The quiz-test was returned today, and I got a 69. It's an awful score, but it's better than I was expecting and better than I needed. ... I suppose I'm happy?
I don't know. That class is keeping me really nervous.
For what it's worth, the mean score was a 63, so I actually did above the average. That's still not impressive though...
Our Chemistry test should be returned sometime in the next week or so, and I'm curious how that turned out. It should be better than a 69 at least.
Everything else is just me "keeping up" with the work, mostly. I'm finding it hard to do much extra, because it seems like every day I have a reasonably time consuming project that needs doing to stay on par (a lot of physics home work, a physics lab report, a chemistry lab report, a test to study for...) When I get back from my late labs I'm generally too tired to put in much serious work as well, which doesn't help things. I'm doing what I can though, I think.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
And On We Go
Well. Things have gone exactly as I planned. I wish I could say I was proud of that but... I really can't. It could be worse though: at least this shows that I'm fairly aware of where things stand.
I spent the weekend studying chemistry (a bit... not as much as I should have) and getting caught up on physics. I got caught up to the first three chapters, as I had planned, and then failed the quiz, as I had (sort of) planned. But there was a shocking announcement! We'll get the chance to take a second quiz of sorts later, and the lowest will be dropped.
That was the oddest moment. I'd ended up not really sleeping, and showed up completely exhausted expecting to get an F and ruin things... only to find out my grade can still (technically) end up as an A. That's good news. Hopefully something will come of it... but I don't know. I'm having lots of trouble. It seems funny how one course could stand in the way and ruin all my plans... not funny funny, but amusing in its own way.
Chemistry I have two good days to study for now, and intend to do just that. I want a B+ or better on that test if at all possible. If I can manage that, I'll be happy. And I think that's a manageable goal.
After the Chem test, one or two days of regrouping, and then I need to hammer the physics. Repeatedly.
Things are in a tight spot, but it's all doable.
I spent the weekend studying chemistry (a bit... not as much as I should have) and getting caught up on physics. I got caught up to the first three chapters, as I had planned, and then failed the quiz, as I had (sort of) planned. But there was a shocking announcement! We'll get the chance to take a second quiz of sorts later, and the lowest will be dropped.
That was the oddest moment. I'd ended up not really sleeping, and showed up completely exhausted expecting to get an F and ruin things... only to find out my grade can still (technically) end up as an A. That's good news. Hopefully something will come of it... but I don't know. I'm having lots of trouble. It seems funny how one course could stand in the way and ruin all my plans... not funny funny, but amusing in its own way.
Chemistry I have two good days to study for now, and intend to do just that. I want a B+ or better on that test if at all possible. If I can manage that, I'll be happy. And I think that's a manageable goal.
After the Chem test, one or two days of regrouping, and then I need to hammer the physics. Repeatedly.
Things are in a tight spot, but it's all doable.
Friday, September 18, 2009
And So Ended A Week of Despair
The title's putting it a bit over the top but... yeah. That's a pretty good summary. Things haven't been going great till now, and this last week that was particularly true. The last two days in particular I was a overwhelmed with work. I managed to pull of the Chemistry Lab report (decently) well. The physics I had to finish for Friday was disastrous. Our lowest homework score is dropped though so, amusingly, I still technically have an A in that class.
That's about to change next week, when we have our first Physics (and Chemistry) test. The Physics test is the one that's only worth 5% of our grade and, really, I'll be very happy if I can pull off a 40% on it. That means I only loose 3% of my grade in the course, and leaves a B+ average very much in reach if I can actually manage to start (and pull off) a complete turn around starting... now.
So. Apart from wanting that turn around, and possibly praying some, what am I going to do to get it?
The most immediate idea that comes to mind is to start going to the GEFAP sessions, which are basically undergraduate led study sessions AU has in place for courses like this. I have my doubts about how useful it will be for my particular situation (I don't have one, two, or three questions I need help with... I'm just /lost/), but it's worth trying. At the very least, I can raise/maintain a good homework average through it. Those are on Monday and Thursday nights. I should go to at least one a week. They're late at night though, and I have my early morning courses the next day, so.... I also should get my car's license plates fixed up. Biking is fun, but biking in the dark is less fun, and being stuck with 5 hours of sleep is simply awful.
