll be on MB
very muchat all when school starts.Aww…
We’ll be sure to miss you, although it’s great you’ve got such a packed schedule…especially with so many fun things.
OH DEAR GOD AP CHEM IS INDEPENDENT STUDY TOO
AAAAHHHH WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?
AP Chem online isn’t too bad. Or, at least, the online AP Chem I took wasn’t.
I don’t even know what’s happening! Nobody does! It’s either independent study in school (which would suck), or not there at all (which would suck more).
Wowsers. That sounds similar to my schedule. And aP Chem online? That sounds rough. I actually wanted to take that but my parents didn’t want our kitchen turning into a chemistry lab.
What do you think about online classes? They have their pros and cons. I mean, it’s nice to work at your own pace, but there’s little connection between you and your instructor you know? It’s frustrating.
This will be a rough year. And AP Chem won’t be online, as I replied to Luna. But AP Bio and AP Human Geography (still need to think of an abbreviation for this) will be.
Yeah, I see what you mean. But I think they’re worth it in the long run.
3 weeks…
3 weeks until what? School starts? Mine starts Sept. 1st!
Mine starts Sept. 13th. XP
School starts in two days and I still have to finish as essay…*runs off in a panic to write essay*
I have mixed feelings of going to high school….
According to other people, high school was better than middle school for them, so I’ll see how this turns out….
I love your picture thingy by the way. Don’t we all wish we could go to Pigfarts this year? Unfortunately, it is after all on Mars.
Oh, and highschool is SO much better then middle school. Middle school is the place where one is right in between little and big kidness and therefore the world is so much more crazy. However, in highschool everything begins to slow down, crazy wise. You get more work, but you can handle it better.
Just don’t get shoved in a trashcan. Mwahahaha!
Eh, don’t worry. High school is cool. I don’t know why, it just sorta… is. I guess there’s a lot more freedom, and you start actually feeling independent. I don’t know how to explain it… I guess I don’t feel like a little kiddie anymore. You’ll figure it out for yourself. I think it’s different for everyone.
I still have one full book to read (Called Dragon’s Gate…has anyone read it?) and half of The Five People You Meet in Heaven to finish. I already read Code Talker and The Shakespeare Stealer, both which were good but pretty easy. Argh I always put summer reading off till the last minute, even though I’m basically reading what I want to all summer…
What is Code Talker about? I still have a book to read (and quote and discuss)… I would’ve read it by now, but it’s on my nook. It’s broken. Hopefully I can get if fixed soon.
It’s about World War Two and written from the perspective of a Navajo Indian who was trained to speak in a code based on the Navajo language for the US Army that was too complicated for the Japanese to understand. It’s pretty interesting, especially since there aren’t too many World War Two books written from that point of view…
*US Marines, actually, if that makes any difference in my very short summary.
Alas… tomorrow is my last day of freedom. *sigh* I fear that after going to Governor’s school this summer and learning in an environment where everyone is enthusiastic about education and shines in their nerdiness, returning to regular highschool again will be sad.
Plus, the scheduling at my school was off this year, so I had 3 holes in my schedule, which were promptly filled up with online classes, the only alternative. I don’t have any arts classes this year. Meh. I think I’m going to try and start an art club so that I don’t go insane from half of my brain wasting away.
Anyway… My classes are….
Biology 2 Honors (AP didn’t make of course. meh.)
English 4 AP (with my Dad! :D)
Calculus Honors
Calculus AP
AP Stat (online)
AP European History (online)
French 4 Honors
And possibly another online class if Bev Perdue, our lovely governor, gets her act together.
I have one more week to be free. But, I’m ready for school now. I just got home from school show choir camp, and have so many new friends now. Things are finally turning around. I feel…happy.
I’m moving myself and all my clothing and junk back into the dorms on the 6th, and school starts back up on the 8th. I’m really excited to see all of my friends again!
The school, presumably, sent out our schedules this week.
