FEBRUARY 9, 2015

TPHCourse Selection Guide

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THIS YEAR’S SCHEDULE>> NEXT YEAR’S SCHEDULE>>

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1. Write down your schedule from this year and your prospective schedule for next year.

2. Fill in the difficulty and workload of each class, using ratings from this guide.

3. Add up the difficulty and workload of each schedule.

4. Compare the two to help you choose classes for the upcoming year.

How to use the Guide:>>

MILES KIMacl editor

REMY AFONGeditor-in-chief

ERIC ZHANGnews editor

Piedmont HighlanderThe VOLUME 101 ISSUE 6

A CLOSER LOOK FEBRUARY 9, 20152

TPH Course Selection GuideThis course selection guide reflects the opinions and research of The Piedmont Highlander staff. We hope that this guide will inform students in chosing courses that are suitable for them.

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Difficulty is rated within a department.(e.g., you can compare Honors Statistics to AP Calculus AB, but not String Orchestra to Spanish II.)

Homework load is rated across all departments.(e.g., you can compare AP Environmental Science to ROP Culinary Arts.)

easy A time-consuming assignments minimal/no homeworkhard-earned A

CREATIVE ARTS

COMPUTER STUDIESExploring Computer Science*

Acting I

Mobile Applications Development*

AP Computer ScienceWeb Development — Design and Coding*

Joy of Computing

Acting III-IV

Symphonic Band/String Orchestra

Jazz Band

A Capella Chamber Choir

A Capella Advanced Choir

A Capella Beginning Choir

Acting II

ROP AP Music

Directing and Production for the Stage*

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With the implementation of the CSTA standards, three new classes have been added to the course catalog: Exploring Computer Science, Web Development — Design and Coding and Mobile Applications Development.

Exploring Computer Science will be a lower level class, while Web Development — Design and Coding and Mobile Applications Development will be AP level or above.

THE NEW COURSES>>

Art I-IV Ceramics I-IV

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AP Art 2-D Portfolio AP Art 3-D Portfolio

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Acting teacher Kim Taylor will be teaching a new class called Directing and Production for the Stage, introducing students to theatrical education outside of acting. Only juniors and seniors may enroll.

“I think it’s a great skill to learn how to lead people, how to organize people,” Taylor said. “It says ‘for the stage,’ but we’ll definitely do stuff with movies, with writing, with stage managing.”

Taylor recommends that students take the class if they are interested in learning more about any aspect of the entertainment field.

The class will primarily be project-based, and she anticipates guests such as costumers and directors coming into class to talk about their professions and share their experiences.

THE NEW COURSES>>

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*These classes are new and have not been rated

ART“In Art

I-IV, you e x p e r i m e n t with a lot of different

themes, styles and mediums like graphite, ink, charcoal, oil pastels and paint. As the levels progress, you get more freedom with the project ideas and mediums.

With AP Art, you have to come up with a concentration. You design all your projects by yourself under that topic. Homework includes things like sketchbook assignments and planning outside of class.”

JOHANNA RAPPORTsenior

AP COMPUTER SCIENCE“It’s a great

course to try out computer programming if you’re

curious about how computers work.

AP Computers teaches you Java and is a good introductory course. It gives you a lot of freedom to work on projects alone, but make sure you stay focused and do not go off task.

Even if you haven’t tried out programming before, it’s a good chance to gain some skills for the future.

Mr. Mattix is also one of Piedmont’s finest, and so are his Scrabble game skills.”

GATES ZENGsenior

AP MUSIC“We do busy

work, but it actually helps ingrain skills in you. There

are a lot of difficult concepts

to comprehend and the class is also time consuming.

Sometimes we do theory problems over and over again, other times we listen to or look at music and analyze what we heard or read.

You definitely can’t go in without playing or knowing anything about music before. For people who don’t have musical experience, Mr. Piazza gives you summer work to help you prepare.”

LIAM SCHINDLERsenior

ENGLISH 5-6 HONORS“We have

lots of class d iscuss ions and essays. We usually

spend about two weeks per book with thorough annotations for homework.”