I should also restart trying to read the physics textbook. Just... from scratch. We're only at the end of chapter four now, so it's still early enough that it's sort of reasonable to try doing that. I don't know how much of that I can get done this weekend, since studying for the Chemistry test is my priority. I'll try and get chapters one and two done, at least, over the weekend. I have a semi-decent grasp of that half, at least. It's difficult for me to read the book... sadly. I sort of just stare at it, and I've found it hard to help that. Maybe I can find a physics for dummies book somewhere to help out a bit on the side. Going to a bookstore could make a decent study break, if nothing else. And I need to go out to get those new car plates anyways.
After all this, I can go to office hours again. When I have some sort of a better sense of what my problem is.
That's the plan for now, and I'm sticking to it. In a few weeks I'll either have failed the course, or will be able to feel (justifiably) proud of myself.
That's about to change next week, when we have our first Physics (and Chemistry) test. The Physics test is the one that's only worth 5% of our grade and, really, I'll be very happy if I can pull off a 40% on it. That means I only loose 3% of my grade in the course, and leaves a B+ average very much in reach if I can actually manage to start (and pull off) a complete turn around starting... now.
So. Apart from wanting that turn around, and possibly praying some, what am I going to do to get it?
The most immediate idea that comes to mind is to start going to the GEFAP sessions, which are basically undergraduate led study sessions AU has in place for courses like this. I have my doubts about how useful it will be for my particular situation (I don't have one, two, or three questions I need help with... I'm just /lost/), but it's worth trying. At the very least, I can raise/maintain a good homework average through it. Those are on Monday and Thursday nights. I should go to at least one a week. They're late at night though, and I have my early morning courses the next day, so.... I also should get my car's license plates fixed up. Biking is fun, but biking in the dark is less fun, and being stuck with 5 hours of sleep is simply awful.
I should also restart trying to read the physics textbook. Just... from scratch. We're only at the end of chapter four now, so it's still early enough that it's sort of reasonable to try doing that. I don't know how much of that I can get done this weekend, since studying for the Chemistry test is my priority. I'll try and get chapters one and two done, at least, over the weekend. I have a semi-decent grasp of that half, at least. It's difficult for me to read the book... sadly. I sort of just stare at it, and I've found it hard to help that. Maybe I can find a physics for dummies book somewhere to help out a bit on the side. Going to a bookstore could make a decent study break, if nothing else. And I need to go out to get those new car plates anyways.
After all this, I can go to office hours again. When I have some sort of a better sense of what my problem is.
That's the plan for now, and I'm sticking to it. In a few weeks I'll either have failed the course, or will be able to feel (justifiably) proud of myself.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sometimes It's Better To Make A Call
So yesterday was my last day volunteering at the hospital. I hadn't been sure I'd wanted to stop before, and had been thinking about trying a different part of the hospital next, but classes haven't been going well. Technically, they're not going "badly" yet either, but that's just because I've had no tests, and my only grades so far are from homework. I'm well aware that if I have a test, especially in Physics, but in either course at the moment, it will be an ugly and unpleasant affair.
Speaking of which... we have our first tests next week I believe, in each class. The Physics one is a very small quiz-test. It's the length and difficulty of a normal exam, but only counts for 5% of our grade. The idea behind it is to help us understand his tests, and get us working extra hard if we haven't been so far. The Chemistry test is a normal one, and probably worth ~25% of my grade.
Since I've been getting behind, I've wondered how I can change things. Freeing up my Monday's seems like a decent start... that's a lot of extra time I can use to study. The afternoon-evening labs I have really hurt my ability to work well on those days, and on the days immediately preceding them I'm always busy trying to do my lab reports. Then there's the general stuff I have to do for the classes themselves. It's only two classes, but I've found that I really don't have that much time to do more than "keep up" with them. Just "keeping up" won't work for me, since I'm not innately good at this stuff. I need lots of time to go over it if I'm going to be able to get it to work.
I decided to take today off rather than go in for my morning courses on four hours of sleep. I'm not sure if that was mistake or not. It won't really matter for Chemistry: all the teacher does is regurgitate her powerpoint slides word for word (actually, I don't think they're even /her/ own slides, I think they're bought from some company....). Missing my Physics class, on the other hand, is a genuinely bad thing. At least doing this helps make today feel like genuinely new start.
