SOLs Covered: 6.PFA.1-2 Ratios & Proportions; 6.NS.1 Fractions, Decimals, & Percents
Math Unit: 07 Ratios & Proportions; 08 Fractions, Decimals, & Percents
Daily Agenda: January 13-17, 2025
Upcoming Assessments: SUM Quiz 8 Fraction, Decimal, Percent (Thurs. 1/30)
Greetings! Let's jump straight into this week's math happenings as there's a bit to cover. As previously mentioned, we started the week with trying to wrap up the test from before the break. I say trying because we still had a few too many kids not finished with their first attempt, so Monday was spent finishing that for those students, while those who had finished could work on the extra credit for math or any other last little bits they could to improve their grades. Some students had finished absolutely everything they could for math, so those students were allowed to work on things for other classes (as the term and semester ended on Wednesday and I want my students to be successful in all of their classes, not just math) or read. On Tuesday, we finally were able to go over the whole final quiz together for their final attempt.
Wednesday saw us starting our next unit. The unit has us working with fractions and decimals (a review from elementary school) and introducing percents. We started with just discussing where we see percentages appear in our daily lives and the kids really got into it and some even came up with a few examples I hadn't originally thought of prior. We moved onto an introduction to modeling percentages with 100 grids, which we'll continue to revisit throughout the unit, especially as we start integrating fractions and decimals. Before we can get there, we have to go over estimating percentages, which we were able to start in my first class (2nd block) today and we'll carry on with that at the beginning of next week.
With the second semester/third quarter officially starting yesterday, I had hoped to motivate the kids to start the term strong with some quick easy grades today. Students earned their first grade for their ALEKS work with today's PMA (Progress Monitoring Assignment), which at this time is just being graded for completion. We've been doing these all year, but some students have been slacking on that side recently and our work on this site is meant to build skills to improve overall performance (think of it as like hitting your daily step goal to help with your overall health goals). Additionally, the kids had a basic percent worksheet to complete that was very straightforward. Unfortunately, some students chose not to use their time wisely in class and you will find that rather than giving a quick boost to their grade, it's resulted in an immediate drop.
I had debated with myself on whether I should list them as missing in the gradebook or wait until the start of next week, but I'm hoping that everyone will review grades this weekend and that I can request that parents and guardians offer their support by pushing those students with either assignment listed as missing take advantage of the extra time provided by the long weekend to get these done as I will most definitely still accept them for full credit. For students who lost points on the worksheet, they will get those back on Tuesday and can make corrections to earn back the lost points after turning it back into me.
Well, that should cover everything, but as always, please feel free to email if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!