High Speeds

  Took the  AP Chemistry test. Felt pretty confident on multiple-choice , 55-65 of 75 correct (no penalty for incorrect answers). Blew up on the calculator free-response, but answered everything. I'm sure I missed half of a question, and probably at least a third in the other two. I will be lucky to get 60 percent on that portion. The non calculator went a little better. Did about 60-70 percent right on one (I think), then 80-90% on the next two. The calculator questions are 30% of my total score, the non-calculator questions are 20%, the multiple choice is 50%. So 4-5. I deserved a 4, but when we approximated my score based on how I think I did, without giving myself benefit of the doubt, my score was .1 above the standard for a 5. A 5 would be great, a 4 would be unsurprising.

   Ran one mile back from Orem high, then 4 alone in 30:18.

  Took the AP Computer Science test (namely, the Java test). The syllabus incorporates alogarithms, as well as Java-specific materials. There is also a GridWorld case study. However, in small snippets, Java looks and behaves almost like C. So it wasn't like I was learning a foreign language. The principles are basically the same (with a few gotcha's, hence the name of Java test). On the multiple choice (50%, 40 questions) I felt sure about almost all (90%) of my answers. I probably had 5-10 multiple choice wrong. I know I caught one mistake. I have a habit of thinking I understand something perfectly, and then confidently giving a bogus solution.

  Also, for the first half of the multiple-choice, I was drowsy. I knew I was about to crash. I spent more time than I should have on the first problems. Then I said a silent prayer that my mind would clear and that I could solve the problems. Within a few minutes, the drowsiness lessened. I was able to solve the remaining questions more quickly than the first half. Some may call that a confidence effect. I think it should be called the faith effect.

Next were the four free-response questions. I finished with 26 minutes to spare. Then I went back and caught 4-6 horrific mistakes. I could have lost as much as 10-13% of my score to them. So I fixed them and with 10 minutes remaining did not find any more mistakes. I felt confident about all my free-response answers. I think I got a 5, but can't say for sure.    

  Ran a mile home, then 4 in 31:16.

Took the AP Calculus BC exam today. Scary sounding name. Not quite so scary in real life. I believe Calculus could become at least optional curriculum at the 8th-10th grade level -- if we could fix up our education system, that is. It doesn't take a prodigy to learn calculus at 8th grade  (If my IQ score is any indicator, I am certainly no prodigy). There was a fourth-grade teacher who taught his entire class calculus. They were not a class of prodigies. They were taught more effectively, at a higher standard, and as a consequence performed at that higher standard. Students will rise or fall to what is expected of them. The reason we don't expect them to learn calculus until college is because our current method of education is ineffective. It takes until college to lay the necessary groundwork to understand calculus. That is not the student's fault. It is the fault of the system that teaches them.

I'm not trying to single out public school. Homeschool has its problems too. I'm talking about our general approach to education in America. Many teachers nationwide do an excellent job, but they have to (or choose to) stick with the curriculum. The same often applies to homeschoolers.

     Enough about education. Here's my personal experience on the exam.

I felt sick on the multiple choice section of the exam. I felt like my ability to problem solve was impaired. Still, I think I got 55-70 percent of the questions right. The AP exams are set up like Olympiads. You're intended to miss some questions. That's why the grading curve is usually 66% :-). I prayed repeatedly that my mind would clear. It started to towards the end of the calculator multiple-choice. It was totally clear at the start of free-response

I did better on the free-response questions, 80-95% estimate. Hope I got a 5. Hope my estimates were accurate.

Three easy.

4 easy.

6 easy.

3000 meters of misery in Park City. The splits are in my dad's blog. Probably kicked too late. Just could not get myself to run faster. The heat (and the altitude) got to me.