life: PREAKIN OUT

so... now that july is rollin out, i'm phreaking out about summur hmwk.

here's the horrid list:

1. read a chapter The Black Death

2. take notes

3. read the ENTIRE A World Lit Only By Fire

4. write an ESSAY on the both of them

5. read the ENTIRE Frankenstein novel

6. read the ENTIRE How to Read Literature Like a Professor (even tho my phresh lit teacher really liked it & claims it to be an amazing book)

7. watch the Matrix (i'm serious!)

8. ID all the countries on Europe (all of them! who the frigg is able to tell Yugoslavia & Czechoslovakia apart?!!)

it's just horrendous. it's phreaking me out. i mean, i have to read 3 WHOLE books (one of which is nonfiction), write an ESSAY when my brain's writing cells have been dead for weeks, AND be able to i.d. all those teeny countries on europe that nobody has even herd of!

nice.

good job.

cause i was the one to choose these A.P. classes.

i thought that AP Euro would be exciting, but rite now i'm just dreading it.

like, really, really, dreading it b/c it's something completely new--they don't teach european history in elementary school! it's going to be a LOT of history--all those countries, revolutions, kings, dukes, oh god.

so i'm starting now.

so far, frankenstein is okaaayyy i guess. the letters were soooo boring.

APUSH BREAKDOWN

ok. so this is what APUSH is:
Advanced Placement United States History

AP is a college-board backed program, equal to college-level studies. APUSH in particular is worth ONE semester's credit in college (IF you pass the APUSH exam, AND IF your college chooses to accept your credit; it's frustrating, like getting elementary school credit for algebra--YOU DID IT! YOU TOOK THE CLASS! YOU DIDN'T FAIL THE CLASS!! you just didn't meet that particular school's standards. but that's how it is.)

so, you basically take this class to pass ONE test: the AP exam. that's what it all comes down to--if you fail, it means there's no chance you're going to get college credit. that's all that matters--the AP exam.

here's the breakdown of the exam: it's
3hrs 5 min. exam total (185 min)
TWO parts:

1.) 80 multiple choice questions, 55 min. worth 50%

• 20% = 16 questions 1550-1789 (up to END of Am. Rev; Aztecs [cortez], incas, peru, columbus [hispaniola], 13 colonies [pocahontas, john rolfe, George II, Glorious Revolution, slavery, triangular trade, Navigation acts, Intolerable acts, boston tea party, lexington/concord, thomas paine, sons/daughters of liberty, olive branch petition, 1st/2nd continental congress, Constitution, bill of rights])
• 45%= 36 questions 1790-1914 (up to BEGINNING of WWI; War of 1812 [US v. GB; treaty of Ghent], Jefferson [louisiana purchase], Spanish-Am. War, Jackson, Mexican war [Texas; Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago], Civil warn [Lincoln, slavery, Ghettysburg Adress], McKinley [annexing Philippines/Hawaii], Teddy Roosevelt [Big Stick], Taft [dollar diplomacy], Wilson [WWI])
• 35% = 28 questions 1915-present (Post WWI-today; Wilson [14 points], Harding, WWII [FDR], Truman, Korea [Eisenhower], JFK, LBJ, Vietnam [Nixon ended], Carter, Reagan [conservatism])

2.) 3 Essays, 130 min. worth 50%

• 45% (60 min.): DBQ ea. 15min. REQ. READING time +45 min. SUGGESTED WRITING time x1 =60 min. worth 45% of your 50% essay grade; meaning 22.5% of entire exam grade
• 55% (70 min. total) Free Response 5 SUGGESTED thinking/brainstorm +30 SUGGESTED WRITING time= SUGGESTED to spend 35min. on each free response essay x2 =70 min. 55% (27.5% each); meaning it's worth 27.5% of entire exam grade; each is worth 13.75% of entire exam grade.

Scoring for MULTIPLE CHOICE:
1pt for every question right
-1/4 pt. for every question wrong (so there IS a punishment for guessing! but you also have to think about it: for every FOUR questions you get wrong = every ONE question you get right)
0 pts. for every question left blank (NO penalty for ommision)

Scoring For Exam:
Formula:

Mutiple Choice: Number Correct - (number incorrect x 0.25) = raw score (rounded to nearest whole #)

Essays: (DBQ score x4) + [(free response1+ free response2) x 2.44] =raw score (rounded to nearest whole number)

COMPOSITE SCORE:

Raw Multiple choice score (rounded) x 1.13 = weighted raw score

Raw Essay score (rounded) x 2.73 = weighted raw score

Last step: add up your two weighted scores.

Ranges:
180-114: 5 (dif. of 66) so it's the easiest to get a 5/5!!
113-91: 4 (diff of 22)
90-74: 3 (diff of 16)
73-49: 2 (diff of 24)
48-0: 1 (diff of 48)

here is the College Board Link for scoring/grade distribution: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/history_us/exam.html?ushist



i herd from friends that college board determines the ranges for scores every year in order for students to be evenly distributed, like a bell curve.
and it's true!! http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/history_us/dist.html?ushist
HERE IS A STRATEGY FOR MULTIPLE CHOICE:

• there are FIVE choices.
• if you can eliminate even ONE CHOICE then you should go for it. if you can't, then it's better for you to leave it blank.

