Friday, January 9, 2009

Electric Newt Squad Discussion

As Midyear Exams approach, reflect on your high school experience thus far. Was the first half of freshman year everything you expected? Describe some of the positive and negative aspects of the experience in a posted comment here (make sure to sign your comment with your first name and last initial). Mentors- please post a comment highlighting the differences between freshman year and the consecutive academic years at Norton.

After posting a comment, respond to at least five peer comments (make sure to name the person you are directing the comment to and to sign your comment with your first name and last initial).

When you are done with this, click here to visit Mr. Dewar's blog. Read and consider the 7 survival skills described under his "The Global Achievement Gap" posting. Offer a comment to this post discussing your assessment of these skills.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Emily H. (Mentor)
Last year at this time, I was extremely nervous about midterms and didn't know what to expect. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but they are still overwhelming. This year as a sophomore I know now what to expect and how much I need to prepare for the exams. Since I am no longer a freshman, I feel more comfortable taking midterms because I know what to expect.

Anonymous said...

High school turned out to be alot different then i thought it was going to be. Sometimes it's really good and sometimes it's really bad. I like having longer classes this year because it makes the day go by faster. I don't like unnecessary upperclassmen who try to act tough for no reason when they don't even know me. Overall, high school has been good but i miss middle school alot too. I think next year will be better though and i have a feeling this year will get better as the year goes on.

Anonymous said...

School is been boring so far. Advisory is fun but other than that classes just seem to drag on forever.



-Mike F.

Anonymous said...

The difference between freshmen year and all the other years is the difficulty of the classes. Sophomore year isn't that bad, but junior year is death. Senior year may or may not be hard depending on what classes you take. Besides academics though, school gets more and more fun with each passing year, as you get to know more students and teachers, and as you get more used to the school. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm really nervous about my first round of midterms here. But I am excited that half the year is over with. Not that high school is terrible, but I'm excited for summer. A good part about high school is that the day goes by really fast because of the 90 minute classes. Another good part is freshman advisory! A bad part is I'm in all honors classes and it gets kind of overwhelming at times.

Anonymous said...

I think the year so far has been pretty good. I didn't really expect much for the school I was to busy being nervous. The academic work is alot easier than last years, I think. Finding all the classes was defintely the hardest part for me. I still sometimes get confused where the classes are. Other than that it has been pretty easy.

-Allie Z.

Anonymous said...

Well, i've only experienced half of a year of school not being a freshman but its already different. When your a freshman, you feel inferior for the beginning of the year and you don't know exactly where or how everything is. Once your a sophomore you are used to everything so it's a lot easier. It's also a lot more fun if you get involved because it gives you something to do. So get involved! And make sure your high school years are fun!

Anonymous said...

My year has been not good. High school is way harder then middle school.

paul g

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Anonymous said...

High school is really great, I like it better than Middle School.

Amanda M.

Anonymous said...

advisory is fun, because we have the illest teacher named Mr.Kefor

-EvanD!

Anonymous said...

Melanie -
i agree with everything you just said (: can't wait for summer eitherrr

- Grum

Anonymous said...

Freshman year is so much different than all other years in high school. The teachers gave us so many more breaks than they do now. They were also more willing to change a grade if you argued it. Midterms were important but not as important as they were junior year or as they are this year. It was much easier to maintain honor roll as a freshman even with mid-terms and finals.

Senior year and junior year are basically the same. You would think senior year is easy but there is actually a lot more work and higher expectations. It's to a point where even electives expect a lot of work and effort. College stress is impossible to deal with on top of teachers who expect their class to be the most important class on your schedule. Senior slump just makes it harder because once you recieve an acceptance letter from college it's easy to stop trying.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Neeve!-
Don't worry about other people, that's what I learned this year too! Just worry about school and hanging with your friends, not people who take the time to discourage you.

Anonymous said...

@ Mike F:

Nice grammar. Some classes do last forever, but this will change as you get used to the class lengths (or as you find a class you actually like.) and yes, advisory is pretty fun, I guess.

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Anonymous said...

So far freshman year isn't at all what I expected. I like it a lot more than I thought that I would and i thought that I would miss middle school. I miss some things about middle school but I like some things about high school too. I like the longer class periods because it makes the school day go by quicker.I also like having each class every other day so I have an extra day to do my homework. I like having lunch with different grades and getting out of school earlier than before. I miss middle school but high school isn't that bad.

Anonymous said...

I'm really nervous about my first round of midterms here. But I am excited that half the year is over with. Not that high school is terrible, but I'm excited for summer. A good part about high school is that the day goes by really fast because of the 90 minute classes. Another good part is freshman advisory! A bad part is I'm in all honors classes and it gets kind of overwhelming at times.
@ Melanie:
Midterms are stressing me out too; they seem to come up faster each year. But the cool things about them is that exam days are early release days...I'm very much looking forward to that.

Anonymous said...

At Amanda

I agree, highschool is a lot better than middle school