Kids/Teens Book Club discussion

Great idea for a topic! I'm not freaking out at this moment (since yesterday was a snow day and made me happy), but I'll be back. Prepare for freakoutedness! (no, I don't know what that word means. use your imagination)

Yeah, it was awesome. I didn't think it was going to happen, but the roads got pretty bad, so they made the right call.

Unfortunately, we didn't find out until after I woke up at six, and then I couldn't fall back asleep. My sister (who's on break from college) and I went into the City, and had lunch with my dad, then walked to the Met, and stayed there for a while. After that we went back to my dad's office, with a detour to look at the tree in Rockefeller Center, and from there, we took a subway to Madison Square Garden, where we met the rest of my family to watch the bull riding, which comes for three days every January (we saw it on vacation in Idaho one summer and really liked it).

The moral of that long, meandering, boring story was that my snow day was really fun, but I didn't get home until about midnight, so I was EXHAUSTED.

I heard it was pretty bad in New York because the streets weren't cleaned properly

The last storm we had (around Christmas) everywhere was awful, both here and in the City. This time, our streets our now completely clear, although narrower than normal because of snow buildup, but there is nothing in the city. Nothing. Even while it was snowing, it wasn't sticking AT ALL. We were walking through the snow, and you'd look up and see a winter wonderland, but then you'd look down, and you'd think it was just raining, because the ground was just wet.

Ugh....they start tomorrow for me if we have school. I have a paper to write for History tonight that's 20% of the midterm- and each midterm is 20% of my grade for the semester.....

That sounds bad. Particularly the paper.

Ours count the same way, but they don't start until the 24th, and these snow days are wreaking havoc on our schedule. We had one on Friday, and will almost definitely have one tomorrow, which means that we have two fewer days of school in between now and the midterms. To make things worse, we're not allowed to have tests during the week before midterms, and yet, because we were supposed to have a math test this Friday and everything's being pushed back, we now have a test on Tuesday or Wednesday, and that much less time to review.

Midterms seem REALLY close now, and I. am. getting. scared.

yeah.... we had a snowday today and i hope that if we have anymore this week that there's one on tuesday too since im not gonna be @ school then- i have an out-of-town orthodontist appointment.

ugh, that sounds horrible!

I wouldn't mind a snowday DURING midterm week (as long as it was on Tuesday or Friday). The way the schedule works is that each midterm is scheduled for a specific block of time on one day Monday through Friday, with the Monday after as make-up day. If there's a snowday, that day moves to the next Tuesday. If we had a snowday on Tuesday or Friday, I would have a five day weekend, since I don't have midterms on either of those days. That would be fun, especially since most of my friends will be in the same boat.

This is our second snow day today. Second in a row I should say. We have about 2 feet of snow here!!!!!! It's crazy!!!

Whitney wrote: "This is our second snow day today. Second in a row I should say. We have about 2 feet of snow here!!!!!! It's crazy!!!"

I live in Minnesota, where we get about 5 feet each year. This year though since we already have 2 feet, we will probably get at least 8 total this year. Uggg...

Kate and Rae: since you have midterms coming up, does that mean that this is still your first semester? I was just wondering if your Christmas/holiday break ends before the semester does.

this is my second midterm
i am just finishing the 1st semester

When does the second semester start?

for me?

Yes. Or anyone, I guess, but I was originally talking to you.

ok um semester two starts on jan 18th i think. what semester are you on?

2nd - it started on January 3. Christmas break divides the semesters. How long is your X-mas/holiday break?

well we already had it but it went from dec. 23rd to jan 3rd.

haha, i love being in the southern hemisphere! I'm still on summer/ christmas holidays. I start semester 1 early february.

wow. so you celebrate christmas in the summer time?

Oh, okay. I thought Christmas break divided the semesters everywhere.

We only take semester finals at my school (and in surrounding districts), not midterms.

what? im confused and i have a reallly bad head ache right now. argggg.....

Sorry about the headache. :(

I think I'm confused too.

Taliah's comment wasn't up when I posted. I was repsonding to you. You said this was your second midterm, so you had one in the middle of the semester, right? I was just saying I only take semester finals.

o.. actually we have quarters, 4 quarters in a year, 3 semesters, and 5 pentas all in one school yerar. we r just starting the 2nd semester but we are almost done with the 2nd quarter adn we are on the 3rd penta. our school is really confusing. if you still dont get it ask me again.

Oh, wow! Is there a specific reason why there are so many divisions?

are all the schools in your area like that?

Wow, that's confusing.

