Mrs. Malen Braswell
Mathematics
About Mrs. Braswell
Hi! This is my twenty-sixth year in the Caldwell County School system. I've worked as a science teacher, math teacher, academic and life skills teacher, and an instructional facilitator. I returned to West Caldwell five years ago -- coming back home to the school where I got my start. West Caldwell is in my family's blood. My husband is a WCHS graduate and works at WCHS, my oldest daughter graduated in 2022 and my youngest is a junior! Our family bleeds blue and gold!
Need to Talk to Me?
I'd love to hear from you!
Email and Parent Square is the best method of communication; however, I can always talk via phone, set up a Zoom/Google Meet or an in-person conference - whatever method works best for you.
Feel free to email at any time, but the best time to contact me by phone is between 10:00 - 11:20am, or afterschool before 4:00.
Fall 2024 Schedule
1st Period - Honors Math II
2nd Period - Planning
3rd Period - Math II
4th Period - Math II
Spring 2025 Schedule
1st Period - Honors Math III
2nd Period - AP Pre-Calculus
3rd Period - Planning
4th Period - Honors Math III
CLASSROOM INFORMATION
Click here for a printable overview
What do you need (supply list)?
(1) Composition Book - Spiral or Non-Spiral Bound
Chromebook REQUIRED (A student must have a charged chromebook for every class. Failure to do so will result in a zero for the daily participation grade.)
Glue Sticks and/or tape
Pencils
Dry Erase Markers (Requested)
What will class be like?:
I believe that the study of mathematics should be active, engaging, and thought provoking. Students should be given opportunities to explore mathematical concepts and connections and have multiple ways to develop and demonstrate their understanding. In all of my math classes, students will be working in cooperative groups on a daily basis. Students will be investigating and exploring concepts within these groups. They will be making connections that will allow their knowledge to be applied in several real-life situations that are not only seen in math class but in other classes as well. Multiple instructional strategies will be used to accomplish this goal such as whole group instruction, discovery, small group instruction, discussion, writing, games, and projects.
What is expected of students?
Students will be expected to work as a team throughout the year. As a team-member, each student will be responsible for his/her own understanding, organization, and preparedness as well as the support of other members of their team. Students should be contributing team members and work with their team on all assignments.
Because every day in Math will build off the days before, it is crucial for students to be present and do all work assigned when it is assigned. Missing one day or one assignment can have a "snowball effect" when it comes to understanding later concepts. Therefore, students must have all assignments and projects completed on their due date. If a student is not prepared for class with his or her completed assignments or is not completing work in class, he/she will be required to call home that day to schedule time during flex, lunch or before/after school to do so. If a student is performing below their capabilities or if performance on any task falls below a C, he/she is required to redo the assignment or schedule time for tutoring / flex.
How will you get your grade?
Students are assessed based on their mastery of the learning targets required for a unit as well as their overall performance on tests and quizzes. Classroom activities and projects will count 20%. Test and Quiz grades will count as the remaining 80 %.
Learning targets are the skills and concepts students should know and be able to do by the end of a unit. The assessment of each of the learning targets is made by observation of student work and discussion in class, individual assignments, and other more formal assessments such as quizzes and tests. Students will have multiple opportunities to meet learning targets. However, the deadline to receive full credit for mastery of missing learning targets for a specific unit is by the final test day of next unit.
Classwork and In Class Activities: 20% of Final Nine Weeks Grade
These grades will be primarily based on completion and participation in all activities and assignments.
Full participation and collaboration is expected all class, every class.
Test and Quiz Performance: 80% of Final Nine Weeks Grade
Each quiz and test will receive an overall numerical grade
Tests will make up 60% of the Final Grade
Quizzes will make up 20% of the Final Grade
What to do if you're absent?
For any absence:
Email as soon as possible so that assignments/alternate assignments can be provided
You are responsible for getting the notes and materials provided during the missed class.
If you miss a test or a quiz you will be required to attend a flex session to make it up.
Check us OUT! See what We're Up To!
Learning to Work Together to Complete a Task
To answer the question, "What does good group work look like?", student teams were given a handout with 100 jumbled numbers and were tasked to highlight (in order) numbers 1 - 100 one number at a time. Each team member had a highlighter and only one person could go at a time. Groups chose the strategy they believed would work best and competed to see which group could find the most numbers in the alloted time. After the first round students determined if there was a pattern or strategy that worked best. We used the experience to determine norms for good collaboration.
The next day we applied and practiced those norms as we built bridges with straws, paper clips, notecards, string and tap and tested them to see which bridge held the most pennies!
LINKS TO ONLINE CLASSROOM
coming soon