You may access the 4th Nine weeks study guide via the "Files" button on the home page.

Go to "FILES" on the home page in order to open up the Study Guides that I handed out on March 5, 2012.

Feb 28, 2012   From an excerpt of a letter sent to an Algebra student's mom...thought this may be helpful:   

What we are actually on currently is factoring quadratics with leading coefficient of 1, non-1, and those where you seperate four terms and factor out common terms... respectively, we've called these category 1, 2, and 3's.  We are also having to review 8th grade topics in prep for the ARMT, so they are doing double duty in class.  On the factoring, I had them pick 5 from each category on the right hand side of the factoring project sheet and gave credit not only for the factoring, but checking the work as well.  Most checked theirs on categories 1 and 2, but not 3.  We are now focussing on the left-hand side of the page where they use factoring to solve for x.  They are at half and half on the understanding according to my strategic teaching ongoing formative assessments :-)  ( about half the light bulbs are lit when responding in class discussion).  A few of our Algebra students are immature in their work habits and often do not ask valuable questions until it is test time..Many have made great strides in their learning since August, but the attention to detail needs to increase in order for them to be well-prepared for High School learning.  The Retest we took last Friday that the kids revised today, was in response to only about 10 kids having reached "Mastery" on the first test.

Feb 15..... Be sure to ask your child about doubling and halving when they multiply or divide... it brought up some interesting conversation today.    We have been practicing for the upcoming ARMT exam by using item specs on the Order of Operations, word problems, and perimeter and area of rectangles, triangles, and trapezoids.  We will retest on Friday for Princess Project skills such as linear graphs, equations, distance, and midpoint...only 4 kids made an A on the first test, but they feel much better about the material now.  We have an on-going project on factoring with level 1, 2, and 3 trinomials and polynomials that need to be factored.  We will be introducing using factoring to solve equations tomorrow.

February 1, 2012  The kids began their booklet, which will be turned in for a test grade along with any work from their calendars between pages 192-225 that they haven't turned in yet on FRIDAY.  The Graph Whiz requries them to only graph the portions of the given lines for the given limits on y or x.  These portions with endpoints are called "Line Segments."  Also, the back page is the first in a series of projects from the Factoring Project.  In this first portion, they are to choose 20 problems from the right hand side of the paper and factor these polynomials.  Most of them are trinomials such as x^2 + 7x + 12, which can be factored into the product of two binomials (x + 4)(x + 3).  Students are to check their work by multiplying thier binomials or "FOILing" to see that their products are the original problems from the project sheet.  Remember that the grade is for participation and showing their thinking, not just answers.  Once again, I am concerned with the process, not the end result.

Jan 25...Since so many kids did not heed my warning and waited until late in the weekend to start their projects, I extended the due date to today, Wednesday, January 25.  I had a sub in the room today as I had to go to a workshop at the Board of Education.  I will be grading these over the weekend.  Also, Friday will be a cummulative test from 2012 involving simplifying, factoring, linear equations, linear systems of equations, etc.  Pages 192-216 from the calendar are topics for review Thursday.

 January 14...

Be sure you are working on the Princess Project as it is not something that's easily done in a day.  There are several formulas and strategies you may want to utilize while workig through the project.  For instance, when you can't use an equation of the form y = 3x + 36 due to the fact that there aren't 36 lines available on the y axis, you may want to try some T-tables and plug in some x values like 0, 5, 10, 15 to see what the corresponding y values are (these are points on the line that you are looking for). 

December 13th... The kids had a good time at Samford watching The Nutcracker today!!  I hate that we didn't have time to see the Planetarium, but they now believe us when we say how WONDERFUL the cafeteria is there!!!! 

Nine weeks exams are supposed to be Thursday and Friday of this week, but in light of how many of our students are not very proficient at mathematics, we will begin working on the exam tomorrow, Wednesday, December 14, 2011.  Study Guides were given out last Monday and they have had 9 days to work on them.  They will receive 50 points assessment grade for turning in the work they've done in preparing for this exam tomorrow...if they don't turn in that work(stapled to the back of the study guide) they will receive 0/50 points.  Students have been told, it has been written on the exam, and we have reviewed every day except last Thursday, which was a study day with no talking. 

December 5, 2o11...    The kids received their study guides today...these will be due the day of the exam and worth 50 points.  Remember that credit is for the work, not just the answers.   The exam is 30 problems, and most of the kids don't get finished in one day, therefore we will review and let them start on the test Wednesday, so they will have all three days to work on it.  The nine weeks exams are 20% of their grades, so it weighs heavily on the semester.  Our field trip to Samford to watch the Nutcracker is next Tuesday, December 13, so we have Tuesday through Monday to review the study guide in class.

November 26, 2011,

I can not believe we have the possibility of snow in the Birmingham area Monday or Tuesday!!!   The students were given a "booklet" last week with 3 pages.  The first page is one-step equations followed by the second with two-step equations, and the third page is multi-step equations.  Students need to show at least one step in solving the equations.  They were to work on the odd problems only with review last Tuesday and this Monday.  We will be focusing on solving single, double, and multi-step equations as well as linear equations and their graphs through Christmas to wind up the newest content for the 2nd Nine weeks in Pre-Algebra.  As for Algebra, they have all of the above including Factoring of trinomials and discussion of the graphs of parabolas.  Most kids tend to "click" with factoring and adding with variable fractions, because they make a connection to why and how we found like denominators in 6th grade.  Making the connection to the graphs of equations is usually a difficult step for most 8th graders, so be prepared for some frustration on their part.

