• Discovering the truth: Algebra II Honors 

    Pinaki Pramanik and Jason Xie (Spring 2022)

    After a crazy experience during the pandemic, students at Oak Park High School finally returned to in-person learning with an optimistic mindset. For many, however, the school year has been anything but a breeze, with the difficulty of Algebra II with Trigonometry Honors becoming one of the biggest daily topics for enrolled students. Pinaki Pramanik and Jason Xie decided to talk to the instructor of this course, Jacquelyn Lac, in order to further understand this topic.

    In period five Algebra II Honors, I–02 is extremely quiet and the atmosphere is tense. All 15 students are fully absorbed in the lecture – each particular detail could mean the difference between success and disaster. Under each pencil lies an articulately yet neatly marked packet, filled with notes that the students take. However, period four is the polar opposite. The room is filled with a mob of 24 kids screaming and yelling – almost comparable to a kindergarten class following recess. It is a struggle for the teacher to convey the difficult material to these hyperactive learners. Who could imagine that it is an honors class? Nevertheless, each student is working hard to ensure their own success.

    Lac became a teacher at Oak Park High School when her husband moved to California 11 years ago. She specifically decided to become a math educator because of her love for math. 

    “I enjoy everything about it,” Lac said with a laugh. “First of all, there’s the logic behind it. If you think carefully, you apply it into every aspect of your life, from how you study math to time management.”

    While her class is math-oriented, it goes beyond that; one of the main causes of the difficulty of the course is that it challenges students to learn skills that can be applied in the real world. The course aims to teach students that failure is a part of life, that students can rise up from failure onto the path of success, and that it’s better to accept challenges now than to fail later in life. 

    Lac is clear about her thoughts. “The mentality is the most important part. You have to think it is a challenge. If you accept that challenge, then yes, there will be a chance that you don't succeed and that's okay. That's life, right?” 

    Many factors contribute to the challenge in the course. Compared to Algebra II CP, students in the honors track have to cover a substantially greater amount of material within much less time. Also, students have to invest more time and effort into mastering the material than they would in a CP level course as the concepts are much more difficult to understand.

    “Other than the fast pacing, the topics are harder. Usually people think Algebra I is easy, so then Algebra II should be easy. But in fact, the topics of Algebra II are harder. Even for CP level, they find it harder,” Lac said.

    This higher level of difficulty in Algebra II Honors helps prepare students to get used to higher level classes. In fact, some students find it easier due to their growth and development brought about by the design of the course.

    “I keep it at this level also because when a lot of the students who pass this class go on to Calculus BC, Math Analysis – whatever classes after this class; they find it easier, because they get used to the level of difficulty and they get used to the new study habits,” Lac said.

     

    Ganesh Koka (2018 - 2019)

    Hi everyone, my name is Ganesh Koka, and I am a freshman, currently taking this class. As we do not have much time here, I will get right to the point. I will be speaking about how you can get an A in this class in both semesters, what to do, and what not to do in Mrs. Lac’s class, how to come prepared into Alg II w/ Honors, and how to study for the tests.

     Getting an A. Something all of you here, wanting to take this class, want. No one here will be aiming for a B. They may be fine with a B, but still aim for an A. So the majority of your grade in the class is made up of quizzes/tests. Worth 70%!!! So you have to make sure that you do well on these. Doing well on the tests will almost guarantee you an A in the class.

    How to get an A on every test? For every chapter, I highly recommend that you go home and do the homework for each lesson the day it is taught and do as many practice problems possible, so that when it comes to the day before the test, all you will need to do is review, and if you have any questions, you will be able to ask in advance. I am telling you right now, that stupid mistakes are gonna happen. No matter how hard you try or how focused you are, you will make silly mistakes. However, being able to know the material really well allows you to complete the test quicker and will allow time at the end to check answers for any silly mistakes. 

    The material you will be learning and the way you will be learning it is not any harder or any different. What is harder is that the concepts on the test are applied in a more difficult manner, than you have seen before. Something else that you may find challenging is the speed at which the class moves, however, if you stay on top of your homework and do as told, then you will be able to easily keep up. 

