“What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand.” - Confucius
It’s hard to argue with ancient philosophers. That’s why HTHI is a project based school, and in this class that means we’re going to build stuff to help you understand how math is used in this world. We want to make it fun and exciting to learn. I’m not just going to demonstrate new concepts. You’re going to experience the activities yourselves. Aside from the core curriculum, we’re going to focus on discovery, teamwork and communication.
Curriculum
This course is aligned with the 9th grade Common Core standards called Integrated Math 1. That means it’s a combination of several topics, including Algebra 1, Geometry, Statistics and Number Sense. There are two major tests that students face in high school: the SAT and the college math placement test. We want to set our students up to succeed in those two areas so the topics and progression follow suit.
In order to prepare our students, we will focus on three main facets of learning:
Procedural Fluency:
I’m not a believer in busy work. But we still need to master our mathematic skills to progress. Mathematicians that went before us developed a lot of beautiful formulas and theorems and we will need to practice them.
Conceptual Understanding:
We will work collaboratively to solve open ended problems both in and out of real world situations. This is where we ask “how” and “why” these math concepts work. This will help the students apply their math skills to other contexts. Sometimes I will ask the questions, and sometimes students will.
Project Based Learning:
What is math used for and why do we need it? That’s where projects and activities come in. These will provide an opportunity to transform our mathematical knowledge in a rich and contextualized way. From building hovercrafts to designing phone cases, we’ll see the beauty and necessity of math.
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Throughout the year, we'll be using a system I created called Judo Math. In a nutshell, it allows every student to progress at their own pace. If you'd like to know more, you can read all about it in detail by going to www.judomath.com.
The beauty of this school allows the curriculum to take different paths once the discovery takes place. But I do have a general plan of what we’re doing and when. A detailed display of daily events will be posted on the calendar of my digital portfolio here: On the calendar you'll be able to see and download copies of assignments for every day and view what's coming up in the curriculum. I hate to sound like a lawyer, but I’m obligated to mention that this schedule is subject to change by the very nature of project based learning.
Materials
3 pencils. NOT A PEN. (you need 3 in case you lose one...which you will)
A composition notebook. (that black and white thing you buy at the dollar store)
A ruler
Grading
Your grade is created from the combination of projects, exams, belt tests, assignments and endeavor. On PowerGrade these are computed in separate categories, so your grade is not based on total points.
Projects – 25%
The more work involved in each project, the more points it’ll be worth. All aspects are included in this grade, such as lab reports, presentations, and the product itself.
Final Exams – 25%
There are 2 math exams throughout the year. The belt tests are made for you to prepare yourselves for these exams. The exams are for me to assess your knowledge.
Belt Tests– 20%
Belt tests will be given every week. You have to pass each one to move on. But you can retake them as many times as you want. I’ll take the highest grade you got on any of 'em.
Assignments – 15%
If you don't finish your work in class, you'll need to finish your assignment at home. Each problem set is worth 5 points. All you have to do is TRY the problems in order to get credit. You can get every question wrong. But if you showed your work on every problem, you'll get the full 5 points. That being said, if you don’t try EVERY problem or fail to show your work, you get a zero. I won't accept any practice sheets late.
Endeavor – 15%
You’ll get a weekly grade in this category. The word endeavor basically means to give effort. You start each week with 5 points, 1 for each day. You can only go down from there. Do these things every day and you’ll be fine.
JUST TRY: Try the Appetizer EVERY day, persevere, stay on task, give effort.
RESPECT: Be kind and understanding to EVERYONE. Respect others feelings and their property.
BE PRODUCTIVE: Take advantage of the time you have in class. Come to class on time. The more you do here, the less you have to do at home, and the less stress you’ll have overall. There’s always something you can do productively. Chatting isn’t one of them.
I follow a standard scale for grading
100-98 A+ 89 – 88 B+ 79 – 78 C+
97– 93 A 87 – 83 B 77 – 73 C
92 – 90 A- 82 – 80 B- 72 – 70 C-
Keep in mind that I WANT you to succeed. Don’t be afraid to ask for extra help.
Late Work
I don't accept late work on daily assignments. You either get 5 points for it, or zero points. It’s purely about your effort.
On all project assignments there will be a responsibility category.
If your work is one week late, you lose half of those points.
If it is more than one week late, you lose all of your responsibility points. But you can still show your content knowledge by turning in the work.
Any Questions?
I have an open door policy. I’m available after school, before school, during lunch, whenever. You just need to give me some notice. Email is the best way to reach me because I check it on my iphone constantly. dthoene@hightechhigh.org.