I missed nearly a month of school with a case of either pneumonia or whooping cough, so I got booted out of the Spanish AP and AP Calculus AB courses I was supposed to take this year. I’m a bit frazzled by such, even though I could use the lighter homework load to boost my GPA, but I’m going to keep working on Spanish by volunteering to tutor to the migrant workers’ kids. =]
In the meantime, I should start on my summer reading. >.<
Yay! I’m starting high school! AND I GET TO TAKE BAND
I just got back from camp. Remind me to get my summer reading from the library.
My schedule now:
Q1:
1 – AP Euro
2 – Spanish 4
3 – Marching Band
4 – Multivariable Calculus
5 – Empty (this means a study hall)
6 – Individual Fitness (gym)
7 – AP Lang
Q2:
)
1 – Spanish 4
2 – AP Euro
3 – British Literature
4 – Multivariable Calculus
5 – Empty
6 – Empty (
7 – AP Lang
I dunno where AP Chem is. I thought it might be independent study, but apparently the school doesn’t care about AP students enough to CAKING TELL THEM IF THEY HAVE A TEACHER OR EVEN A CLASS OR WHAT. (They hired a new gym teacher while they’re making cutbacks on AP classes. The injustice!)
And, of course, AP Bio and AP Human Geography on the side.
I just realized I have
onlyless than one week of summer left. Cake.I have exactly one week. Goes by fast, doesn’t it?
-A
Lucky. I have three days.
Oh my gosh. You have no idea how happy I am to come on here and realize that some of you have schedules even more intimidating than mine.
I’m going to be a sophomore, by the way.
1st: French I
This choice is actually kind of funny if you know my background in languages. I went to a Spanish immersion school for most of elementary school and am pretty much fluent, so I jumped straight into the third year class last year as a freshman. I think I might have gotten the highest grade in the class. Anyways, I love languages and want to learn another (or as many as possible), so French seemed like a natural choice.
2nd: Honors English
I’m not happy about this one. The teacher’s said to be awful, and my Honors English teacher last year was AH-MAH-ZING. Almost anybody would pale in comparison, so I’m not hopeful.
3rd (first semester): Strength Training
I have to take 4 semesters of P.E. at some point, and this is during school soccer season, so it made sense for me to take this class.
3rd (second semester): Leadership
I have no idea what to expect from this. I’m only taking it because there were very few electives available for that time slot and the other classes on my schedule made it very hard to move things around.
4th: AP Biology
My school divides AP Biology into two years, so I took Pre-AP Biology last year. There were four periods of that class; there is exactly one this year. That says something about how hard last year was. This class is going to be intense for me anyways. I can’t imagine taking it all in one year!
5th: AP European History
If the amount of summer homework I’ve got for this class says anything, this class will be tough. Not that I’m expecting anything different – I’m happy to see how many other people on here are taking it as well. There’ll be a serious need for moral/intellectual support at some point, I’m imagining.
6th: Pre-Calculus
I’ve had the same math teacher for the past two years, and she’s really been amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t scheduled to have her this year…and then I find out that it doesn’t matter anyways because she’s moving to another school. The teacher I’ve got now is said to be strict, but fine as long as you don’t text in class or be obnoxious.
Luckily, one of my best friends is in every single class with me except for 1st period (she’s taking her 2nd year of Spanish). It’s going to be an interesting year, but I’m kind of looking forward to it.
Good to see you, Cat’s Meow! Good luck with your classes.
Hi, Rebecca! Nice to see all of you guys too. MuseBlog’s always sort of a haven for me.
Oh, and the other issue with my schedule is that
killer afternoons + lots of leaving school early for soccer = trouble
There could be a lot of make up work in my future.
Kokonilly-you get an entire class devoted to marching band? *grins wildly* that is so COOL!
Cat’s Meow-I’m going to be a sophomore, too. Which brings me to my schedule:
German II
We’re going to have about 40 kids in that class, because they’re combining both German I classes and don’t want to hire another German teacher.
Symphonic Band
Best. Class. Ever. Sometimes, we get to do sectionals, in which the flutes and sometimes the clarinets go to the theatre and talk. But somehow we still win competitions.
Honors Communications 10
The teacher is supposed to be pretty good, but grammar is really hard for me.
Health II (1st trimester)
My last health class ever! I am incredibly sick of Health, especially since we’ve been covering the same material since sixth grade. And then the second two trimesters I have my last Phy Ed classes ever, which makes me incredibly happy and my mother slightly nervous, since I don’t do sports anymore.
