Post date: Oct 30, 2020 7:49:15 PM
MSM2 Block 1
SOLs Covered: 7.13a Verbal Translations; Review of Properties; 7.11&12, 8.12,14,&17 One- & Two-Step Equations
Math Unit: 08 Translating Expressions & Equations, 09 Properties of Real Numbers, & 10 One- & Two-Step Equations
Daily Agenda: Oct. 26-30, 2020
Upcoming Assessments: 1.05 Intro to Algebra Quiz (Fri. 11/6)
Math 7H Blocks 2 & 3
SOLs Covered: 7.13a Verbal Translations; Review of Properties; 7.11&12, 8.12,14,&17 One- & Two-Step Equations
Math Unit: 08 Translating Expressions & Equations, 09 Properties of Real Numbers, & 10 One- & Two-Step Equations
Daily Agenda: Oct. 26-30, 2020
Upcoming Assessments: 1.05 Intro to Algebra Quiz (Fri. 11/6)
Greetings! We made it! We made it through what has been a crazy (yet surprisingly pretty awesome) term in my entire teaching career. Nothing like this was covered in any of my college education classes. There's no chapter in many teacher's go-to teacher-guide, Harry Wong's The First Days of School. Yet somehow we've made it to the other side of the first quarter and I'm so proud of all the kids! If I thought I was unprepared for all the mysteries this term might have brought (and it ended up bringing many), I'm sure that's nothing compared to what the kids must have been thinking and feeling. Even though I haven't even seen the faces of many of my students, I can honestly say I love them all and I can't wait for the day I get to meet them in person for the first time (though that will still be appropriately distanced with half their faces covered, I'll take what I can get at this point). And to all the parents and guardians who have been helping from the sidelines or even straight up on the field (in the trenches?) with us throughout this, thank you so much for all your support, understanding, and flexibility!!!
Final grades for the first quarter have been posted on StudentVUE/ParentVUE and we've even got our first grades for the next quarter posted. All of this week's assignments (the mini units for 8 and 9 and the beginnings of unit 10) will be going onto the next term, so students who might have fallen behind in math work this week while trying to wrap up first quarter grades are encouraged to use their four-day weekend to finish those up so they can start of the next quarter strong and in good standing.
As mentioned, units 8 and 9 were mini units as they are predominately review and will be touched on repeatedly throughout the rest of our algebra work. For unit 8, we explored what I like to refer to as translating from English to "Mathish" and vice versa. There are a few tricks in those translations just like there are thinks that might trip you up when translating between other languages (for the life of me I still struggle with whether I should be using "estar" or "ser" as my "to be" verb when using Spanish), so we worked on breaking down some of the trickiest parts. For example, the words "than" and "from" flip the terms to opposite sides of the operation, so I refer to them as "John Cena" words since he comes along, picks up the term and body slams it to the other side (I did warn that I'm not your typical math teacher). With unit 9, we reviewed the properties and since the vocabulary isn't quite as important with the current standards (though we still reviewed it), we came up with some new names that would help us remember how the property looks (ex. the zero property got a 2020 facelift and is now the "everything is closed" property).
The end of this week saw us just launching what will be an extensive amount of solving algebraic problems. For now, we focused on just one-step equations, but we'll be moving onto two-step equations next week and will have several more weeks of algebra to follow. I've told the kids I will try to keep them entertained and make it as fun as possible (even though I'm a math person, I can still recognize that algebra can be boring), but the best way for them to sharpen their algebra skills will be to practice solving problems, for which Khan Academy and ALEKS are excellent resources in addition to our regular assignments.
Well, that should cover everything but as always, please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you all have an amazing weekend and if you go out for Halloween, please stay safe!!!