SOLs Covered: SOL 8.15 & 8.16 Relations & Functions with Slope & Intercepts; 8.5 Angle Relationships
Math Unit: 13 Relations & Functions; 14 Angle Relationships
Daily Agenda: Feb. 6-10, 2023
Upcoming Assessments: Quiz 3.02 Angle Relationships & Pythagorean Theorem (A-Wed. 2/22; B-Thurs. 2/23)
Good afternoon! Before getting into this week's math happenings, I want to prepare folks with the information that my own personal supplies (those bought with my own money) will no longer be available to students. Unfortunately, too many of the kids have been damaging my property (some of which is obviously intentionally done and some of the things they never should have been touching in the first place) or generally making a mess of the things or using them as an excuse for breaking basic class rules (like raising their hands for permission to get up during the middle of class), so I'm packing up my own belongs so I'll still have things that can be used next year. This means that they'll need their own notebook paper (though I'll have school printer paper available and will still be providing printed copies of things like notes and worksheets), pencils, Chromebook chargers (the school only provided one per classroom and the ones I bought are some of the things they've damaged), highlighters, et cetera. I will also no longer be providing snacks as too many students have abused that privilege, some wasting the snacks (using the excuse to get a snack to be out of their seat only to throw it all away at the end of class) or even throwing them at each other. Because of the inappropriate behaviors with food, they will also no longer be allowed to eat in class aside from those students with school breakfast during first block classes. I hate that it's come to this, but I have to put my money towards other things and not continuously replacing items too many of the kids aren't respecting nor appreciating.
In regards to math this week, we took the benchmark test as previously scheduled. The results were extremely mixed (some great, some not so great), but I did notice a trend that while I allowed the use of the notes and review I provided in class, many didn't bother to even get them out and some didn't do any work on the paper copy of the test I provided. While there were a few tricky problems, the test overall should have been fairly easy when factoring in the opportunity of being allowed to use their notes and having use of the Desmos calculator. While I know some students do genuinely struggle with the math, I believe there are more that just didn't put the effort into it, especially when I add in the factor that some still haven't completed the first quiz of the term, which is now almost two weeks late. While the quiz was originally a take-home quiz, I gave time in class the class before the test and it can still be completed at home, yet some students still haven't made an attempt to complete it. Students who would like extra help are welcome to come to my morning help sessions, which is now Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 7AM, I just ask for a heads up that a student plans to attend to ensure I'm at the room and not making copies or the like. I will be contacting the families of those students who still haven't completed the work next week, but please help me by checking grades on Tyler (if you see that a grade is a 0F, it's missing) and encouraging the kids to take care of these things.
In regards to the new topic we started on Thursday/Friday, we've officially started our geometry work. While the kids were at first excited to see we've moved away from algebra, some became a little discouraged to see a few "letters popping into their math" again, but I've assured them the algebra that shows up in this and future topics is a little more basic and that I'll continue to provide reminders for how to solve the new equations as we move along. This first day was just the basics of identifying the different angle relationships, which is another big vocabulary thing, so I again encourage students make flashcards. For those needing a little more review, I have additional videos linked in the unit folder, on the Daily Agenda, and in the Canvas module. We'll have another day of angles on Monday/Tuesday before moving onto the Pythagorean Theorem. While I wish we could spend a little more time on it, I've paced out the rest of the year and with needing to factor back in quiz days (I was previously hoping they could be take-home quizzes, but with the struggle getting the first quiz in, that's no longer an option), there's no room to stretch it out any longer. For those that are interested, you can see the rest of the year planned out on the class website's calendar page and you can see the tentative plans on the Daily Agendas.
Well that should cover things but as always, please feel free to email if you have any questions. Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!