This is Mrs. Traylor's math page for Shiloh Middle School students. Check here every week for your assignments, useful links and extra credit! 

Scroll down to see the 2009-2010 Supply List!

Things to know for 2009-2010 Mrs. Traylor will be teaching four classes of 7th grade gifted and/or accelerated math and sponsoring the Math Club.

• Two classes will be Gifted Accelerated Math for students who are identified as gifted, or who have demonstrated exceptional ability in math, and have qualified for the Accelerated Math Sequence based on test scores in 6th grade. These students students have already mastered some of the 7th grade curriculum, so we will move quickly through the seventh grade curriculum and complete about half of the eighth grade curriculum. We will be using the Holt Algebra 1 textbook.
• Two classes will be Gifted Non-Accelerated Math, for gifted students whose strengths are not necessarily in math. This class will follow the regular 7th grade math curriculum, but with more projects and in-depth assignments. This class will use the Holt Mathematics Course 2 textbook.
• Information about using the online versions of the textbooks will be available soon.
• Math Club will probably meet on Monday afternoons, 4:15 - 5:30 in Mrs. Traylor's classroom. This year we will focus on problem solving and practicing for math competitions. Visit MathCounts.org for more information about the types of problems we'll be solving, and one of the competitions we do every year.
  

Supplies: Calculators & Computers

Mrs. Traylor is a firm believer in using technology in the classroom and for homework. Although they are not required, it would be very useful if each student had:

• Access to a computer with a fast Internet connection at home (hint: middle school students should have computer access only where parents can monitor their online activity)
  
• Their own email account (If you are concerned about their safety online, there are many safe email-for-kids services out there. Search "email for kids," and read this article.)
  
• A flash drive to store computer documents, 128 MB or larger. Be sure to put your name on your flash drive! 
  
• A TInspire graphing calculator. The TInspire is TI's newest model and I strongly suggest purchasing one if you are going to purchase a new graphing calculator. It is more like a handheld computer than just a calculator, and is "legal" on the SAT. (Get the blue, non-CAS version.) Visit the TI Educational Website for more information about these calculators, and to see a comparison chart of calculator features. Watch the newspaper ads for Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Staples, Target, etc. for the best prices during back-to-school sales. If you already own a TI-82, TI-83+ or TI-84+, that will be sufficient for these courses. I have a class set of NSpires for students to use in class, but it would be very helpful to have one at home as well.
• If you do not wish to purchase a graphing calculator, a good scientific calculator, such as the TI-30XS Multiview, for less than $20, is an excellent choice.
  

Other supplies

Every day, each student should have:

• pencils, either wood or mechanical
• erasers (nobody's perfect!)
• fine-tip dry erase markers for solving problems on whiteboards in class
• a ruler or straightedge
• graph paper (they will need it all year, be sure they don't run out!)
• notebook paper
• a notebook or folder to neatly store homework. Choose a system that works with your organizational style; this could be a spiral notebook, a composition book, a section of a 3-ring binder or a folder. You will have homework every night, Monday through Thursday. It will be graded in class, but generally won't be collected.
• a folder or notebook section to store weekly projects and vocabulary assignments. Each week, you will have a project, a set of challenge problems or a vocabulary assignment. These will be collected and graded and should be saved for review before tests.
  

In the second semester, we will be doing geometric constructions with compass and straightedge. If you buy a drawing compass during the back-to-school sales in July and August, you will spend less than if you wait until January.