Math 7H Blocks 1 & 2
SOLs Covered: 7.12 & 8.17 Multi-Step Equations
Math Unit: 11 Multi-Step Equations - Part 2 - Solving
Daily Agenda: November 3-5, 2021
Upcoming Assessments: Quiz 2.01 Multi-Step Equations (Wed. 11/10)
MSM2 Block 4
SOLs Covered: 7.12 & 8.17 Multi-Step Equations
Math Unit: 11 Multi-Step Equations - Part 2 - Solving
Daily Agenda: November 3-5, 2021
Upcoming Assessments: Quiz 2.01 Multi-Step Equations (Wed. 11/10)
Howdy! As you know, it was a short week for the students but somehow those always end up feeling like the longest weeks (doesn't help that many of the kids still have their Halloween candy stash, I'm sure), so you yet again have one tired teacher. This means I'm again going to try to rein myself in and keep this on the short-and-sweet side.
The week started for the kids reviewing what we had covered last week, which were the beginning steps for tackling multi-step equations. This included another formative check and since I had some kids who were straggling with getting it completed and who had also fallen behind with a couple other assignments, I used our activity for Thursday ("Sweet Algebra!") to essentially bribe them to get the work done. That was enough to really get them in gear. Though there were a couple who were trying to test me to see if I'd follow through, I'm happy to say that all the kids present that day (which is the majority) got it together and were able to join in before the activity was concluded. That was just the introduction to solving multi-step equations, so today had us really getting into the work. Some of the kids were feeling a little "iffy" about things in the beginning, but I think they're all feeling better after we worked through quite a few equations together. We'll be continuing with this next week, so those who are still feeling a little iffy with the process have plenty of practice that should have them catching on before the quiz on Wednesday. Even then, I'll be sure to let the kids know that they can and should ask questions if they're struggling during the quiz. I've found over the years that most of the time kids just need to hear the confirmation that they are approaching the problem correctly, so I can be their sounding board to help them build the confidence.
In other news, some of the kiddos are still behind when it comes to their ALEKS work. To help with this a bit, I'm making Friday "mini-updates" a permanent thing. On Friday mornings, I will add the kids progress from Monday through Thursday to their current score. They then need to ensure that they have completed any remaining missing topics either during class on Friday or over the weekend to get to the required points value (this week it was 30 points total). For parents and guardians checking grades over the weekend, there's no need to panic right away if you see the ALEKS grade listed as being incomplete. If this is the case, ask the student to show you their progress on the ALEKS timeline page and as long as the number of topics for Friday and/or the weekend make up the difference, then they'll be all set once I do the Monday morning update.
So I got a smidge carried away there in the middle, but this is still on the shorter side, so I'll wrap things up here. If anyone has any questions, especially in regards to the new ALEKS process, please feel free to reach out and I'll get back to you no later than Monday afternoon. I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!