Honors Geometry
I heard that if you liked Algebra, you won’t like Geometry. I really liked Algebra…
AP US History
I finished the summer reading and the essay that goes with it. This class will really determine who stays in the top ten.
Honors Biology
I’m thinking of being a biology major, since I want to go to med school, so this class should be interesting.
And then after school is what I’m really looking foreword to:
Theatre!
I’m the Assistant Lights Officer, and I’m really excited for the new season!
A little more than a week to go until school starts.
Yeah, first quarter only. We just practice during that time, but it gets super cold right after school starts, so we need mittens and jackets – the whole glorious ensemble. >.< *hates the cold*
My school district is getting messed up.
-They are combining high schools in my town(A) and another neighboring town(B). So everyone will go to B’s high school.
-A’s high school will now hold the eighth and ninth grades.
-So my middle school will only have 5-7.
-My homeroom teacher quit.
-And is being replaced with Mr. D, who nobody knows much about.
-My ELA teacher is taking some ‘personal time off’.
-So we get Ms. Bell(Not real name) as a long term subsitute! She did some studentteaching with my ELA teacher for sixth grade. And she is really, really, nice and awesome!
-Oh yeah, and a boy who I have known since before I was born might be going to my school. (He has gone to private school all his life.)
-And there might be a new kid from New York who has the same name as him.
Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Giant toenails are chasing me!
Yay, schedule finally came!!
1st-Social Studies. Ugh, not the greatest way to start the day. My 6th grad SS teacher was awesome, though: she didn’t give any homework, let us take open-book quizzes when we wanted to, and has been all over the world.
2nd-English. Misery, thy name is grammar. Need I say more?
3rd-Science. Yay, science! And right where I start to get bored, too. I will be motivated by the promise of learning cool things. Also, the teacher has a french name.
He/She will probably come to school wearing a beret!!!!4th-Phys Ed, Family Con/Tech Ed, and Art. This is where it starts to get confusing. Days 1 and 4 I have Phys Ed, days 3 and 6 I have Art, but on day 2 I have Family Con and day 5 I have Tech Ed. I don’t know why.
5th-Lunch/Activity. Not much to say here.
6th-
English. Again? Aw, come on! Once a day is bad enough, you horrible hags!Apparently it was a computer error. I have Latin here, by my own free will. Everyone else wanted to take French, but I’m doing Latin.7th-Algebra. Sure to be one heck of a class.
8th-Advisory Supp/Hum-I have absolutely no idea what the heck this is. I think it’s basically a free period where you can do your homework and stuff. Although my mom says there will probably also be team activities…ugh.
And last, but not least, every Tuesday before school I have band.
Ooh, Latin is fun! Is it your first year?
Latin! Latin is ever so much fun! I’m taking Latin II Honors this year. All of my friends think I’m crazy.
Ooh, Latin. I would definitely take Latin if it was offered at my school. Alas, there’s only Spanish and French, and I’ve already exhausted my school’s Spanish department. Onto French!
I really want to switch from Introduction to Publications (the pre-journalism class) to Creative Writing. This may be difficult. But I hope not.
I also really want to be the stage manager of the plays/musicals this year, since our theater has very little wing space, no catwalk, inaccessible fly space, and about three techies total, and the dance teacher has decided putting on Les Miserables is a brilliant idea. I will make this work! (I find I love working backstage. You get all the lovely stage-fright flutters as well as the self-righteous unhappiness at lack of recognition, and you get to shout at people who aren’t getting things done.) Oh, and I want to get the play I wrote at arts camp put on in the spring, if possible.
And I don’t want to do track in the spring, since I’ll be a bit busy with stage managing Les Miserables and working on the literary magazine and campaigning for the GSA. (Two more things I want to do.) Oh, and my brother may be starting a sort of cultural jamming club at our school (think urban spelunking, International Pillow Fight Day, etc.), which I WILL participate in.
So yeah. Fun!