AP is very strict. they give you a list of books you can use to teach the class, and you have to adapt to writing DBQs, and AP-styled questions.

Here are the recomended study guides from my friends: the Kaplan, and the Princeton Review. I would buy the newest ones, b/c they offer more experience as to old exam questions/DBQs. The one that I used was Fast Track to a 5: AP US History, but Barron's is what's most popular, and widely available. Flash cards sound VERY nice, esp. with writing essays--you need to remember key events, people, elections, laws, wars, treaties--NOTHING is given to you for the free response except for a question, which gives you the setting and topic, but you're on your own from there, so in a way the free-response is the harder one of the essays.

but MANY students consider the DBQ to be hardest because you have to ANALYZE and use given documents, AND use OUTSIDE information from your own knowledge to write it.
a good essay has:

1. a good thesis. it's basically what you're saying. it just answers the question/promt
2. a good introduction that presents the setting: the period, what's going on, ect.
3. 1:1 ratio of given information (documents) and outside information from your head
4. uses MOST of the given documents (normally there are ~15 given) to support/refute claim; DO NOT SUMMARIZE documents--which i also tend to do--say why they are relevant/important.
5. don't forget about a conclusion! you don't want to repeat your thesis, but you do want to recap...the intro and conclusions are the hardest parts of any essay, i would say, b/c you've already said what you wanted to, and you don't want to sound redundant/repetitive.

but MANY students consider the DBQ to be hardest because you have to ANALYZE and use given documents, AND use OUTSIDE information from your own knowledge to write it.


a good essay has:

1.  a good thesis. it just answers the question/promt
2. a good introduction that presents the setting: the period, what's going on, ect.
3. 1:1 ratio of given information (documents) and outside information from your head
4. uses MOST of the given documents (normally there are ~15 given) to support/refute claim; DO NOT SUMMARIZE documents--which i also tend to do--say why they are relevant/important.
5. don't forget about a conclusion! you don't want to repeat your thesis, but you do want to recap...the intro and conclusions are the hardest parts of any essay, i would say, b/c you've already said what you wanted to, and you don't want to sound redundant/repetitive.

**they USED announce the time period for the DBQ, but college board stopped doing that a few years back (2000, 2002-3) b/c teachers would only focus on that time period. it's sad.**

APUSH stuyding...aka crammin

sooo.... this week will be ALL about APUSH. b/c

1. thursday i left my txt book @ skool. so i couldn't read chapter 42. so i coursnoted it.
2. so i read chapter 42 today. saturday.
3. i need to move onto chapter 43. and FINISH it b/c...on 4/19 i need to study for the mock exam.
4. so... 4/18 (2morrow) i need 2 study 4 the first DBQ part of the mock exam (4/20).... 1550-end of civil war
5. on 4/22 i don't have skool, so i'll study 4 the multiple choice part of the exam.
6. i need to do the 70s RRJ!! due ON 4/19!! so cruel!! searcy still gave us hmwk when she KNEW we had to cram and study 4 the exam... !! (TT_TT)

ADGENDA......................
4/20: 1st day of mock exam/ AP registration/ chem make up!!/ RRJ due!!
4/23: 2nd day of mock exam
5/7: (two weeks later) REAL AP exam

I herd from my friends JUST NOW that apparently, the Kaplan & Princeton AP Prep Books are the best. when i've been using the Fast Track To a 5 prep book for 3 weeks already. nice. the reason why i chose it was b/c it was the newest one...@ my skool library (2009) (the librarian was like, "We just got this yesterday!") it had quizes on the end of every chapter, it was compatible w/ American Pagent (the 14/15 edition, and i was using the 11th edition, so it's a bit off, but still compatible....)

but the stupid thing w/ it is that it's due in 2 weeks, and non-renewable. i checked it out 5 weeks before the real AP exam. but the librarian was kind enough to extend it 4 one week... still, it's not enough... 10 cents/day... (TT_TT) i'll just have to give them up, or find a new one from my local library... which i hope is well stocked...

last time for mid-terms no one checked out the APUSH prep books, so i hope this time no one checked them out either... as in, "gee, I hope that no local H.S. teaches APUSH...therefore no one would check them out".... but no luck... only one copy left... and i'll only get it if no one else checks it out before i do...(TT_TT) misery...

NCP: Freshmen & block scheduling

visit wikipedia! i edit the page for northside!

I should have started writing this as a freshman, but i didn't, so here i am now.

 

maybe cause i'm a nerd, but i found myself one day on wikipedia.org and saw northside's page. how little info on there surprized me.

