7 West Math

We continued to work on negative numbers today.  Pre-Algebra needs to complete Skills Practice Workbook pages 9-10 (the odd problems only) by Monday.  We will have a quiz Monday over adding and subtracting integers and a test Tuesday.

Math

5th & 6th Periods: Worksheet, Homework 1.2

7th Period:  p. 108, # 12-44 even (7th period is doing work from the book because of their behavior)

I will be out tomorrow for a meeting of the Key Leaders Network.  I am sure that I will learn a lot while I am there.  Students will work on review for the Progress Monitoring test that will be given on Friday.  This test will measure their progress on the following objectives:

• Determine measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and the range using a given set of data or graphs including histograms, frequency tables, and stem-and-leaf plots.
• Use the order of operations to evaluate numerical expressions.
• Translate verbal phrases into algebraic expressions and algebraic expressions into verbal phrases.

We have begun the study of negative numbers this week.  Pre-Algebra has begun to add and subtract integers.  Their homework tonight is p. 73, #14-25 all.  Math is exploring a unit called Accentuate the Negative that gives an in-depth understanding of negative numbers.  Their homework is a worksheet called Homework 1.1. 

 We are also working on how to behave during a group discussion.  Research shows that students learn more when they are given the opportunity to discuss what they are learning.  This is a skill that takes some time to develop, but is well worth the effort.  According the the Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics, 2003,

The seventh-grade mathematics classroom environment encourages communication, exploration, and risk taking that are critical as students become more confident and learn to exist in an ever-changing world (p. 36).

All classes took tests today over Chapter 1.  I hope everyone does as well as they think they did!  I will probably not have them graded by tomorrow because I am attending Open House at Chestnut Grove tonight. 

Pre-Algebra started Integers today after the test.  Their assignment is pp. 59-61, #20-76 even.  Many students were able to finish this before they left class today.  I will give them 5 minutes at the beginning of class tomorrow to finish it up, but if that is not enough time for them to finish because of tonight’s ball game, they can bring the work to me on Monday.  We will begin something else tomorrow, and this would give them two assignments over the weekend. 

Math classes have a worksheet over mean, median, mode and range.  It was very short.  I had planned to give a retest over Chapter 2 tomorrow, but I have not done the things in class that I wanted them to do before I tested them again.  We will review tomorrow and have the retest on Monday.

Thank you to all of the parents who took the time to come to Open House.  We had a great turn-out!  I am really enjoying working with your children.

I did not assign homework today.  Math did have a worksheet to do in class that needs to be completed by tomorrow, but they should have had time to finish it in class.  I will be giving tests Thursday over Chapter 1.

You are invited to attend the CRMS Open House beginning at 6:00 pm, Tuesday, September 12.  The evening will begin with a brief meeting in the auditorium, then parents will proceed to their child’s homeroom to get a copy of their schedule.  You will get to visit each class for a few minutes, and you will have 4 minutes between classes, just like the students do!  I will be giving “Simpson Shillings” to each student who has a parent in attendance.

Progress reports will be going home tomorrow.  Here is a breakdown of the grades in my classes:

40 A’s, 30 B’s, 14 C’s, 23 D’s, 23 F’s

There are two things that make the biggest impact on a student’s grade in my class.  First is the attention they give to the instruction in class.  Second is the completion of assignments.  Students who do those two things well generally score well on tests.  Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns you may have about your child’s grade. 

I was out Friday because my youngest child was sick with strep throat.  In my absence students worked on squares and square roots.  The math assignment was pp. 472-473, #1-30.  The pre-algebra assignment was p. 439, #12-48. 

Today in math we did a review assignment, pp. 47-48, #8-30, 40-43, and p. 504, #7-12.  I was planning to give a test tomorrow over Chapter 1, but we did not have time to go over their questions.  We will do that on Tuesday and have the test Wednesday or Thursday. 

Today in pre-algebra we reviewed exponents and powers.  Everyone seemed to remember this from last year.  The assignment was Skills Practice Workbook, Lesson 4.2.  We will review tomorrow and have a test Wednesday over Chapter 1.

We took tests in all classes yesterday.  So far I have graded 2nd, 3rd, and 5th periods, and I am very pleased with the grades.  I will try my best to finish the other two classes tonight. 

Last night’s homework:

Math: p. 28, #1-20

Pre-Algebra: pp. 31-32, #14-24 even, 42-52 even, 62-72 even

Today Pre-Algebra worked with graphing on the coordinate plane.  They had time to work on their assignment during class.  It was pp. 36-38, #12-56 even.

Math classes learned about properties of numbers.  We took notes on a Foldable, and the assignment is pp. 32-33, #12-26 even, 39, 42-48, 52-56 even.