I’m really nervous about moving into middle school. It’s going to be so different than elementary school. I’m going to switch classes…and everything else…
Don’t be that nervous. Switching classes is actually kinda great, since you don’t have to hang with a teacher you might dislike for too long or people you might dislike for too long. You ought to get used to it in the first month or so, and teachers will give you leeway because you’re a sixth grader.
If you get to go to a middle school with entirely new people, lucky you! I didn’t, and I really wish I had, because now everyone in my high school knows what I was like when I was nine years old. Also, I’ve been stuck with them for six years now, and it’d be nice to see some new faces, y’know? It’s actually a pretty cool opportunity.
And yes, you’ll get more homework, but not THAT much more homework. And the campus shouldn’t be THAT hard to get used to. I know I say I really, really hated middle school, but that’s just because people could be immature and idiotic, and I was a total introvert back then, and it was all kind of confusing and annoying. Just ride it out. Oh, and find a nice extracurricular! That can really make your year. (Thank you Shakespeare Club!)
i’m starting middle school, too, (Woo! 7th grade!) but where I went to elementary school, they made us switch classes starting in 5th grade. It’s really not so bad. The most important thing is to STAY ORGANIZED! If you do, everything will be fine.
Also, you’re probably not the only one feeling nervous, and everyone is going to get lost during the first week or so. It happens. No one is expecting you to make the transition right away. Older students understand the way you’re feeling because they went through it, too and are (generally) willing to help you out. My awesome friend, who is starting high school – I think I’ve mentioned this before, my school is a high school with an “academic center” for 7th and 8th graders attached – went through the academic center (He is known as a “frackie” which refers to former academic center students. We are the “ackies.” This terminology is popular. Not sure why) and volunteered at orientation. All of the volunteers were amazing and you could pester them with all of your anxious questions as often as was necessary, and they were always ready to help. I had barely asked my friend to help me find the pool and locate one of my various lost possessions, and we were already halfway there.
This probably sounds like what everyone else has been telling you, and the reason is, it’s actually quite true.
Don’t panic! You have no reason to panic! You will be fine!
There are lots of advantages and upsides to being able to switch classes each hour (and I’ve had some really amazing teachers…and met lots of new people…stuff like that. I mean, I had good teachers in elementary school too, but in middle school, you have more teachers, so it’s different) and getting more independence and all that, but based solely on my own experience, the amount of drama/gossip increases heavily, which can make for some pretty un-fun moments. But overall…I really liked my first year of middle school. Second one not so much, but it all depends, really.
And not to mention that most middle school girls are obsessed with boys. I never understood that fascination, personally. Not to freak you out or anything, but a lot of girls go completely mental once they get to middle school.
My friend (Who used to care about boys as much she did clothes) is now slightly obbsessed with clothes, boys, and genrally what people think about her. WHERE DID I GO WRONG?!!!!???!!????!!
THANKS!!!! Im sorry if i want to dress the way i feel. Cake!
Oh an btw, Its not exactly an obsession, Mikazuki (aka Ms. I dont like boys)
Well, it sure looked like it! Besides, we’ve been through this before.
That was posted a while ago. Sorry.
It was posted two days ago.
Urgh. Hate to admit it, but that is very, very true. It is an unsettling infatuation that lurks within so many of my once-normal friends. Why? Why?!
Now she’s back to normal.
Oh! And I know I didn’t comfort you much in my first post, so I’ll say it now…you’ll be fine. Seriously! Everyone is in the exact same boat as you are. Go to the orientation thing before school if your school has one, it’s really helpful, especially when you’re first entering middle school. That way you can look around and get a better idea of what to expect. You might get lost a few times, but seriously, after a few weeks you’ll probably know where everything is. And it’s completely normal to get lost a couple of times, everyone does when they’re in that situation…but most of the teachers (and older students) are really helpful about giving you a hand. And like bubbles said…stay organized! That’s a really important one, so I guess I’ll just repeat it.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice, everyone! I’m feeling less nervous already!
ARGH MY CLASS SCHEDULE IS CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! I just went to the first day today and…ARGH MY CLASS SCHEDULE IS CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! At least I have a friend in most classes. All except one, in fact. And we have really nice teachers. And we get laptops! In fact, it would be pretty cool if…
1) It wasn’t school
and
2) have I mentioned that ARGH MY CLASS SCHEDULE IS CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!
