Westlake High School - El Paisano Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Fewer mistakes rr-i • t bring good grades To cit IS human There ' s one in every crowd, but in a crowd of a mathematical responses, too often there are too many careless mistakes. I get the formulas mixed in my head or sometimes I just don ' t remember certain steps in proofs, sophomore Jeff Vinson said. The position of a dec- imal or a simple addition or multiplication step, done wrong could have changed an A grade to a B or even failed a student when he was barely passing. Even though I made Anyone Hands raise, in hopes of getting a correct answer in Mr. John Murphy ' s history class for juniors. Leaving little room for error. United States history demanded hours of memorization of dates and events as well as the analysis of the impact of each. Part of the whole? Some would want half-credit on true-false answers careless mistakes, a-- long as 1 pass I ' m happy If I don ' t pass, well that ' s life, sophomore Robert Moreno said. The problems which students encountered may have been because of steps forgotten to do in a problem or even just the problem itself (too hard). Everyday students be- came more confused than the day because of an equation which seemed unsolvable. I have been to tuto- rial once, for geometry; I stayed five minutes. I re- ceived the help I needed, then left, Jeff said. Even after receiving help after school and knowing how to solve a problem, students still wanted to be outside playing dunkball instead of inside writing down endless rows of numbers and doing the unusual problems with them. I have short cuts like looking in the back of the book or just copying from a friend. I never get caught because I ' m so smooth, junior Lamar Wedell said. With a sense of im- pending doom, students entered their math class- es knowing that the infa- mous pieces of paper called the test awaited them with no middle ground for error; it ' s either right or wrong. I don ' t usually give partial credit on tests, but it depends on what kind of problem it is, algebra teacher Mrs. Carolyn McMeans said. Students said that they did better on tests when partial credit was given than without it. I feel that if there was more partial credit, that I would do better than now on tests, senior John Taylor said. NOT SO SIMPLE Explaining the simplifying process, substitute teacher Mrs. Katey Rilts, coaxes her algebra II class to cooperate. Number, symbols, definitions and equations proved most difficult for students. However, teachers did not give partial credit because of the types of problems on the tests. I ' ll give partial credit on problems that involve long processes or if the arithmetic is wrong and the structure of the prob- lem is correct, but most of the time it ' s like giving partial credit on a yes or no answer, Mrs. Mc- Means added. Although partial cre- dit may have been wanted by students in desperate need, it appears that their want is a vain hope for the future. Research I| Reading for an important paper, junior Mary Alice Chapman spends her extra time in the library. Near the end of the school year, teachers assigned research papers in almost every subject Correct Taking full advantage of his calculator privileges, junior Jake Zapalac writes down the answer to his pre-calculus problem. Math teachers permitted students to use calculators without cheating. Students take the easy way out Calculated risks Figure this out: 98,070,480 divided by 7 plus 3,498 multiplied by 4.8— without a calculator, rather with a pencil and a piece of paper. Calculators are neat and are fun because in chemistry you can turn them upside-down and form different figures and words, junior Stephen Harrison said. As students struggled with algebraic formulas, consumer math fractions, geometric figures and precalculus problems, most math teachers remained adament about calculated responses. The kids need more practice at learning how to do the problems. With decimals, kids should understand it and know how to figure them out before using a calculator, algebra teacher Liz Trais- ter said. Although teachers wanted mathmaticians to learn complete proce- dures instead of taking short-cuts, students ar- gued a different point-of- view. I agree that we should learn how to do the problem in our heads and then we can use calcula- tors in class, junior Whahib Kharrat said. However, some said most classes did not work difficult enough to consti- tute the use of calculators. Most of high school mathmatical work docs not require artificial means of calculating de- vises, sophomore Rob Sabatini said. The work is generally simple. Like it or not, in lass calculators depended not on modern technology but on the ability of math stu- dents to use their heads. iil Take a Number ACADEMICS

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I dislike deadlines because they can be devasting for procrastinators who need lots of sleep. If you do not plan in advance you are going to have to stay up all night to finish junior Caroline George I suppose deadlines are necessary, but I dislike them because I do not do it all till the day that it is due and the pressure and lack of sleep is just too intense for me to handle junior John Bergeron Methods vary for presenting papers Writer s Cramp When it came to writing, both good and bad students searched out the right ways to write. Of the varied ways to put it on paper, writers chose from the most common methods such as hand- writing or more complex methods such as word processing. I use a computer because it is easier, due to all the editing options from which to chose from, junior Iain Sclater said. Though with a computer, it can become less important what