Semester 2 Final Exam (Days 173-174)

Yesterday and today, the students take their final exams. Yes, I know that it's only Days 172 and 173, but recall that most of my students are seniors who must take them early. And it's easier just to have the two juniors in my fourth period Ethnostats class take the exam as well.

The main reason for early senior exams is to give the students and their parents peace of mind heading into graduation. But it leaves us with seven extra days with nothing for the students to do, after senior grades are turned in at noon on Tuesday. I'll have to decide what to do on those days.

One more error is discovered on the Ethnostats final. A question asks the students to use a random number table to simulate five lottery numbers, but all of the multiple choice options have six numbers -- with the sixth number being wrong.

But this is nowhere near as problematic as yesterday's Trig function. Yes, I wrote the entire test over spring break, including all 30 questions. The problem was that some of these questions required me to put graphs among the choices for matching -- and I never did. We were able to find 20 questions that didn't require students to see a graph, so it ended up being a 20-question final.

The top score on that final was 18 out of 20. The high watermark for the Ethnostats final was 25 out of 30, achieved by three students (one in second period, two in fourth). The highest score for the first semester final was also 25 out of 30, and I expect this is typical of a comprehensive math final.

Today is Elevenday on the Eleven Calendar:

Resolution #11: We follow all protocols for COVID.

But Elevendays are also the day to focus on communication. Today I follow my usual tradition and hand out good luck cards for all of the students. Unlike past years, most of my students are seniors -- so I bought them actual graduation greeting cards, and my good luck messages acknowledge the colleges that they will attend (if known). I gave my few juniors my usual index cards with the messages. Oh, and I gave the students back their Vanderwerf name tents. Just as Vanderwerf herself predicts, I think the students enjoy seeing what they wrote at the start of the year all over again.

Now that the seniors have completed their final exams, I'm not sure how many of them will actually attend school on Days 174-180. This is one reason that I hand out the good luck cards today -- the best day to pass them out is on the day that I know they'll attend, namely the day of the final exam. And it all means that I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing next week, with the grades for all students (including juniors) complete and the uncertainty with attendance.

Today is the last day of the Spring Fever stretch. This upcoming Monday is Memorial Day. With Tuesday as the normal odd-period day (hence a non-blogging day), my next post will be coming up on Wednesday.

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