Our second quarter/first semester end on January 21st. Midterms are the next week, and the second semester/third quarter start on February 1st, the day after midterm makeup day. We have midterms at the end of the semester; they're the same as your semester finals I think.

My college is on a quarter system and winter quarter started just last week, so we aren't to midterms just yet. Profs are treating us like we are, though. (And, actually, thinking back on the syllabi for my classes this quarter... I don't think my classes even have actual "midterms". Just exams throughout the quarter and a final at the end. That's rare.)

Pandy wrote: "Kate and Rae: since you have midterms coming up, does that mean that this is still your first semester? I was just wondering if your Christmas/holiday break ends before the semester does."

Yeah, the end of the first semester. Our grades close (and the semester ends) on the last day of finals- it was going to be Friday, but it's Tuesday now (at least) because of snow days this week.

Um.... well..... we live in a super small town of about 4,500 people so there is only three schools. there is a school of kindergardeners-1st another school of 2-4 and another school from 5-12 grades. that school, the 5-12 grade school is huge!!!!!!!!!!! its really cool. the 7th-12th graders (thats me :)) have pentas, quarters, and semesters. the 5th and 6th graders only have quarters and semesters. uggg.... my brain herts from thinking about this. even though your brain doesnt have hurting muscles or whatever the scientific word is.......

Yeah; I can definitely understand why that would be confusing to think about. :)

Kate wrote: "Our second quarter/first semester end on January 21st ..."

Rae*The Poet Who Didn't Know It* wrote: "Yeah, the end of the first semester. Our grades close..."

Thanks. I was just wondering how your schools work.

@ Pandy- you're welcome. yeah, its interesting to see how different school systems (in the US) do things

our school i think is one of the most confusing school in the world!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm supposed to be done with midterms by now! Instead I've only had one.

Plus, yesterday, I had a 7:45 bio one and an 11:15 five-minute orchestra exam. At ELEVEN o'clock, after I've been waiting for two hours, and I just want to get it over with, they cancel all remaining midterms (for no good reason). Really? Fifteen minutes?

So now I have three next week, plus I have to reschedule the orchestra one, and I have no idea when I can.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm angry/upset.

I'm almost sad about not having midterms this quarter. I just have exams that are worth over half of my grade. :(

How is that different from midterms?

They aren't in the middle of the term and are all each worth 60% of my grade, in two of my three courses (one class has 7 exams and the other has 8, statistics and physics respectively). In the other, we just have four exams (which are scheduled to actively avoid my college's midterm week) worth maybe 30-40% of the overall grade; that class is more based on our final (a book review, ha ha).

So all the exams combined are 60% of your grade for each class?

From what the syllabus reads, each of them individually counts as 60% of the grade but I'm assuming your comment above is correct, unless the prof does some super amazing grade calculation math.

That would be some impressive math. (or magic)

If 60% is the combined total, that's not too bad. It's not great, but I guess it could be worse.

My semester finals/midterms/whatever-you-wanna-call-them are finally over! I'm so relieved that I don't have to deal with them again for another 5 months or so.

Not fair. *pouts* :P

Kate wrote: "That would be some impressive math. (or magic)

If 60% is the combined total, that's not too bad. It's not great, but I guess it could be worse."

I know, right? I remember one of my Psych classes where the only thing that counted toward my grade was the final. Dx

Yikes. That would be awful. Come to think of it, I think my sister had one like that last semester.

My Global midterm just got postponed for the second time! I'm going crazy.

It was supposed to be Thursday morning, and the last of my midterms. Then I had only had one and Thursday was a snowday, so Global was moved to Tuesday. Now I have ANOTHER snow day, which means it's moved to tomorrow, and if school's cancelled tomorrow, then so is the midterm.

Kate wrote: "My Global midterm just got postponed for the second time! I'm going crazy.

It was supposed to be Thursday morning, and the last of my midterms. Then I had only had one and Thursday was a snowday, ..."

That really must suck. I guess at least it's extra study time.

I don't want extra study time; I want to get it over with. My Latin and math ones were on Monday, exactly a week after they were supposed to be, and the extra study time just made me more nervous. Plus, I was supposed to have a relaxing 4.5 day weekend, and instead I was studying the whole time.

Thanks for the sympathy though. ;)

Kate wrote: and the extra study time just made me more nervous.
Can definitely relate to that! My Physics exam from today was actually supposed to be over a week ago. I failed the first exam, so I'm super nervous about this one.

Best wishes on your exams.

Thanks. I bet you did a lot better on this exam!