You get laptops? *kills out of jealousy*
“Jealousy”? Tsk tsk.
Owww. Envy. Envy envy envy envy. Sorry.
Yeah, we get MacBooks starting in 7th grade. We might get MacBook pros. We can only do schoolwork on them though. We pass them in over the summer, but we get the same ones through high school, I think. We get them soon! *can’t wait*
Jeesh! Macbooks? I’ve never even used one! Oh, by the way, what with the only allowed to do schoolwork on them thing, I’d be careful about that. They track your Internet, and although there are ways of getting around that (think Little Brother by Cory Doctorow-style), it’s easier just to obey the rules in that case.
Actually, it’s pretty amazing that we’re getting them at all, because of budget cut, you know. About the tracking…Our librarian and the school technition just lectured us for about 80 minutes on that…and it’s only the first day. I hate to think what will happen next… The state of Maine was one of the first states to get laptops for their 7-12th grade students, and so the laptops come free from Apple. Except that apparently a year or so ago, the school district racked up 100,000 dollars total in repair bills…
At our school, everyone from 5th to 12th grade has a MacBook Pro, starting this year. We get to keep them after we graduate, though we have to let them remove all the school-bought software. And we can do whatever we want on them at home. Except we had to pay for them, you know, actually buy them from a school, because my school is just a profit-making business. Though it’s a pretty good school.
Aw, lucky. Sometimes it’s good if ALL the computers work in our computer lab.
Same here, except replace the “sometimes” with an “always”. There are always two or three computers that just won’t work, and that’s on a good day. And we’re supposed to be a rich school! Oh, and random Interwebz sites that you actually really need to get to for school-y research are blocked because they’re classified as social networking, or inappropriate, or something like that.
Nice!
In 7TH GRADE? Lucky. We don’t get any kind of laptop from my school. I don’t even own my own laptop. My mom has hinted I might get one as a graduation present. you know, for the whole “let’s go into high school” thing, but not sure…still, MacBooks…cool. Sheesh.
My school is giving Ipads to all the 9th graders this year. Meh. What about the 4-year seniors?
Um… How do those even work for schoolwork?!
Oops.
Your school is a load of cake.
Re: Latin: I’m in AP Latin Vergil. It is, and I don’t say this lightly, freaking hard. We have a thousand lines of Vergil to translate by May, as well as a few other authors. But it’s still awesome. We’ve already earned one cake–our teacher has a policy that if we translate thirty lines in one period, she’ll bake us a cake. She said no class of hers has ever gotten a cake this early. And there are only eight people in the class, so there’ll be plenty of cake to go around.
Re: Having n friends in x classes: Going to a large school makes this a little odd. I only have friends in one or two of my classes, and that’s not abnormal.
When you first said that your teacher would bake you a cake, I thought you meant a curse word.
School started today.
Went fairly well, considering. I did something other than school for like an hour and a half, but I pretty much decided to do that so it’s okay. Got all my math done, and read a chapter in science.
I was really not happy with my subjects at first, since none of it was that exciting and a lot of it was depressing and would cause me to procrastinate. Then I talked to Mom, and now I’m not doing a science program that should be all sorts of fun and really exciting, and instead I never ever do it so I’m always behind. Instead I’m rushing through what’s left of last year’s science so I can go on to physics and chemistry and stuff.
Math was annoyingly time-consuming but okay, history’s neat ’cause we’re reading about ancient Egypt, and that’s always fun, I’ve got a cool new course which is exciting.
And that was my day in way more detail than you wanted. Cookies if you actually read all that rambling.
Argh. Second day was considerably worse than first day. For one thing, we got a new kid…. I’ll just call him ‘Gavin’. We also have another ‘Gavin’ who is new but came in yesterday. So, yeah, CHAOS.
Just organized all my school supplies…pretty much the same stuff I had last year, with some minor adjustments.