November 3, 2011

Menu #2 is due tomorrow.  The students already have had one task graded, which they can correct and turn in for full credit and 1/4 of their Menu grade.  They will turn in 3 other tasks at 50 points each for a total of 200 points.  There will be  a 4 problem quiz tomorrow on binomial products like (x + 4)(x - 7)..... you may remember this as "FOIL" from high school.  We will also simplify problems like   5(n - 4) +2.  Have a great weekend!

Oct 28, 2011:  We are half-way through Menu #2, and the majority of the kids are working hard..remember that menu tasks are not above student ability(these are used all the way down to 2nd and 3rd grade), but the work and detail put into them is where the quality exists.  We have processed  several menu tasks have been processed, so the kids know what I am expecting on their menu items that will be due next Friday.  Ask your child to explain to you how to show a rectangular array (have them draw a rectangle and show you how to "FOIL" the problem: (x+2)(x+3).)   You can also ask them questions like "What does it mean to show something algebraically, tabularly, geometrically, verbally, or graphically?"  Have a great weekend!!!

Oct. 19:  We are now into our second nine weeks of school!  We are working on our first investigation, called "Billiards Rectangles," which requires the kids to construct their own rectangles and find how many pathways result from each rectangle in order for the "ball" to travel to another corner of the rectangle.  In an investigation, there is no "correct" answer, but rather that kids enjoy discovering mathematical relationships and share their findings with each other.  We are relating this to the scientific method.  ENJOY!!!   Menu #2 starts tomorrow.

The 9 weeks test schedule is as follows:

Math/Social Studies  Oct 12, 2011

Science/English   Oct 13, 2011

Reading/Elective/Makeup   Oct 14, 2011

Explore test 8th grade  Oct 19th

Sept. 15, 2011:  Yesterday, I gave the students a 9 weeks study guide QUIZ from about 5 years ago...they are to keep this in their binders for the next two weeks.  We will be reviewing certain problems from this quiz as well as any questions that arise  each day as they prepare for the nine weeks material.  Also, we have begun to discuss increasing patterns....our brains are pattern-seeking machines and by illustrating geometric patterns in a table and in graphical form, we can begin to see the mathematical relationships more powerfully.  Students are already seeing how different ways of looking at a pattern will still lead to the correct answer :-)  Our dialogue in the classroom will be changing more from being teacher-lead, to more student-lead discourse.  I am merely a facilitator for these kids, and they will soon see the knowledge they already have as they learn to discuss and debate their thinking. 

This is intended for August and September Readers...

Please be patient with your young learner....if they bomb a test this first nine weeks, they get more chances to improve their understanding of a topic.  For instance, our fist test was on the Order Of Operations, and some didn't do well.  However, the second test not only had new material, but also a section for Order Of Operations, so if they improved on that portion of the test, their previous grade will increase as their mastery of the material improves.  Our third test was on multiplying and dividing Integers, but it included specific sections that pertained to adding and subtracting as well as Order of Operations, so grades had an opportunity to increase again.  If students are really trying NOT to improve by not doing classwork, not showing evidence of their thinking, nor checking their work as we go over it in class, then they probably won't be successful.  However, if he/she is trying to learn and doing their part for their learning process, I promise that I will meet them half way and they will find success! 

This process may be a little  different, but math is a process where we are constantly updating and developing understanding of material.  Students seem to be encouraged when they find out what sections of the test they are struggling with and which part they are showing mastery of.    Please be patient with them as they find their way through some difficult material.

We are now into our second nine weeks of school!  We finished our Explore tests today and our afternoon classes are meeting as regularly scheduled.  We are working on our first investigation, called "Billiards Rectangles," which requires the kids to construct their own rectangles and find how many pathways result from each rectangle in order for the "ball" to travel to another corner of the rectangle.  In an investigation, there is no "correct" answer, but rather that kids enjoy discovering mathematical relationships and share their findings with each other.  We are relating this to the scientific method.  ENJOY!!!   Menu #2 starts tomorrow.

Check the first section:  "Class Requirements and Calendar" for updated information. 

Algebra 1 (Pre-AP)  From everything that we've been shown of  the Pre-AP concepts for our county,  we should all be very excited!  All the national and international research reinforces the ideas to be implemented by "Laying the Foundation" for Pre-AP courses.  As teachers, we will be setting higher expectations of our students, and try to engage the students on many different levels.  That is, LISTEN TO THIS ONE....... Teachers have been notified that thorough questioning does NOT mean to drown students in hundreds of problems, but rather to attack fewer problems with more intensity.  After 4 years of tutoring in college and 17 years of teaching, I can truly say that not everyone learns at the same pace nor in the same way.  My class is designed to incorporate the standards set by the Alabama Course of Study, Jefferson County Guidelines, NCTM, and GBMP(Greater Birmingham Mathematics Partnership. )  I believe that students should have the opportunity to use several methods to learning and solving problems , dependent upon their individual learning styles.  Students will be expected to work as individuals as well as in group situations.  We will have daily work, homework, quizzes, tests and projects that will be graded in order to evaluate learning.  Math is a language, and we will emphasize math vocabulary and concepts on a daily basis.  I look forward to teaching you this year, and I hope you enjoy what is left of the summer!

TEXTBOOKS!  I will be issuing textbooks this week...  We will also be practicing procedures for MENU items soon. 

Our first quizzes on the Order of Operations went well.  There were still a few people that struggled with following the priorities of Parentheses and exponents from the inside out, Multiplication OR Division LEFT to RIGHT, then after all the other have been done, we work Addition OR subtraction from Left to Right.  Some students were still adding or subtracting when there was still multiplication to be done on the quiz.

All students should have a learning log(composition notebook) in their file in my room now.  These will be sort of a scrapbook/portfolio of their work throughout the year.  Hope you have a great week and a safe Labor Day weekend!