All-Star You Might Be A Crazy Cheer Mom If...... (confession Time)

[SL&AM]

I feel like some of the solutions are applicable for smaller schools, but my HS was 9-12 and had 4000 kids. If the kid didn't care the school let them fail and they were sent to the remedial HS. Interestingly enough, many of those kids then succeeded at the remedial HS because it was smaller and they were given more individualized attention. I think the real problem is the size of some schools. In reality high schoolers are just like really big elementary school kids. And no one would dare have an elementary school of 4000.

This sounds like my high school; I'll never forget my freshman meeting at the start of the year, the principal said look to your left, now look to your right, half of the people sitting in this room will not graduate. I sat with just under 1500 students, I graduated in a class of 600 and something students.

I also think small class sizes are to everyone's benefit. In our elementary school, 18 is the max allowed. CP's is at 18 exactly, while DP only has 14 (she's in Kindergarten). If they have even one child over is the number required, the school is fined over $1,000 a day. There are 7 total Kindergarten classes and I wanna say 6 1st Grade.

 

[purplecheer]

This sounds like my high school; I'll never forget my freshman meeting at the start of the year, the principal said look to your left, now look to your right, half of the people sitting in this room will not graduate. I sat with just under 1500 students, I graduated in a class of 600 and something students.

I also think small class sizes are to everyone's benefit. In our elementary school, 18 is the max allowed. CP's is at 18 exactly, while DP only has 14 (she's in Kindergarten). If they have even one child over is the number required, the school is fined over $1,000 a day. There are 7 total Kindergarten classes and I wanna say 6 1st Grade.

Big classes are fun for subjects where there is a lot of discussion eg. English, but math you really need a small size so you can ask for help. I was a person who would get about 90% in math, but I still asked for help a lot. Like probably about 5 times per class, because if there was one thing I wasn't 100% sure on, I HAD to know. What if it was on the test? Out teacher would constantly be helping people, and I would say we had about 22 students attend each day, but about 25 in the class. The wait for help was 5-10 minutes and sometimes I could move on and come back, but sometimes I had to wait. I think if we had 14 students, people could have learnt more because they would get more help. This year we have about 20 students. On the other hand, my pottery class is about 18 students and I like it.

 

[Flexiii_Lexiii]

See I graduated in a class of 93 students and attended a high school of 292, 2 of which were foreign exchange. I was Class of 15, Class of 13 graduated with 60 kids, everyone in my class graduated, I think 13 only had 1-5 students that didn't graduate. Small town has K-5 (previously 4th until about my freshman or sophomore year), 6-8, and 9-12.

 

[cheerisloving]

Our classes were smaller based on difficulty/popularity. AP English had four class periods, two for two teachers. AP Bio only had one section. But the school did a good job with splitting classes when they were too big. I remember getting a schedule change the first week of school into a gov. class of about 25? By the end of the week I was in another Gov. class created because the other classes were so full, with about 12 kids.

I think we had about 1300 kids in the school when I was there, my class had 300 kids. About 15% of the class was ranked with 3.5's and above.

 

[CEAisstronger]

Our classes were smaller based on difficulty/popularity. AP English had four class periods, two for two teachers. AP Bio only had one section. But the school did a good job with splitting classes when they were too big. I remember getting a schedule change the first week of school into a gov. class of about 25? By the end of the week I was in another Gov. class created because the other classes were so full, with about 12 kids.

I think we had about 1300 kids in the school when I was there, my class had 300 kids. About 15% of the class was ranked with 3.5's and above.

Mine was similar about that. I was in an Econ class that was full but I sadly ended up dropping that class because my guidance counselor messed up my schedule and every single Econ class was full.

My AP French class is for the whole county, not just my own school. Basically every junior and senior student has the opportunity to go to this "other school" for more class opportunities. The class has 7 students. It's a great learning experience and we're all really good friends now.

On the other hand, my AP Lit class at my home school has about 25 students and there's about 6 Lit classes in the school because some students opt to take it at the other school.

In a way, the other school elevates some overcrowding of classes.


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[cheerisloving]

Mine was similar about that. I was in an Econ class that was full but I sadly ended up dropping that class because my guidance counselor messed up my schedule and every single Econ class was full.

My AP French class is for the whole county, not just my own school. Basically every junior and senior student has the opportunity to go to this "other school" for more class opportunities. The class has 7 students. It's a great learning experience and we're all really good friends now.

On the other hand, my AP Lit class at my home school has about 25 students and there's about 6 Lit classes in the school because some students opt to take it at the other school.

In a way, the other school elevates some overcrowding of classes.


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We have another 'school' as well. Students from around the county can take trade courses like cosmetology, physical therapy, child development or tech classes. There are three periods of these classes throughout the day, one in the morning, midday and afternoon, buses to transport everyone. It also serves as an alternate choice for some at risk students.

 

[CEAisstronger]

We have another 'school' as well. Students from around the county can take trade courses like cosmetology, physical therapy, child development or tech classes. There are three periods of these classes throughout the day, one in the morning, midday and afternoon, buses to transport everyone. It also serves as an alternate choice for some at risk students.

That's exactly what ours is, as well as more advanced classes and there's two periods of these classes.


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[omgitssydthekid]

We have another 'school' as well. Students from around the county can take trade courses like cosmetology, physical therapy, child development or tech classes. There are three periods of these classes throughout the day, one in the morning, midday and afternoon, buses to transport everyone. It also serves as an alternate choice for some at risk students.

