Sometimes you just get lucky...

But sometimes you just don't.

This is the first year of a new curriculum in our district, and so far we've heard from the teachers that they are using tests they haven't seen before.  What does that even mean? is what we're wondering, until we sit down with the test and begin to understand.

And not only that:  a new grading system, weighted grades on a 70/30 split, and a much-dreaded (by the teachers!) cumulative semester exam that will be 10% of our grade. This test is SO ominous, apparently, that we are encouraged not to miss ANY days of school so as not to lose our test waivers. (Which means a lot of us are showing up sick for school, including tests, but that's another post for another day.)

The good news? This will be the first year my class will NOT spend most of the second semester preparing for the four TAKS tests we've taken every year since the third grade.

I know someone who chose to go to a college that doesn't give grades, just some kind of annual evaluation by professors about strengths and weaknesses, growth and development, etc. He said he was tired of all the intensity and competition at his big, crowded high school. I understand, I really do.

What would I choose for myself if I could choose something completely different?

Classes smaller than 35-40,  for one thing; hallways that aren't so crowded that we experiment with one-way routes (like that works any better!); and no 45-minute classes with a 5-minute bell schedule. If I never hear another bell that will be just fine with me, or see another clock on the wall stopped at some impossible time.

It's still a little strange to think that now is the time when I can make a different choice about what I want next for myself.

When one essay is not enough

I wrote a pretty good essay last May, for my English class as practice for the Common App essay. It earned me an A-, which was high praise from that teacher.

But. After rewriting that essay over the summer, I came to a place where I was happy with the writing but not happy with the essay. It wasn't what I wanted to say about me. It said something, a lot actually, just not what I think is most important for someone to know about me.

So I've started over, and my weekends have become these essay islands located between each week's homework flood. I sit down at the dining room table and outline, or jot down random thoughts: what is it that I want readers - strangers who will decide my fate - to know about me if this is ALL they will know? No pressure, right?

I'm trying to think of four or five words that describe me. Some I'm considering: optimistic, determined, independent.

I'm also thinking about whether I want to show (by telling a story that reveals these things about me) or tell (laying out my thoughts and opinions)...

Quotes or no quotes? Funny or serious?

Sometimes I'm tempted to just use the essay I spent so long polishing, but then I think about how I'll feel if I don't get in to the college I'm applying Early Decision to. What if a better essay - a truer essay - would have made the difference?

500 important words.

There's gotta be an app for that, right?

I want what I once had. Yes, I am now that old, that I can write something like that.

I used to have a Palm Pilot - this was grade school, 5th grade I think. Probably my mom's old one or something. But here's the thing:  I had this great program for homework and studying, and I didn't appreciate it then. I want one like it now.

Using a stylus, you pecked around on the screen's drop down boxes, selecting options in ever increasing detail. Homework? Which subject? Worksheet, read pages __-__, study for test, project, paper, or other? Due date? Need more than one day? Want reminders? and so on.

Then you could set up a whole other set of reminders under "Need to take home" and "Need to bring to school"

And it populated a calendar as well as a To Do list.

How awesome is that?

It was called "Shadow Warrior" or something and it could be customized.

I am on a mission to find one like it.

Lessons from college visits

You don't know until you stand on the campus, eat in the cafeteria, and talk to some students.

Some colleges are just what you thought they'd be, but in my experience there are usually some surprises, not all deal-breakers, but some sure are.

One college I thought would be perfect turned out to feel like a small private high school, even though the campus wasn't all that small. It's just that the buildings, and all the rooms in the buildings, just felt small and kind of dark. I think it must have been all the big shady tress, but I just didn't like the feel. Great food, though. Gulag style dorms.

Another college I thought would be too big felt just right, a combination of the campus layout and the town it was in. I could see myself living there.

This is going to be tough, but try not to make your decision based on your tour guide, because their experiences may not be what you'll experience.  But I have to say that's really hard to do, because you wonder if all the students are like this one person, who may be annoying or just, well, not like you or your friends.

One of the whole points to going away to college is going away, right? Going away from your high school groups, whatever they were, and going away from your past in a lot of ways. Something new, different and even a little bit foreign might be a good thing. Right?

New element on the periodic table

High-school chemistry students, beware. Japanese scientists say they have created one of the elements still missing from the periodic table. The elusive element 113—an atom with 113 protons—has to be manmade because it doesn't occur naturally on Earth. On Wednesday, researchers at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science announced the successful creation of the element for the first time. If the atom withstands scrutiny, it will be the first element discovered by an Asian country, giving Japan naming rights. So far, only American, Russian, and German scientists have had the honor. There are about 20 synthetic elements, the first of which was created in 1940.

Read it at CBS News

September 26, 2012 4:19 PM

I'm going to need a bigger backpack.

Just when you think you've got your routines down, your desk set up, all your studying ready to go...then, boom! AP Chemistry lands in your life.

Worth it? Yes - just take a look at any college's AP credit page, and then think for a minute about just how big a classroom (auditorium?) would have to be to hold the 300-550 students in an intro chem class.

Bigger backpack. More pizza.

Senior. Like the sound. Now for the reality.

A class period off. Off campus privileges for lunch. Reserved parking space. Prom. All good, right?

College applications, essays, decisions, visits.

And then there's the work, the classes, the tests, the homework.

Pacing is all. Ok, sleep too. Maybe breakfast.