Final Exams Approach

As we move into the end of the first semester, a couple of important reminders...

• US History AP- final grades for this course will also be the final grades for Saint Louis University. The students have their term papers due on December 16th. I have set up "mile marker" assignments to force the kids to complete parts of the paper as they go. There should be no need for a last minute cram session on the paper. The final draft will need to be uploaded to the Virtual School by 12:05AM on December 16th. Hard copies are due in class on that day. Since students can upload from home, no late papers will be accepted. The final exams are scheduled for December 18th. I encourage students to form study groups and start looking ahead at their plan for preparation. I will be grading the papers over the winter break so grades will be posted in January as soon as I am finished.

• US Government and Politics AP- all papers are graded and ready to be returned. The students need to finish thier online quizzes, complete the articles online, and take the final test (December 11 and 14 are the writing and the 15th is the forced choice). The final exam is designed to mirror a formal AP exam in content. A review sheet and list of all possible essay questions was given out Monday in class. Students should be looking these over and meeting to practice the essays this week. I will be grading the last essays over the winter break so final grades will be available in January.

Papers and Final Exams

Junior parents- The final payments for 1818 ACC tuition were due December 1st. Any student not paid in full will be dropped by SLU this week. Remember that the AP option still exists for students who wish to earn college credit.

Junior papers were returned this week. I will have these grades added to the Virtual School grabebook later in the week. Students were given a re-write opportunity, and those who took advantage of this did exceptionally well on the paper. The term paper was assigned two weeks ago, and students set their class deadlines this week. The final paper is due December 16th, right before the final exam. You will be asked to read their drafts and to sign a signature card to that effect. This forces them to proofread their writing.

Senior parents- The final papers have been turned in, and I will be grading these over the next few weeks. Aside from a few quizzes, the class has to concentrate on the upcoming final exam in the next few weeks. It is 50% of thier final grade, so the emphasis on studying is strong.

For all classes, the final exams are a significant part of the course grade. Students should start forming study groups NOW and reviewing material. Waiting until the last minute will not be productive for the semester long exams. For many students, this will be the first true semester exam that they experience. I will offer review sessions at school to help ease the stress. Please let me know of any concerns that you have.

Appraoching the Final Stretch...

US History AP/ACC:

• Remember that payments to Saint Louis University are due by December 1st or students will be dropped from the SLU course. This will not impact their enrollment at Belleville West. If you have questions about enrollment at SLU, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at bhentze@bths201.org.
• As with last triad, all the content quizzes are now open and can be taken by students at any time before December 14th. Make sure you encourage them to pace themselves and not wait until the last minute before taking the quizzes!
• Students have their term papers assigned so you should be seeing them working on their research. Papers will be due the week before final exams. You will be asked to sign a signature card showing the you have reviewed the first draft and final draft with your students.
  

United States Government and Politics AP

• The final test will be administered before seniors are released for the semester. The test will count as 50% of their grade- so encourage studying early and often.
  
• Term papers have been returned- there over 70% scored in the A-B range.
  
• Triad quizzes will be due on December 14th, make sure to remind your son or daughter not to procrastinate in getting these done!
  

Triad Grades and College Payments

The US Government and Politics class opted to bypass their midterm exam in lieu of a final exam for the semester. This means that there will only be a few incremental grades this triad as I finish grading their semester papers. The final exam will now weight 50% of their total grade. SO far I have seen a decline in daily homeowrk and online participation from the students. I would encourage you to talk wtih them frequently about keeping up their senior grades. Contrary to popular belief, the last two semesters DO count for college admissions. Schools will rescind admission and scholarship offers if final semester grades are lower than anticipated.

The United States History AP class should be fully registered at SLU by now. Payment should be mailed directly to the university. Any students who are not paid will simply be withdrawn from the course by SLU. Just a reminder that all students will be encouraged to take the Advacned Placement test in May as another opportunity for college credit. The juniors did complete the midterm exams, and I have one test left to administer for a student who was absent the day of the exam. Once this studnet makes her appointment, I can begin calculating the curve and transfer the grade over to the new online system.

College Application Day

I have heard from quite a few parents that their students are really procrasitnating on completing college applications. I thought it might help if I hold a "college applicaton day" on Sunday, October 25th starting at 2:00PM. I invited all of the kids to bring in their applications, and we will all sit down and get them completed together. Nothing like a little peer pressure to get the job done!

