Post date: Sep 27, 2015 2:54:25 AM
Math 7H Period 1/2
SOLs Covered: 8.1a Order of Operations
Math Unit: #03 PEMDAS
CCPS Student Digital Resource: Order of Operations
Upcoming Assessments: Unit 1-3 Test (Fri. 10/2); CCPS Quiz 1 TBA
MSM2 Period 5/6 & 9/10
SOLs Covered: 7.16, 8.15c Properties of Real Numbers
Math Unit: #03 Properties
CCPS Student Digital Resource: Properties of Real Numbers
Upcoming Assessments: Properties Quiz (Mon. 9/28); Unit 1-3 Test (Thurs. 10/1); CCPS Quiz 1 (Fri. 10/2)
Greetings, all! We've made it through the first three weeks of school and we've all got the basic routines down pat. This week in an effort to "go green" as much as possible, I tried to take things a bit more digital, which the kids can tell you was made a little more frustrating due to some internet connection issues that seemed to get spottier as the week progressed. While this definitely left us all a little frustrated, I think in the end it was a good thing since it forced me to come up with some back up procedures that will likely save us headaches throughout the year. While some of the basic features of Chromebooks are supposed to allow for some offline capability, we found that the spotty internet connection left us with syncing issues. As a result, I've told the kids that they can download a PDF copy of the files the need for a current assignment to store either to the "My Files" on the Chromebook itself or their flash drives. This is something I've encouraged them to remember if they find themselves having issues in their other classes, but it can come in especially handy if students know they'll be without WiFi outside of school for whatever reason yet still needing to get school work finished. Since grades are obviously done electronically via Synergy (a.k.a. ParentVue/StudentVUE) and some of the assignments are now electronic as well, I'm finding it is taking me a little longer than the speedy turnaround the kids have already come to expect, meaning that instead of getting grade updates by the end of the school day, the kids might have to wait a day or two, so I ask that they be patient while we're having to deal with the sometimes headache inducing technology.
Aside from the technology highs and lows of the week that were shared across the board, the Math 7H class (Period 1/2) and the MSM2 classes (Periods 5/6 & 9/10) have gone in separate directions now and will generally not be working on the same things at the same times from this point forward aside from the occasional crossovers. I urge parents/guardians to confirm with their children which class they are in so there won't be any confusion on what's going on and coming up with the different classes. The students are also encouraged check their own Google Calendars as they'll find their specific class calendar without all the extras that are shown on the site.
The Math 7H class presented their Famous Mathematicians projects within their small groups on Monday, before picking "the top mathematician" from their group, who was then presented to the class as a whole. They then voted via Edmodo for their favorite and Galileo Galilei was the winner! I'll admit, he's a favorite of mine as well and only a small part of that is because we share a birthday. After the presentations were wrapped up, the kids took their first quiz of the year and the grades were pretty awesome across the board, though for those who were not happy with their grade (and even those who only missed a question or two) the option to do an error analysis for missed questions is provided to earn back half credit. The rest of the week was spent on the order of operations; while this isn't a new concept for the kids, they do get more complex problems that require a little more attention even though the 7H students can use a calculator for everything they cover this year. For example, if students aren't careful and forget the rules for integers, they can easily get a problem wrong simply from not including a negative the correct way. They took the quiz for this on Friday and again scores overall were pretty awesome. For the handful of students who struggled a bit more, I'm hoping I'll be able to work with them directly during SOAR on Monday to clear up any confusion if time permits; if not, I'll plan something for later in the week.
The MSM2 classes took their first quiz on Tuesday and while it was made more difficult for them seeing as the concepts fall under the few they cannot use a calculator for, scores overall were still alright. Students overall do need to show a lot more work when taking a quiz, especially when the topics are non-calculator and most need to be a bit more careful with reading problems; many had some groan-worthy moments when they realized they misread questions and thus solved it incorrectly because of more of a reading issue rather than a math one (example, finding the square root when really the square was needed just because of the order of the words in the problem). We had time in the Period 5/6 class to have a bit of a discussion about the quiz, though the Period 9/10 class didn't have enough time this week due to a couple drills being schedule during their class, so hopefully we'll have the time this coming week for it. The rest of the week in both classes was spent covering the properties of real numbers. While this isn't a new topic for them, the problems are definitely more complex and being careful when reading through questions will again be a vital part of the process when the kids take the quiz. It's planned for Monday, though with pictures now being handled in math classes (this change was made during the day on Friday due to some technical issues with class rosters) the plans for the week might need to be adjusted depending on how quickly we can get in and out of the auditorium.
Well, it's getting late and I'll likely start rambling (if I'm not already!), so I'll go ahead and end things here. I hope to see everyone on Thursday for Back-to-School Night! As always, please feel free to email if you have any questions.