Reflections on Student Plan of Study

What I realized more than anything, after filling out the plans of study, is that I would still have been a conscientious student, but I would have taken different classes. There are more elective classes today than there were when I was in middle and high school. I would have challenged myself to take Advanced Placement English and history classes since those are the subjects I enjoy, and reading and writing are my strengths.

 I do feel, however, that if SOL tests were given when I was in school, I'd be one of the students who might be placed in a remedial math class in order to pass the SOL. Math has NEVER been my strength. What's interesting to me is that when I switched careers in my late twenties to go back to school to get certified to teach, my husband, a programmer, wrote a few math programs for me so that I could practice answering math questions that were similar to ones on the national math test that I had to take. I was afraid that I would run out of time when I took the test. I remember my husband telling me that I was pretty quick with adding up numbers in my head and figuring out percentages, but that when I did math problems, I would forget or skip the middle steps, and that was one of my math weaknesses.

One of the biggest problems with high school schedules is that students have to take the core classes and don't have many electives. I think more of the school day should allow for electives, and this way, students would be able to figure out their interests before going to college. Finally, the student plan of study has not changed much since I was a middle and high school student years ago.