We had this, it was called "vo-tech" for vocational/technical studies. My district had two high schools, and for high level courses we often shared students/teachers since the second high school was added my junior year.


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[Beans100]

We had this, it was called "vo-tech" for vocational/technical studies. My district had two high schools, and for high level courses we often shared students/teachers since the second high school was added my junior year.


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I think that this is a great idea for students who don't fit the typical student mold. I knew a lot of people who were smart but didn't do well in school because their learning styles differed from what teachers expected. Personally, I'm a hands on learner. I did well in high school because I had parents who checked my grades and made sure that I was putting in enough time and effort for studies. However, left to my own devices, I really hate going to class, sitting through lectures, taking notes, and listening to a professor blah,blah,blah about shakespeare. I think that a lot of students struggle with the current education system, more than teachers and parents realize. I hope that more schools implement programs like this so students have options. If a student chooses their own path, their more likely to stick to it and learn something that they can apply when they graduate.

 

[cheerisloving]

We had this, it was called "vo-tech" for vocational/technical studies. My district had two high schools, and for high level courses we often shared students/teachers since the second high school was added my junior year.


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Now we didn't share for AP or academic courses. But I will say my school has been commended for how it teaches AP. At the other schools AP students are really left on their own, and while AP is supposed to be harder, these are still high schoolers some just in the 9th grade. We had the choice to take a study period dedicated to only AP students, where there are AP teachers in every subject available to help. Even if you weren't in AP it is not crazy to see kids spending lunch or after school time with teachers who stay around late just to help out.

I interned at an educational solutions company for 3 years and my parent works in education. I find that teachers really can make a difference. It's the teacher that works with students that really make an impact and have the best overall grades.

 

[CheerBank]

Now we didn't share for AP or academic courses. But I will say my school has been commended for how it teaches AP. At the other schools AP students are really left on their own, and while AP is supposed to be harder, these are still high schoolers some just in the 9th grade. We had the choice to take a study period dedicated to only AP students, where there are AP teachers in every subject available to help. Even if you weren't in AP it is not crazy to see kids spending lunch or after school time with teachers who stay around late just to help out.

I interned at an educational solutions company for 3 years and my parent works in education. I find that teachers really can make a difference. It's the teacher that works with students that really make an impact and have the best overall grades.

I think there are some schools who offer AP courses simple for bragging rights. Not saying that this is the case with your school, but we have a nearby school district that claims 90% of their students take AP classes. Which I am sure is true, but I'd rather see what the students got on the AP exam and whether or not they earned college credit for it (or were close to the national average).

And agree with you 100% on the teacher making the difference. That holds true all throughout school and into college as well.

 

[omgitssydthekid]

Now we didn't share for AP or academic courses. But I will say my school has been commended for how it teaches AP. At the other schools AP students are really left on their own, and while AP is supposed to be harder, these are still high schoolers some just in the 9th grade. We had the choice to take a study period dedicated to only AP students, where there are AP teachers in every subject available to help. Even if you weren't in AP it is not crazy to see kids spending lunch or after school time with teachers who stay around late just to help out.

I interned at an educational solutions company for 3 years and my parent works in education. I find that teachers really can make a difference. It's the teacher that works with students that really make an impact and have the best overall grades.

I never took AP credit in high school so I couldn't say how those classes were run, I took dual credit classes instead so I would automatically get college credit instead of having to take a test to get it. Our teachers were really hands on with us, I couldn't have asked for better teachers.


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[cheerisloving]

I think there are some schools who offer AP courses simple for bragging rights. Not saying that this is the case with your school, but we have a nearby school district that claims 90% of their students take AP classes. Which I am sure is true, but I'd rather see what the students got on the AP exam and whether or not they earned college credit for it (or were close to the national average).

And agree with you 100% on the teacher making the difference. That holds true all throughout school and into college as well.

They brag on the numbers, being a minority-majority school. Almost 20 years ago there were very few minority students in AP classes, after forming a group for high achieving minority students, and pushing them to take challenging courses. Now it is the norm to take at least one AP course. Anyone can sign up for AP, which other schools in the area do not allow. If someone struggles they can switch out or some stick it out and end up doing very well. AP scores are not always subjective to difficulty and students success in the class. I got a 2 on an exam, but had A's and B's in the class. I had an A in my AP Spanish Lit class and got a 3 on the exam. A friend got a 2 in AP World but had an A in the class.

 

[CEAisstronger]

AP scores are not always subjective to difficulty and students success in the class. I got a 2 on an exam, but had A's and B's in the class. I had an A in my AP Spanish Lit class and got a 3 on the exam. A friend got a 2 in AP World but had an A in the class.

That's so accurate. I got a 2 on the AP Enviornmental Science exam but I had an A in the class, while I got a 4 on the AP Psych Exam but had a B in the class.


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[SL&AM]

They brag on the numbers, being a minority-majority school. Almost 20 years ago there were very few minority students in AP classes, after forming a group for high achieving minority students, and pushing them to take challenging courses. Now it is the norm to take at least one AP course. Anyone can sign up for AP, which other schools in the area do not allow. If someone struggles they can switch out or some stick it out and end up doing very well. AP scores are not always subjective to difficulty and students success in the class. I got a 2 on an exam, but had A's and B's in the class. I had an A in my AP Spanish Lit class and got a 3 on the exam. A friend got a 2 in AP World but had an A in the class.

I personally think AP courses are a waste of time when you can go through an entire course and waste a year and still not walk out with college credit.