Math 7H Blocks 1 & 2
SOLs Covered: None... yet!
Math Unit: Back-to-School
Daily Agenda: August 23-27, 2021
Upcoming Assessments: Fall Math MAP Testing (Wed. 9/8); Quiz 1.01 Integers & Exponents (Fri. 9/10)
MSM2 Block 4
SOLs Covered: None... yet!
Math Unit: Back-to-School
Daily Agenda: August 23-27, 2021
Upcoming Assessments: Fall Math MAP Testing (Wed. 9/8); Quiz 1.01 Integers & Exponents (Fri. 9/10)
Greetings new 7th (and a few 6th) grade families! I'm Kim Lambert, your child's math teacher for the year. You'll generally only get one "big" message at the end of every week giving you a general overview of what went on throughout the week. I can sometimes get a little carried away with these messages (I can't help it... I'm just a huge nerd and love my subject and teaching!), but I'll make sure I put the most important information in the first paragraph so if I do get longwinded, you can ignore my nerdy ramblings. These weekly updates will always have the same subject line (EDMS Math 2021-2022: Week/Semana ##), so that if I ever have to email for something aside from the regular update, you'll be able to easily distinguish it from the rest (ex. EDMS Math: Johnny's overall progress & grades, EDMS Math: Upcoming testing, etc.).
As you can imagine, this week has been filled with a ton of the usual back-to-school activities and information, just getting familiar with the basics of class, learning/reviewing the Canvas system, getting a few new "tech tricks" to add to the students' skillset, etc. We haven't really touched on any actual math topics yet (next week it will be "all math, all the time!"), but students were asked to ensure they can access the ALEKS website (located in the My.CCPS/RapidIdentity backpack through the McGraw-Hill icon) and that they have completed the initial Knowledge Check if applicable (generally only students new to CCPS or new to middle school). The kids will be expected to complete 10 topics a week on ALEKS starting next week and I will be showing them how to track that on Monday or Tuesday. I'll go into a little more detail about ALEKS next week.
Thank you to all the parents and guardians who completed all of "your homework" this week. I know we've thrown about a million forms at you this week, but we're all greatly appreciative of your help. I've gotten the forms for my class (Contact Form - Español and Syllabus - Español) back from most students, but there are still a few missing here and there so if folks could get those back, it would be greatly appreciated (let me know if a new copy is needed). With those forms, I also sent the following note:
If your family is experiencing difficulties at home, I would like to provide additional support at school. I understand that you are not always able to share the details and that’s okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning, or weekend, please message me “Handle with Care.” Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let me know that your child may need extra time, patience, or help during the day.
I can't claim credit for the message as I found it floating around the interwebs the past few weeks, but it perfectly expressed my own feelings on the matter, so I had to use it. Please don't ever hesitate to reach out if I can be of any help. I've also talked with the kids about how they can always let me know when they're having a rough day as well and that I'll work around it with them. I warned that it doesn't mean I'll let them out of their work and responsibilities altogether (they're middle schoolers, so someone always tries to test those limits), but I can let them work silently without bugging them, keep their hood up if they feel like hiding away a bit, put their head down for a bit, or something along those lines. We all have rough days from time to time, so if I can help make their day a little easier, I'm more than happy to do so.
Well, I guess you can already see what I meant with my warning that I can get carried away (I'm sorry! I'm working on it!), so I'll go ahead and wrap this up here. I look forward to seeing where this year takes us! This is an amazing group of kids, so I'm expecting great things. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Hope you all have an amazing weekend!