Regarding my two tests next week, I have three main choices. I can focus almost exclusively on
Physics, almost exclusively on Chemistry, or try to study both. Normally, studying both would be the obvious call. Given how far behind I am in Physics though, and how the Physics test is only worth 5% of our grade, I'm thinking it might make sense to go all out on Chemistry for the next 7 days, and then try to go all out getting caught up in Physics after the tests have come and gone. I can completely fail the Physics test and still get a 96% in the class, after all (technically...).
Speaking of which... we have our first tests next week I believe, in each class. The Physics one is a very small quiz-test. It's the length and difficulty of a normal exam, but only counts for 5% of our grade. The idea behind it is to help us understand his tests, and get us working extra hard if we haven't been so far. The Chemistry test is a normal one, and probably worth ~25% of my grade.
Since I've been getting behind, I've wondered how I can change things. Freeing up my Monday's seems like a decent start... that's a lot of extra time I can use to study. The afternoon-evening labs I have really hurt my ability to work well on those days, and on the days immediately preceding them I'm always busy trying to do my lab reports. Then there's the general stuff I have to do for the classes themselves. It's only two classes, but I've found that I really don't have that much time to do more than "keep up" with them. Just "keeping up" won't work for me, since I'm not innately good at this stuff. I need lots of time to go over it if I'm going to be able to get it to work.
I decided to take today off rather than go in for my morning courses on four hours of sleep. I'm not sure if that was mistake or not. It won't really matter for Chemistry: all the teacher does is regurgitate her powerpoint slides word for word (actually, I don't think they're even /her/ own slides, I think they're bought from some company....). Missing my Physics class, on the other hand, is a genuinely bad thing. At least doing this helps make today feel like genuinely new start.
Regarding my two tests next week, I have three main choices. I can focus almost exclusively on
Physics, almost exclusively on Chemistry, or try to study both. Normally, studying both would be the obvious call. Given how far behind I am in Physics though, and how the Physics test is only worth 5% of our grade, I'm thinking it might make sense to go all out on Chemistry for the next 7 days, and then try to go all out getting caught up in Physics after the tests have come and gone. I can completely fail the Physics test and still get a 96% in the class, after all (technically...).
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A City's Pulse
So I'm a Starbucks addict. That's nothing new; it started way back in undergraduate school. I feel compelled to give myself at least 3 hours between waking up and being at point A. In those three hours I can take a shower, read a bit, wake up, have breakfast, or what have you. When I have classes at 8:00 am, unfortunately, that means I get to wake up at 5:00 am.
I'd noticed this before, but it struck me today: the Starbucks I go to in DC has /always/ had at least one person there when it opened, other than myself. Usually two or three other people. Today there were five people there, and I then ran into my next-door neighbor walking a dog on the way back in.
Wow. In Nashville or Atlanta, when I showed up to Starbucks at opening, I'd usually be alone, or with one other person.
In the world of relevant updates, Physics is still being hard. I spent all of this last weekend working almost 9:00-5:00 on our Physics HW 1 and our first Physics Lab. The good news is that I got it done, mostly. Thanks to an extra credit problem I'll have an A. The bad news is that it took me two whole days to get done, and even with all that time I wouldn't have had an A without the extra credit. The worse news is that I've been putting so much time into Physics that I think I'm starting to slip in Chemistry now (although I have no grades there yet, so its still just a potential problem at this point).
I'd noticed this before, but it struck me today: the Starbucks I go to in DC has /always/ had at least one person there when it opened, other than myself. Usually two or three other people. Today there were five people there, and I then ran into my next-door neighbor walking a dog on the way back in.
Wow. In Nashville or Atlanta, when I showed up to Starbucks at opening, I'd usually be alone, or with one other person.
In the world of relevant updates, Physics is still being hard. I spent all of this last weekend working almost 9:00-5:00 on our Physics HW 1 and our first Physics Lab. The good news is that I got it done, mostly. Thanks to an extra credit problem I'll have an A. The bad news is that it took me two whole days to get done, and even with all that time I wouldn't have had an A without the extra credit. The worse news is that I've been putting so much time into Physics that I think I'm starting to slip in Chemistry now (although I have no grades there yet, so its still just a potential problem at this point).
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