Midterms, Field Experiences, and Papers= Oh, my

It is misterm exam season already, and the parents of juniors have already noticed the frantic look that overtakes their children at this time of year. The junior midterm is complete as of today, and the kids have really impressed me with their preparation. I browsed through some of the writing and it is looking good from the initial glances. They should have this back in about 2 weeks. The forced choice portion of the exam is today, and those results are immediate so the kids should have an idea of how they scored. Each part of the exam counts as 50% of the exam grade.

Tomorrow the juniors go on their field experience. They are to wear "wedding clothes" , but I recommended jackets as well since the weather will be chilly in Alton. It should be an exciting day for them, and I look forward to hearing from you on what they think.

The seniors are voting now on their midterm. They did not have the sense of urgency that the juniors did about preparation, and I am very concerned about their readiness for the exam. I have given them two options in order to "shock" them into action. They can either move the midterm back one week so they have more time to prepare, or they can not take a midterm and just have a final exam that is 50% of their grade (as of now the midterm is 24% and the final is 25%). We will go with the majority vote using an online polling tool. They should know the results on Friday.

Midterm Exams

I apologize for the delay in posting to the blog. I got caught up studying for an exam that I had to take at SLU, and I lost track of my last post.

The Midterm Exams have been scheduled for the next few weeks. Students should begin studying now in order to prepare for the exams. I recommend that they form study groups to go through the content chapter by chapter. Of course, there are several online resources available to help as well.

The US History AP exam is scheduled for October 20, 21, and 22.

The US Government and Politics AP exam is scheduled for October 26 and 27.

The field experience for each class is the day immediately following the exam.

US History papers are due on Monday, October 19th.

Field Experiences

US Government and Politics AP just completed the first of two field experiences last week. The visit to the Federal Court House was an exciting experience. We were able to visit three trials both at the circuit and appellate levels. The kids met two federal judges, a United States Attorney, and a US Marshal. From their reflections it seemed like a valuable learning experience.

I am in the process of planning their second experience for the end of October. We will be visiting the Veto Session of the Illinois General Assembly and meeting staff from the Office of the Governor. I am working with Senator Clayborne's office to finalize the details in the next few days.

The United States History AP classes will be taking their trip on October 23rd. We will be going to the Old Court House in St. Louis to re-enact the trial of Dredd Scott in the original setting. From there we will depart for Alton, Illinois where we will receive a guided tour of the Underground Railroad sites in the city. There will be a nominal cost to the students of $5 to cover the guided tour.

I look forward to seeing our students benefit from seeing their learning come to life!


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Triad Grades

I have finished calculating the triad grade for the first grading period. As in the past, the first grading period is usually a shock for students in Advanced Placement courses. There are only a small number of points awarded the first triad, so any missed work will result in a significant decline. Overall the grades were good with a majority of students scoring in the A and B range.

Students who scored below a B usually did so for one of two reasons. First, the student missed an online quiz and received a zero for this grade. This is usually the first wake-up call that planning must be done to complete quizzes on time. Second, students failed to complete their online coursework such as posting to discussion forums or completing online note-taking over articles or web pages. Online class participation is a significant part of the overall course grade (both course syllabi are available online with the grade breakdowns included).

The good news is that there are significantly more points (hundreds!) left in the semester. As I mentioned at parent night, grades can make serious "swings" as the weeks progress.

The grade breakdowns by course are as follow:

US History 5-6AP
27 A's
12 B's
6 C's
5 D's
2 F's

United States Government and Politics AP
21 A's
10 B's
13 C's
4 D's
8 F's

Week of September 21

This week things are moving along quickly for the US Government and Politics AP course. The major paper was assigned last week and is due in next Thursday. No one has made any appointments with me to review their writing, so either there is some procrastination or strong confidence. I was also able to finalize the field experience to the Federal Court House in St. Louis. The clerk has scheduled to to visit three trials and meetings with a Federal Marshal and a United States Attorney. I hope this trip will help the students gain a better understanding of the judicial branch.

The US History AP classes finished the John Adams mini-series. I think that it was a great alternative to lecturing on the Washington-Adams years. There were even some tears during the emotional last episode when Adams and Jefferson pass away. Make sure that everyone stays up on the online quizzes. Remember that notes, textbooks, teh internet, and friends are all valid resources to use!