I reminded students of my late work policy.  The only circumstance under which I take late work (if the student was in class the days it was assigned and checked) is with a note from a parent.  If your child does not have time to complete their work tonight (I’m thinking of football players and cheerleaders), I will let them have an extra day if they bring me a note from you tomorrow saying they didn’t have time to complete it.

Go Black Bears! 

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday.  I enjoyed being with family and friends.  Progress reports will come home on Monday, September 18. 

We decided to split this chapter in half and test tomorrow so that we will have plenty of test grades before progress reports.  We reviewed in class today, and the test tomorrow will cover sections 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4.  Tonight’s homework assignment is the workbook pages over those sections.  This is for math and pre-algebra. 

Open House will be Tuesday, September 12 at 6:00 pm. I am looking forward to seeing you there.

Congratulations to the Cedar Ridge Football Teams for their wins tonight! Your season is off to a great start!

I have had busy afternoons this week and have not posted. Here is what we did…

Math

• Monday, August 28 – pp. 88-89, #8-14 even, 15, 18-21, 23
• Tuesday, August 29 – pp. 12-13, #14-40 even, 41, 42-50 even, 63-66
• Wednesday, August 30 – No homework
• Thursday, August 31 – No homework

Pre-Algebra

• Monday – pp. 14-16, # 14-38 even, 44, 46, 52-54, 56, 58
• Tuesday – pp. 21-21, #14-30 even, 34-48 even, 51, 53, 54, 57
• Wednesday – No homework
• Thursday – No homework

On Wednesday morning we took the Think Link test. The rest of the day’s schedule was unusual; we skipped two classes and the others met for about 30 minutes each, except for the classes that meet during lunch time. Not a great day for introducing important material…the kids were brain dead after three hours of testing, and so was I! However, it was the perfect day to introduce my clickers!

My students were fascinated.
“What is this?”
“Does it text-message?”
“Can these get on myspace?”
“It’s not doing anything!”
“Is it a calculator?”

I explained that these were part of a Personal Response System that I am going to begin using in class on a regular basis. I bought them this year with my National Board money, and yesterday was the first time I tried them out with a classroom full of students. If you are not familiar with this new technology, it is a lot like polling the audience on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? I can ask my students short answer, multiple choice, or true-false questions. They enter their answer into the clicker, and it transmits to my computer. At the end of each question a chart appears showing how many answered correctly. This can be used to quickly assess student understanding at any time during a lesson or for quizzes and tests.

It is going to take a little while for us all to become accustomed to them. Students must follow directions very carefully to “join the class.” This is not an easy task for some seventh graders! I tried using them in some of my classes again today, and everything went much smoother.

We did not cover enough material in class today to be ready for an assignment. I am going to try to get caught up tomorrow, so be ready!

I gave quizzes in all math classes today.  I will return them to the students tomorrow so that they can use them to study for their test on Friday.

Pre-Algebra:

We looked at misleading statistics today.  I found some interesting articles on this topic that you might enjoy.  Here is a quiz to see if you understand.  The homework assignment is pp. 632-633, #6-13 all. 

Math:

The quiz took much longer than expected today, so we did not begin a new lesson.  The homework for tonight is from the Practice Skills Workbook, Lessons 2.1, 2.3, and 2.4.  These are on pages 10, 12, and 13.  You only have to do the odd problems.  I passed out the workbooks in class today.  You may write in the workbooks, and they are yours to keep.

We continued to work on the webquest today in the computer lab.  Most students are now finished with Zoo Challenge 1.  They could “buy” more animals with a million dollars than many of them expected!  We learned how to use a formula inside a cell, how to paste a formula from one cell to another, and how to find the sum of a column in Microsoft Excel. 

We will return to class tomorrow to finish the Data Analysis chapter.  We will do two more sections and then have a test on Friday.  The work I assigned last week is due tomorrow.  Here is a summary of what I have planned for this week:

 Pre-Algebra

Monday:  Computer lab, finish pp. 620-621, #10-24 even

Tuesday:  Histograms, pp. 626-627, #12-28 all

Wednesday: Quiz over 12.1-12.4, Misleading Statistics, pp. 632-633, #6-13 all

Thursday:  Review Chapter 12, Study Guide Workbook pages 12.1, 5.8, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5

Friday: Test over Chapter 12

Math

Monday:  Computer lab, finish p. 568, Lesson 2.4, #1-12

Tuesday:  Stem-and-Leaf Plots, pp. 78-79, #12-18 even, 19-21, 23-25, 35

Wednesday:  Quiz over 2.1-2.4, Bar Graphs and Histograms, pp. 88-89, #8-14 even, 15, 18-21, 23

Thursday:  Review Chapter 2, Practice Skills Workbook Lessons 2.1-2.4, 2.5, 2.7

Friday: Chapter 2 Test