You know what I just realized? My school is a K-8th school, and every grade in K-5th (Which for us is considered elementary school) is pretty much given some sort of “highlight”, or at least, something that everybody knows about and really looks forward to. But 6th-8th grade pretty much always gets clumped together into this big thing called middle school, and there’s no individuality to it. I mean, sure, 8th grade is when you’re big and bad and scary ‘cuz you’re the oldest, but that’s about it….elementary school was so fun. *poutpoutpout* *nostalgic moment* I miss all the colorful posters and decorations on the wall. In 3rd grade we had a giant balloon globe. It was awesome.
Crazy schedule:
Mon. = 7:30Homeroom 5 min.___ELA/SS 80 min.___PE 40 min.___TE/HE 80 frabbing min.___Lunch/recess 40 min.___Math 80 min.___Crew about an hour 2:00END DAY
Tues. = 7:30Homeroom 5 min.___Science 40 min.___ELA/SS 80 min.___French 40 min.___Art 40 min.___Lunch/recess 40 min.___Math 80 min.___Chorus 60 min. 2:00END DAY
Wed. = 7:30Homeroom 5 min.___PE 40 min.___ELA/SS 80 min.___Science 80 min.___Lunch/recess 40 min.___Math 80 min.___Study Hall 60 min. 2:00END DAY
Thurs. = 7:30Homeroom 5 min.___ELA/SS 80 min.___PE 40 min.___TE/HE40 min.___French 40 min.___Lunch/recess 40 min.___Math 80 min.___Study Hall 60 min. 2:00END DAY
Fri. = 7:30Homeroom 5 min.___Science 80 min.___DSSR/CAREER PREP 40 min.___ELA/SS 80min.___Lunch/recess 40 min.___Math 80 min.___Study Hall 60 min. 2:00END DAY
So, yeah, apparently I have gym three times a week. And TE/HE twice?! With one 80 min. period?! NOTFAIRNOTFAIRNOTFAIR . Art is only once,too, with only 40 fleepin’ minutes! BLASPHARMY!
…
Our day planners are really cool this year…?
I WANT RECESS! Or at least open campus during lunch…but 80 minute classes do not sound like fun.
Schedule, first semester (in terms of second semester, replace all “social psychology”s with “beginning journalism”):
A: Honors Chemistry, Modern World History, Algebra 2, Spanish 3
B: Acting 2, Social Psychology, English, Spanish 3
C: Honors Chemistry, Modern World History, Algebra 2, English
D: Acting 2, Social Psychology, Algebra 2, Spanish 3
E: Honors Chemistry, Modern World History, Social Psychology, English
F: Acting 2, Modern World History, Algebra 2, Spanish 3
G: Honors Chemistry, Acting 2, Social Psychology, English
So on A and C days I have all academic classes, which is exactly like it was in freshman year, but I think I’ll actually enjoy science this year, which will be a nice change.
AARGH AARGH SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW AARGH DIE.
WHY IS IT SEPTEMBER. Only one more week for me.
*envies people who are getting laptops and I-pads*
63- Cool! I dunno if we’ll do Vergil this year, I think were going to do Cicero but that won’t be more than a semester, so…
67- But your day ends at 2:00 p.m.! That is so awesome.
I’m already so stressed out about mandarin that I’m wimping out and going to throw myself at the administrator’s knees and beg her to let me drop it. I wish I could just try it out, but then the only other way to get rid of it would be to nearly fail a third of my other classes. Also, it’ll even out my schedule and bring me down to 35 hrs a week which seems much better. And I’ll share lunch with my friends, and have more time for running and capoeira and everything. I know, I’m just making excuse, but it freaks me out too much.
Yeah, I was upset at first but it’s kinda nice.
I’ll steal your Chinese class! Just kidding, but I wish. Good luck with dropping it/surviving it.
Ugh! Why does school have to be so boring?
Got my schedule yesterday, and went to orientation thingy today.
1. PE (I know the teacher but I can never remember which one is which…)
2. SS (my teacher for this is apparently really nice)
3. First Trimester: Video Production (this looks really cool!)
Second Trimester: Law and Debate (I didn’t sign up for this, my parents are going to try and change it)
Third Trimester: Computer Programming and Animation (Yay!)
