Planning for Next Year

A few years ago I didn't put too much thought into what classes my precalc kids should take next year. It was either AP Calc AB or Advanced Math.  The kids with As and Bs went to Calc, the ones below that went to Advanced Math.

Case closed.

And then the school decided to complicate things and added in a few more choices. In addition to the old Calc (which was AB, I later learned), we now have AP Calc BC. AP Stats was also added as a possibility.

The decision between AB and BC Calc causes me much stress. Next year will be the third year we offer it. The first year it was late in the year and I had 6 - 8 kids in Precalc that really stood out so it was easy to recommend them. I'm happy to say that they all did well in BC.  Last year I thought about it all year. I had a few that were clear-cut choices and some that I was on the bubble with. My no-thought-involved kids are doing well; the ones I really had to think about are not.

So now I'm worried. And there's an extra wrench in the plan.  Three years ago the district started offering Algebra 1 to 7th graders (which I still think is crazy). Those kids are now sophomores in Precalc. Some of them I think could handle BC, but then there's the idea of what do they do as a senior? We don't have a multi-variable calc, so they would probably have to do an independent study. The others I'll recommend for AB as a junior then they can take BC/Stats as a senior.

I put together a google form (love them!) for the kids to fill out to indicate their choice and a few details why. I even added different questions depending on their answers.  Have I indicated how much I love me a google doc?  :)  I agree with most of the kids preferences, but there are a few students that I don't agree with. Guess I'll get to have some fun conversations tomorrow!

Here's the form I used.  Feel free to answer questions to get through it if you'd like. I'll just throw out your responses. :)  What I love is that I can sort the kids into what class they'd like to take and I can also share their responses with the AP Calc teacher.  That way she knows what's coming!