AIDEN FRASERjunior

A CLOSER LOOKFEBRUARY 9, 2015 3

SCIENCES

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

MATHEMATICS

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

Honors Statistics

Intermediate Dance

Public Speaking

English 7-8 AP English Literature

English 5-6 HonorsEnglish 5-6

English 3-4English 1-2

PE: Weight Training*

Upper Division PE

Creative Writing

Freshman PE

Advanced Dance

Integrated Math I*

Algebra II

AP Calculus AB

Statistics

Math Analysis

AP Calculus BC

Geometry

ROP AP Environmental Science

Honors Chemistry

ROP Sports Medicine

Chemistry

Physics: Alternative Energy Design and Construction*

Biology

Honors Physics

Anatomy and PhysiologyROP Biotechnology

Physics (College Prep)

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AP Biology

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PE: Weight Training is a new semester PE elective that sophomores, juniors and seniors can take to earn PE credit. It teaches advanced weight lifting techniques to help students maximize their athletic and strength potential. Athletes wanting to improve their performance in sports, as well as students hoping to learn more about weight training are encouraged to enroll. The class is currently pending board approval.

THE NEW COURSES

AP ENGLISH LITERATURE“You learn

to analyze different texts like poetry and Middle

E n g l i s h . The page-long homework responses come and go.”

CHARLOTTE MOXLEYsenior

“The class is based around P o w e r P o i n t l e c t u r e s with labs in

between. We also learn about trees. It’s hard at times, but everything is applicable to real life.”

STUART ASHFORDjunior

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AP BIOLOGY“To do well,

you need to want to learn about biology. It’s a difficult

class if you don’t do the work, but if you put time into reading the textbook and doing the labs, you should be fine.”

TUCKER JOHNSONsenior

HONORS STATISTICS“It’s a really

c h a l l e n g i n g class, but has real world applications.

You need to be detail-oriented because the class is English-based too.”

GRAHAM LOWsenior

AP CALCULUS AB“Take the

class because you need to e x p e r i e n c e M a h o n e y ’ s

teaching style, especially the 10 percent grade boost and the fact that there is no homework.”

DANIEL LINsenior

AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

A CLOSER LOOK FEBRUARY 9, 20154

UNRATED

NON-DEPARTMENTAL

WORLD LANGUAGES

The editorial board decided not to rate the following courses:

Social Psychology

AP Mandarin

Mandarin I

Mandarin III

Mandarin IV

French I

French III

French II Mandarin II

AP French

French IV

Spanish I

AP Spanish

ROP Culinary Arts

Finding Community*

ASBYearbook

Introduction to PublicationsROP Journalism

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Psychology Law and Society

EconomicsCivics

US History

AP European History

World Cultures and Geography

AP US History

Modern World History

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Spanish IV

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Spanish III

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Spanish III in Action

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Spanish II

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AP EUROPEAN HISTORY“In class, we

have lots of d i s c u s s i o n s , mainly in small groups then later

join into larger class discussions. There’s a possibility of a quiz every time a reading is due.

We also analyze primary sources and fill out worksheets. We do DBQs and FRQs about every month, but he tells us in advance.

We read between one to two chapters a week, which are about 30 pages each. You have to be good at retaining information and time management to succeed.”

CLAIRE SCHANEsenior

English Language DevelopmentSpecial Studies/Learning Center

Teacher/Office AssistantUnscheduled

Finding Community will be a discussion-based class focused on examining current questions and events related to community.

The main topics of discussion will be issues of inclusion and exclusion, bullying, the isms, and what makes a community.

“The course will touch on those issues using the lives and experiences of current students, as well as current events,” social psychology teacher Anne Aldridge-Peacock said.

She also anticipates a service learning component to the class.

THE NEW COURSES>>

AP US HISTORY“APUSH is a

h i g h - i n t e n s i t y and fast-paced class, but you go into a lot of depth

and interesting material. This year, with Chromebooks, we get discussion questions in small groups and then discuss them as a class.

About once or twice a week, you will have a chapter due for reading. Sometimes he will give you a quiz. There are two big tests a semester and around two DBQs and two LEQs.

Always plan your reading out ahead of time. If you slack off and have to read a chapter in one night, then it’s not fun.”

COLIN DIXONjunior

SPANISH III IN ACTION“We learn

Spanish, but also about the culture and country itself. Instead of

having finals, we do projects instead.

As long as you try, you can get an A. It’s less about writing answers and doing paperwork, and more about having conversations.

If you don’t want to continue far into Spanish and want to have a more relaxed class, but still learn some grammar, definitely take the class.”

REBECCA HARRISjunior