Week of September 14

After some problems with the Virtual School on Sunday, our technicians have everything up and running. All due dates and deadlines were adjusted accordingly. Most of the kids seemed to handle it in stride.

The Govenrment and Politics class finished up the Judicial Branch this week. The kids got to know the justices better after watching two online interviews with Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Ask them what they thought of these two men- it provoves a wide variety of responses. The first paper was assigned yesterday and is due on October 1st. I am stressing that they need to work over time rather than try to cram it in to the last minute. The assignment must be uploaded to the Virtual School by midnight that night so no 3AM scrambling.

The United States History classses continued to watch the John Adams mini-series to see how the politics of early America played out. Students have a variety of nightly assignments that are suppsoed to review major concepts and preprare them with the background for the video segment each day. I have seen a great deal of neglect in the nightly assignments (only 2-3 students had yesterday's homework complete) with the thought that we are "just watching the movie". I have emphasized that these assignments are designed to highlight major events in the movie which is used in lieu of class lecture. If you see a lull in homework, please reinforce that it needs to be done nightly.

Quizzes and College Credit

The students had their first online quiz to complete, and many passed with flying colors. There was some concern about the overall grade, but I reminded them that there are two bonus points on each quiz so it only counts out of 10 instead of the 12 shown. Keep that in mind as you look at grades online, the overall course grade in the Virtual School will be a little lower than their actual grade. I encourage students to keep track of their points using a spreadsheet (or even plain old paper) so they are always up to date. Some students forgot to take the quiz and received zeroes. I encourage them to set weekly reminders on their cell phones so you may want to reinforce that as well.

Juniors registered with SLU for ACC enrollment. We are slowly starting to get the names and numbers in from the university. In my classes we had 53 enrolled which is almost 100% of the class. Remember that SLU bills will come in October addressed to the student.

I have added several new links on the junior website for students and parents with information about ACC and AP. This includes SLU's parent page as well as the AP website that allows you to check for what credit options that they offer. Use these tools in college planning with your son or daughter.

The US History classes are woking on the American Revolution and watching the John Adams miniseries in class. Make sure you ask what preconceptions the series has revealed about the American Revolution so far. We will continue to watch the series as the kids complete homeowork that complements each episode.

The Policial Science classes just finished the political theory chapter (one of the hardest), but they excelled at mastering some abstract concepts. We began the junicial branch this week and had a great discussion about who should be on the Supreme Court. All of this is leading up to their first paper assignment coming soon!

Start of the Year Policies

If you have questions about the AP policies for the start of the year and grading, please see the Start of the Year Policies posted in each of the Virtual School classrooms.

Reminder of Deadlines

Just a few reminders to discuss with your students:

1. Friday, August 29th- the deadline for the Pre-Test at 11:55PM. Check to see if your student has completed their quiz early. The Pre-Test will appear in the grade listing, BUT it will not factor into their running grade. At the end of the semester, a Post-Test will be given. The highest of these grades will be used at this time.

2. Friday, September 4th- the last date to register for the ACC program. We have had an overwhelming response to the program so the registration sessions filled up quickly. In order to open up space, I will be taking my classes to the Computer Lab during school hours to register.

3. Thursday, September 10th- the last day for students to switch from AP to traditional United States History. After this date, students must be remain in the AP course through the end of the semester.

If you have time, please sign up to follow this blog so I know someone is out there....!

ACC/AP Parent Night

Immediately following Open House, there will be an informational Q and A regarding the dual enrollment options for US History. All parents of juniors are strongly encouraged to attend in B232.

ACC Registration for Juniors

Junior students who are interested in taking their course for college credit must complete an online registration with St. Louis University no later than Friday, September 4th.

Students must attend one of the following sessions in order to register for the course. No late registrations will be accepted:

• Tuesday, September 2nd at 8AM
• Wednesday, September 3rd at 3:35PM
• Thursday, September 4th at 8AM
• Friday, September 5th at 3:35PM

No money is required at the time of registration. A bill will be sent to the student from SLU.

We encourage all students to sign up for the course if they meet eligibility requirements outlined by SLU. Students will have until October 30th to to cancel their registration and receive a full refund. The billed cost will be $180 per semester.

Welcome AP Parents

This is a weekly blog to update parents on news and information for the United States History 5-6AP (juniors) and US Government and Politics AP (seniors). The blog will be updated no later than Sunday of each week.