    Moving on, make sure you behave in class, do not talk while Mrs. Lac is talking. Not only is it disrespectful, you will miss important information. Hint: she tells you what you need to know from each lesson, so if you pay attention, it will be easier to prepare for the test. 

      Additionally, I highly recommend reviewing all topics from Alg I before starting the year, because if you do not remember the concepts from Alg I, you will have a very hard time catching up. 

      To sum it all up, I highly suggest that you take the class. This class will allow you to develop many skills not only in math, but in time management, and comprehension levels. Many probably encourage you not to take the class, however, the class is not hard, as long as you work smart and hard since the beginning of the semester. 

     

     
    Jonathan Vu (2016-2017)
     
    Hi, my name is Johnathan Vu - a sophomore and I am currently taking Algebra 2 Honors with Mrs. Lac.   To be honest and to be blunt, this is one of the challenging classes that I have taken at OPHS.  I was in your seat last year wondering if I should take the class or not.  Now, I am glad that I did and I would have regretted if I decided to do otherwise.  I do believe all of you will do well in this class, if not, you would not be here today.  However, you should prepare yourself, understand the expectations of this class well and try your best.  You will be fine.
    Usually, for some students, math comes as easy subject and you think you can do well without doing a lot of homework or studying as much before the exams.  That strategy may work for other math classes, NOT this one though.  This is not one of the classes you can take an easy A.  You will need to EARN it by working hard; of course, do homework and extra practice problems to understand the concepts well and be able to solve the test problems fast without making careless mistakes.  Not only do you need to be able to understand complex math concepts, but also should be able to apply multiple concepts together to solve a complicated problem.  I followed Mrs. Lac's instructions to review Algebra concepts during summer and come to 7th period to ask questions or to finish homework or review concepts with Mrs. Lac around.  And I cannot stress this enough, if you do not get a concept, please go to 7th period and ask Mrs. Lac.  Mrs. Lac will be willing to help you, no matter how many "dumb" questions you ask.  You will walk out feeling 10 times better than when you came in.  To study for the test, you should go over the class notes, do the review packet, and practice the homework and extra problems again and again if necessary.  Please make sure to check the answers for any problem you solve.  This is very important.  I used to not think my answer must be right and I learned it the hard way that I should.
    Now that the gloom and doom is over, I hope I haven't scared any of you from not taking the class.  Trust me, Mrs. Lac tries to make the class enjoyable while teaching those complex math concepts.  I genuinely enjoy coming to class every morning, even though it is competitive and hard.  However, everyone is trying to do well and is willing to help each other.  I did not do well in all of the tests, but I did not give up and kept trying and, therefore, I felt a greater sense of accomplishment to get an A last semester.  I am sure you can do the same or even better.  Good luck next year with Mrs. Lac's class.
     
     
    Jonathan Laifman (2015 - 2016)
     
