Math 9

Welcome to Math 9!

Math 9 will see us build upon the skills you have learned previously and is an important stepping stone to Math 10 and other high school math courses. We will cover some material that has been previously studied in order to develop number fluency; the concepts of Math 9 will lay a foundation for future Math courses.

There is no learning without struggle. Many students arrive in high school math classes thinking that they can’t do math if they don’t understand something right away. Everyone has the ability to succeed in math; the road to success may be difficult and will require work on the part of each student. If what we are doing in class is too easy, learning is not happening.

Attendance

Students must attend regularly in order to be successful. You will be engaged with mathematics every class; not being here means you miss out on the excitement.

Regular updates will be provided through the Google classroom, including assignments and classwork. You are responsible for any work missed due to absences, and should be prepared to hand in assignments upon your return.

Please keep your teacher informed if you know ahead of time that you will be missing a class. Students are encouraged to write a quiz early if they know they will be absent.


Classroom Routines

Number Talks and Which One Doesn’t Belong will be used as starting points for discussion and to give students an opportunity to explain their thinking and share strategies.

Concepts will be introduced in class, with time given to working through problems, asking questions and completing some practice. We will spend a lot of time working in random groups on the whiteboards.

Materials

Summaries of content will be created in class, and shared electronically with students through the Google classroom. Handouts will be distributed as necessary. Practice problems and assignments will be supplied by the teacher.

A calculator will be a useful resource for different parts of this course. While a phone may be used in class once in awhile, it is can be distracting and you may be asked to put it away. It is beneficial to get to know how your calculator works, so you should have it with you in class.

You will be given an exercise book to use as a learning log for this course, or you can provide your own notebook.

Assessment

My goal is to keep the focus of this course on learning mathematics, rather than the attainment of a grade. Marks will be determined for the midterm and final reports, but students will be informed of their progress through written and verbal feedback, during conversations and through reflections. The goal is for students to get to know their strengths, understand what they need to work on, and set personal goals.


Assessment will be based on:

  • assignments
  • quizzes
  • learning logs
  • group work
  • reflections
  • exam


Students will be involved in the assessment process throughout the semester.

How to Correct a Quiz, test or assignment

Read through the feedback on your quiz.

If any of the question numbers have been circled, corrections are needed. Once the corrections have been completed and submitted, there will be a discussion about whether a re-quiz is needed.

Corrections involve:

  • fixing mistakes
  • analyzing why the mistake occurred: was it a careless mistake? a miscalculation? a misunderstanding? a lack of comprehension? What have you learned from fixing the mistake?
  • writing a statement that highlights something positive about your quiz: an answer that surprized you; something you feel good about; why you think you did well on a part of the quiz; something you enjoyed

Complete the corrections on a separate piece of paper and attach it to your quiz, or do the correction on a sticky note. It should be obvious what is being corrected, and separate from the original quiz. You have two full school days to complete the quiz. For example, if the quiz is returned on a Tuesday, you have until the end of the day on Thursday to hand it in.

If you would like to do a re-quiz to demonstrate that your understanding has progressed, you need to set up a time/date to do this with Ms Robinson (in a flex block) and demonstrate that you have completed some work to help with your understanding.