 

So, options for freshmen:

 

• MATH (IMP): 1 (algebra) or 2 (geometry) you can skip into IMP2 by placement testing or getting credit from your previous school. only approved programs can give credit--i was so surprized and maddened by this: all of us in algebra that year knew algebra. we just didn't get credit. so unfair.
• LITURATURE: Survey of Lit. or Speech & Debate: only can be skipped by credit. only option when i was a freshman, but know, you can aparently skip to British Liturature (Lit. 3)! so unfair. last year's freshmen HAD to take speech & debate. (normally it is an elective for lit. credit)
• P.E.: not optional. you HAVE to take health/physical education. it works like this: 1st quarter: you either do P.E. or health; next quarter you would do something else. (ie, you have P.E. 1st quarter--next quarter, you'll take health)
• SOCIAL SCIENCE (social studies) WORLD STUDIES or APUSH. not by placement testing.
• SCIENCE: physics. YOU HAVE TO TAKE PHYSICS FRESHMEN YEAR. no other choice.
• ELECTIVE: any elective is open to freshmen:
• art (I or II: only skip by putting together a art portfolio and submitting),
• music (chorus [singing], band [wind instruments], orchestra [strings]),
• computers (either computer science [basic computer stuff] or alice [softwear programming]).

 

... so yea.
HOW THE DAY WORKS:
7:55am-8:05am:Advisory (A.K.A. homeroom) for 10 min. they do take attendence!
TARDIES: line up. have IDs out. if you don't have it, they need to print one out for you. $1.
8:05am-8:10am: Passing Period. they *normally* put on music to signal end/start of passing period. 8 min. for all except for advisory-->1st block (it's only 5 min.)
8:10am-9:50am: 1st/5th block (all full blocks are 100 min: ~2 hrs)
9:50am-9:58am: passing period
9:58am-11:38am: 2nd/6th blcok
11:38am-11:46am: passing period
11:46am-1:26pm: 3rd/7th block
1:26pm-1:34pm: passing period
1:34pm-3:14pm: 4th/8th block last block of the day. we get out @ pi. lol. 3:14 nerds.
there are such things has 1/2 block!!!
so: half block. lunch is one of them. you get ~50 min to eat lunch. or do homework. they only serve food the first 15~20 min of lunch.
2a & 6a lunch/block
3a & 7a lunch/block
so this is how it works: you get either a 2A, 3A, 6A, or 7A lunch. that takes up 1/2 block. the nest block is a class. so that class (whatever it may be, like health/P.E. or any other class) you will have everyday.

visit wikipedia! i edit the page for northside! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northside_college_prep

northside offers: (used to offer Korean, but b/c of budget and small classroom size, the course was dropped in the 2009-2010 school year)

• Mandarin Chinese
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Latin
• Spanish

English:

• English I-IV
• AP Lit&Comp
• AP Lang&Comp
• Jornalism I-IV
• Creative Writing I & II (must be at least a sophomore, complete an application, and be approved)Shakespeare & Contemporary Fiction (must be at least a sophomore)
• Multicultural Lit.
• Reading & Writing Across Disciplines (must be at least a junior and receive approval)
• Drama (must be at least a sophomore)
• Speech & Debate I & II (must submit an application and receive approval)
• Topics in World Lit: Existential Lit (must be at least a sophomore)

Social Science

• World Studies
• HUSH
• History of Chicago
• Soc/Psych
• APUSH
• AP Psych
• AP US Gov
• AP Micro
• AP Europ
• Sustainable Engineering & Economic Development

Science:

• Physics
• Chem
• Bio
• Marine Sci
• Enviro

Math:

• IMP I-IV
• AP Stat
• AP Calc
• Multi-variable

Open House

So. Today we had open house, and I was one of the tourguides. A lot of my friends were there. What we did was just take a group of interested parents/future-NCPers and show them what we have to offer.

a lot of the parents wandered off during the tour, which disapointed me. a lot of them didn't ask questions, which is exactly what I would have done, except i now realize how much you can get from asking questions. so, it was a bit awkward the entire time... it was just a lot of fact-rattling, but thing is, i really do feel proud of being a northsider.

i would love to do this next year!!

i remember this one azn mother bringing in her 7 year old sons to see the school--talk about wow! it's like getting into standford or ivy league!

but getting into hs in chicago IS like getting into college--applications, grades, reccomendations, tests, entrance exams, registration, rejected credits...

but now that CPS does not enforce the desegregation law as of the next school year (2010-2011), the school will FOR SURE be ruled by asians--30% of it ALREADY IS azn--the same as whites.

i know that this is racist, but i KNOW that a lot of the minority students did not meet academic standards, but they were admitted because of the de-segregation law.

walking around in NS hallways, you know for sure that this is a predominately white/asian hs. you see few and rare african american students.

even on the faculty, you only see a few african american teachers. (but there are also few latino teachers, and a few handfull of asn teachers, so it's not directed towards racism i guess)

the regimine is VERY rigorous here @ NS, but nothing we can't handle.

all classes are honors or AP (except P.E., health, sex ed, & driver's ed)

all-honors sounds SO intimidating, but it isn't. honors is VERY easy.

by junior year, ALL students are expected to take on @ least ONE AP class (**this is only what i feel, not what was expressed by the faculty**)--i say this b/c sophomore year, you can choose wether to take AP or Honors US History, but junior year, you can choose an AP science, AP social science, AP english course--EVERYONE has a chance to get an AP class of their strength.

and by senior year, you HAVE to take all AP classes (**once again, it is what I feel, not as expressed by faculty) since you have SO many oppertunities in every subject to go AP.