4. Math (Teacher seems nice…)
5. LA (This teacher is quite enthusiastic; I have no idea if that is a good thing or not.)
6. Orchestra
7. Science (I feel boring and repetitive, but the teacher seems nice… I have it in the same period and room as last year)
My classrooms are a bit spread out- it goes Gym, A wing, C wing, C wing, A wing, F wing, A wing.
Last year, I was nervously excited for high school, because it was a new experience and I’d get to hang out with older people and be “cool.” Now, I’m slightly exhausted thinking about school. And getting up early and staying up late. Although I am glad I finally found the theatre. But I have to wait for a full week and one day until the first theatre meeting! Oh, well. I’ll bide my time by noticing all of the people who get kicked out of APUSH on the first day because they didn’t turn in their essays.
Oh my god, we are school-y twins. Exact same things for me, except I’m not allowed to take APUSH in my sophomore year, so it’s more like seeing who is too afraid of the director-y, caffeine-less rage of our acting teacher to stay in Acting 2, or who is too stressed to stay in Honors Chem.
Oh, and your comment about getting up early and staying up late got “Short Skirt, Long Jacket” stuck in my head. Woo-hoo, Cake!
HOMEWORK!!
IS!!
KILLING!!
ME!!
AP EURO Test Tommorow.
:PANIC:
The horrible thing about going back to school later than the rest of California is that all the stores are cleaned out of beautiful supplies such as dividers, binders, and scientific calculators. CURSES FOILED YET AGAIN.
*shuffles over to Rants thread*
Does anybody have tips for studying notecards? I’m a very in-context learner and can remember most of what I read, but my AP Euro teacher requires us to make notecards for every chapter and then quizzes us on them somehow (not exactly sure what kind of quiz it’ll be; this is still summer homework). We’re doing the Renaissance at the moment, so there are a lot of painters, sculptors, and popes to remember. I’ve never been great at remembering people, especially, and who did what when, where, and why, so…tips?
Hmm…Since you have the most trouble remembering people, perhaps you should divide your notecards into categories for each type of person (i.e. pope, painter, sculptor, etc.). You would then write on the card where and when en lived and what en did when and why, making sure to keep the people in each category in chronological order.
For example… (all info is fictitious!)
Popes
Card 1: Pope X lived in Rome from 1415 – 1435. In 1422 he tried to bring the Crusades back because he was passionate about the Holy Land.
Card 2: Pope Z lived in Venice from 1440 – 1466. In 1450 he decided that Catholicism had issues and so he converted to Greek Orthodox.
Painters
Card 1: Painter S lived in Italy from 1499-1537. In 1520 he painted his masterpiece The Blizzard
Card 2: Painter W lived in Venice from 1522 – 1563. In 1534 he painted Fiametta
And so on. I hope that this is helpful.
Sounds like a good idea. Thanks!
Hello MB! Today was my first day of High School. Sadly, everybody else found it much more different from the middle school than I. The only differences were with the food, the teachers, the soon-to-be harder classes, and the fact that you can walk outside. Other than that it was quite boring. I thought maybe I would get lost or something fun (get into trouble, perhaps). But no. Well, I did go on the wrong bus home. But that wasn’t that interesting. Gah, high school, you’re better than this! At least I didn’t get much homework today.
Squee! My math teacher just gave my friend and I an awesome project!!!
Mrs. Applebee was hired to teach 7th grade math. She walked into her room and discovered it comepletely empty, except for cubbies, sink, closet-all the stuff that was a permanent feature of the room. Since she was hired on short notice, she has only 4 days to order all that she needs, or it won’t come in time. Her budget is $25,000, divided as follows: 70% furniture 20% supplies 10% other. The school is exempt from taxes, but she still has to pay shiping.
So we basically have to go through 4 or 5 teaching magazines that my teacher has, find the stuff we need, write it down on the shipping forms, calculate the total and shipping, and make sure we don’t go over our budget. We have 4 class periods to do this, plus we can work in tutorial. I’m really happy-it’s a fun project, it relates to the real world, uses…well…not really advanced math, but better than what every body else is doing. And also, I’m doing the project with my best friend that I have in school!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope we do more projects like this in the future. The only downside is that we probably won’t get to do algebra.
We did algebra last year and it was so fun. We don’t get to do it until eight grade (next year) in my school. 