words end up on the paper as much as the fact that they are in clear legible columns. Any report written on the computer is an automatic ' A ' for me; teachers get tired of sloppy, messy, unreadable manuscript. It ' s the ultimate in brown-nosing, sopho- more Jason Brice said. However, the results of a tea- cher poll proved only two out of three teachers actually preferred computer-written reports to hand- written. Computers are not trust-worthy; I always like to see reports done by hand, Coach Robert Brashear said. Even though some teachers held nothing but mistrust for the computer, other teachers liked the professionalism of the computer generated documents. I really enjoy type-written pa- pers—they compare those students that are lazy, disorganized, and in- competent to those that are superior in most mental ways. , librarian Sally Morgan said. The style with which a writer presented his work might vary from when an assignment was due. For whatever reason the writer chose to use that particular style, he was never the less being judged on it. Typical typing tedium tries temper With back complete- ly straight, hands in position, eyes forward and ears attentive and waiting for a record to begin saying ],],], space, K,K,K, space,... , many students found the monotony of typing class lacking in entertainment. The record makes class more interesting, but I don ' t think it helps any- more than the book or teacher, sophomore Nan- cy Higgins Sciid. Despite the type- along-to-record techni- que, many said they remained unexcitcd by At least now, I know where a few of the keys are. Now I know how to type on my computer using more than two fingers. sophomore Keith Blake the record and unexcited by the class. I really think typing is a boring class, like all of my other classes that I ' m in, freshman John Kaiser said. Although some saw no benefits in taking the course, others said the class improved their homework and grades in other classes. Since I ' m taking typ- ing, it has helped me in using my computer which I use for other classes, junior Joel Haro said. Some courses like geometry never seemed to be of any use, while typing on the other hand continued to be of use throughout high school. I took typing class in 7th grade for a year, and I ' m even better at typing now since I still have to type papers for other classes, junior Trisha Boyer said. Even though typing out a letter 15 times in a row might have seemed silly at the time, in the long run, the advantages outweighed the negatives. At least now, I know where a few of the keys are. Now I know how to type on my computer using more than two fingers, sophomore Keith Blake said. FRANTIC FINGERS As she faces her senior wills deadline, Kim James IjTpes on the only vacant typewriter that she could find. Seniors, who published wills, not only had to meet deadlines, but also had to type them. Edited by Stephen Harrison I THREE TO GET READY|

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©(rm of Wisdom: Things teachers say • It ' ll only take one sheet of paper. • ' You will use this later in life. • It gets harder. • Believe me. It ' s for your own good. • You can finish the test before the bell. • Wait til college. Hurry Rushing to finish his homework from the day before, freshman Danny Boukris, quickly writes his answer on his paper. Students used the library as a place to finish homework with their friends. Tests+homework=good grades Practice equates to understanding HOMEWORKER Doing her homework the old fashioned way, at home, senior Courtney Albarado adds up the determining numbers. Most students finished homework in class, during and before school, but some people brought theirs home. Take the odd numbered answers in the back of the book, add the even numbered questions, divide by the average daily homework and the solution equals arithmetic. Math has always come easy to me and I take total advantage of it. Right now geometry is my best sub- ject. Its fun! However, proofs are not my thing... sophomore Genie Dud- ney said. When students took the even questions in the daily assigned homework, it did not add up to smiles. The majority of students did not like math homework, especially when the odds were not included. I like feeling good after I finish my homework and get a problem cor- rect. My main dislike is homework! junior Leslie Prenger said. While some of the school ' s mathematicians didn ' t care for math problems or teachers but put up with it, others totally despised and avoided it. I like nothing about math and I dislike everything, sophomore Grey Race said. Each and every math pupil had his or her own way of completing the I like math and I like all of the numbers except that I ' m not that good at it. I hate all of my other academic subjects except math... sophomore Byron Nuhn homework process. Last year 1 would just leave my homework in my locker and I still do it now. It ' s easier to just forget about it, sophomore Ted Jennings said. Math can be made more fun or just more tolerable by doing your homework in a group, sophomore Brian McDonald said. Some people did not mind all of the numbers and formulas but they still could not get a good grade in their class no matter how hard they tried. I like math and I like all of the numbers except that I ' m not that good at it. I hate all of my other aca- demic subjects except for mathemat- ics and science, which also has to do with math somewhat, sophomore Byron Nuhn said. HALLWAY HAPPENINGS While they relax in the commons, juniors John Carrell and Julie Farncy discuss their algebra grades. With half of their six weeks grade depending on their lest average, some students remained concerned . THREE TO Edited by Eric Dreher l (6 GET READY |