Barely

I passed the first test, barely.

My deal with myself was that if I got an F I would drop. If I got a C I would stay. If I got a D, I'd need to decide.

Poor Steve Reyes the teacher didn't look good when class began today. He hadn't shaved and his eyes looked glassy. He started class by telling us what a terrible weekend he had between having a bad cold and spending the whole weekend grading bad homework and even worse tests. He spent the next fifteen minutes discussing how he didn't understand how poorly so many of us had done. As I glanced around at other students' tests I saw scores ranging from the mid 80s to the low 20s. The girl who sits next to me who hopes to be a physiologist got in the mid 70s.

I got a 62, two points above failing.

I was surprised that I wasn't even tempted to quit.

Now I have a chance to once again be my class's most improved player.

But what I found even more encouraging was that I actually understood how I messed up and basically understood everything on the test, even thought my score didn't show that. Also, Steve took off points for some petty "Mickey Mouse" things. I figured out one answer and wrote $4100. The answer for full credit was "$4100 in taxes." What the heck?

I got no credit at all for that problem about the rectangle and the wall and the fence that I mentioned in the last blog. Zero. But I worked through it on my own at home. I brought it to class and Steve said I did it exactly right. He also asked why I didn't do it that way on the test. OK, so now I feel better about that even thouth on the test I clicked that 240 was peremiter rather than area.

Tonight Seth showed me a bunch of good things to know about how to manipulate graphs. I think I have a head start on that and am ready to tackle the next homework assignments.

Students tell me that Math 112 has the highest flunk rate of any course at the University of Arizona. I haven't checked that out but wonder if it's true. I also wonder whether students will drop after seeing their test results today.

I'm still in.