    Hello!  My name is Jonathan Laifman.  I am currently a sophomore in the class that you hope, or are planning, to take next year.  But, that is enough for now. Let me tell you about what you might do next year.  For starters, since you are currently listening to me talk, I know that you have never studied for math before.  Sure there were the odd times when you memorized PEMDAS in 5th grade and in geometry you probably had to sit down for a whole twenty minutes to study the equations of distance formula, areas, and volumes.  I also know you are zoning out and thinking about your AP Bio meeting and homework and how long I am going to talk for.  The answer is five minutes and what I have to tell you may change the way you look at this class.
    When I first entered the class, I thought of Bio or History and all the other things that I thought I had to worry about.  To me, Math was the easy class; the one that assigned all of this homework that was always a waste of time.  I was wrong. The biggest thing I had to worry about was the class I was walking into.  After a quick introduction, Mrs. Lac rushed us into a lesson, absolute values.  I thought to myself about the ease of Algebra I where the only absolute value we had to deal with was if the absolute of -3 equaled 3 or -3.  By the end of the class, I was "doing" equations with four sets of absolute values.  I later went home and "did" my homework with the same flawed method I did in class, and it wasn't until we were doing another unit that I finally understood absolute values.  Here lies my first mistake.  During class, I didn't go up to Mrs. Lac to ask her questions, see if I was doing the problems right.  I mean how could I go up to this person that just taught us this dark witchcraft part of math and said things to encourage us, like, "this is simple", and "why aren't you guys done?"  On a side note, I can now gladly look back at the previous semester and tell the truth when I say that it really was that simple, and it was only with the help of Mrs. Lac I am at the level of math I am now.
    And so the cycle began.  She would teach us something new; we would look at each other like gravity just flipped upside down, and when the test came, we got an okay grade.  This happened over and over and over again.  It eventually got to the point that if I didn't get a high A on every test left, I wouldn't get an A in the class, and considering my average of a mid B on tests, that would be a challenge.  So I made my homework more than the ten points we get for turning it in with numbers on the paper.  I checked all of my answers and kept on working at it until I understood what I was doing, whether it was going to Mrs. Lac for help, or taking about math to my friends in the class.  I studied for tests by doing the worksheets she hands out, and then I got pumped for those tests by listening to the Rocky theme song.  I got one of the highest grades in the class on my next three tests and did okay, lower than my new average but more than I needed to get.  I finished strong with a 98% on the final and a 92.4% overall.
    What I am trying to say is that you shouldn't expect to come to this class and walk away with an easy A and a shiny new honors sticker on your transcript.  You have to come in here prepared, meaning you have to know all of Algebra I like the back of your hand, and come here prepared to work for every point available.  Know coming into the class that the extra credit opportunities you may see randomly pop up on the walls are never for honors.  However, know, and this is the most important thing, that if you work hard, if you continue to push yourself beyond what you think you can do, you will come out victorious like Rocky, in Rocky II, at the end of the 15th round, all broken up and exhausted, but still victorious.  The most important things you will learn from this class aren't the equations for the length of latus rectum, which is 1/|a|, it is how to get hit and how to get back up, how to take a bad grade and be able to study for the next.  Algebra II Honors is the most rewarding class you can take, not because it is the next math class in the over-achiever's schedule, but because it requires the most of you, and when you leave this class and are done with its homework, you'll go on to study for your Honors English test or the next AP Bio quiz and the only person you have to thank for your good grade on those is Mrs. Lac.  She teaches in a way that makes you remake your work habits and makes you a better student.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Elly Lee, Sam Lee, and Angela Zhao (2014 - 2015)
     
     
    Math was so easy I thought
    An easy A was all that I sought
    It will be simple! I said in a loud voice.
    Signing up for this class was at my own choice
     
    With minimal studying and careless effort
    I never thought of coming to seventh support
    The test day came rolling away
    Never studied despite the warnings Ms Lac would say
     
    With a flick of her wrist the test was at my face
    I had thought it was supposed to be easy but that wasn't the case
    With sweat on my brow and a shaking hand
    I turned in my test, my legs feeling like sand.
     
    The big day is here, the result for the test!
    I got a 67% at its best.
    The heavy burden and disappointment was on my back
    When I realized hard work was what I lacked 
     
    With determination I was set to do better in this class
    I worked harder and harder to get a pass.
     
    What we would advise for this class
    Is to make sure your study habits don't crash
    And to work very hard to earn your grade
    Because you wouldn't want your self esteem to fade
     
    Come for help at seventh period after school
    And ask a lot of questions about the equations and rule
    Do all of the worksheets and do not procrastinate
    Because then it might be all too late
     
    Not even kidding you, this class is really hard
    So you have to work at home to get a good report card
    This class requires a lot of energy and time
    So take it if you're willing to because it's a mountain to climb
     
    You put in sweat and maybe a tear
    But through the work you'll hear
    A good job and maybe even a smile from Mrs. Lac
    And if you're lazy don't you dare slack
     
    Or else you'll get an unwanted grade
    But work hard and you won't be afraid
    You'll learn how to really study and understand math 
    But don't you dare give up and deter from this path 
     
    Because through the work you will smile
    And realize that this class was all worthwhile