Final exam review schedule :: UPDATE

Due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, I am not going to be able to come in to Centaurus tomorrow (Tuesday 12.13.2011). This means that I have to cancel the final exam review session tomorrow night. Instead, I will be at Centaurus all morning (beginning at 7:30) on Wednesday 12.14 before the 6th period final at noon, and I will be available on Wednesday from 2:00 - 4:00 in the afternoon, after the 6th period final. Students - please come sometime on Wednesday to discuss your questions and to get feedback from the Unit 3 summative assessment.

Unit 3 summative assessment feedback

Parents and students - we took our Unit 3 summative assessment in class today. The next time we meet for class, it will be for the final exam. Students, if you want feedback on your test before you take the final, please come see me any time on Wednesday. I'll be in the math office all morning, from 7:30 to 12:00. Some of the Unit 3 material will be on the final exam, so it's well worth your time to get feedback before the final rather than having to wait until next semester.

Resources for final exam review

Can you believe it?  The semester is almost over.  As the semester ends, I wanted to share our plan to review for the final exam.

What will be covered on the final exam?
The final will cover all of the objectives that we've explored this semester.  We've organized these objectives into three thematic units:

1. Single-variable equations
2. Systems of equations
3. Patterns, predictions, and functions

Students should have three "self-assessment" guides, one for each unit, that list all of the objectives associated with these units.  The guides are taped in the front of their notebooks.

Our review plan
We probably won't be able to devote class time to reviewing for the final exam.  Instead, students will have review homework assignments, and then I'll conduct after-school review sessions to address the topics covered on the review assignments.  The review assignments can be found in the "daily activities, notes, and HW" link in the "class links" box on the right, and the calendar below gives the overall plan:

Homework for the long weekend

This week, students have been exploring patterns, making predictions, and writing general statements and rules.

Each night, students have engaged in these activities on their own, for homework.  Often, they had to invent strategies to solve the homework problems.

In class, we have used the previous night's homework to discuss strategies that students have used.

In other words, we have been solving problems and developing strategies at the same time.  This means that students' strategies should get progressively more sophisticated, and that students should get progressively more comfortable solving the homework problems.

For homework this weekend, I would like students to go back through each of the past three homework assignments (see list below), and reflect on their strategies. They might have a more sophisticated strategy now, or they might be able to solve a problem that they couldn't before.  Although there is no way to "check off" that students have done this assignment, I think it is very valuable for students to reflect on their own work.  Thus, I expect that students should spend at least 20 minutes reflecting.  Please help your son or daughter organize 20 minutes to reflect on their strategies, and to re-solve old problems in new ways.


The three HW assignments are:

1. Snowfall!
2. Patterns and predictions I 
3. Patterns and predictions II.

As always, all of the HW, class activities, and class notes can be found by clicking the "daily activities, notes, and homework" link in the "Class Links" box on the right side of this page.

Review sessions for the weeks of 11/7-11/11, and 11/14-11/18

We have scheduled the following review sessions specifically to work one-on-one with students who did not demonstrate mastery on the Unit 2 Summative Assessment.

• Monday, 11/7, from 3:00 - 4:00
• Tuesday, 11/8, from 3:00 - 4:00
• Wednesday, 11/9, from 2:00 - 3:00 (during tutor time)
• Thursday, 11/10, from 3:00 - 4:00
• Monday, 11/14, from 3:00 - 4:00
• Wednesday, 11/16, from 2:00 - 3:00 (during tutor time)

If students did not demonstrate mastery on the last summative assessment, they should sign up to attend two review sessions to get one-on-one help. 

Reflection on the unit 2 summative assessment

As you know, we took a summative assessment over the Unit 2 objectives last week.  For the most part, students demonstrated considerable mastery of these objectives, and they also demonstrated great flexibility in their use of problem-solving strategies.  For example, on one of the test problems, I counted four different strategies, and all lead to the correct answer!

For students who are not there yet, we have set up six review sessions over the next two weeks.  I would like any student who scored below 70% to attend at least two of these review sessions.  This way, we can continue to work towards mastery on a one-on-one basis, even as the class continues to solve new problems.

Parent and students: please check you grades in IC, and if you scored less than 70% on the Unit 2 Summative Assessment, please sign up for at least two review sessions.

Once you have mastered the material, you can retake the test.

It's been a long time!

I'm terribly sorry that i haven't posted any blog updates in a while.  This is a very busy time at school for everyone, and the website fell through the cracks.  Even though I haven't been posting blog updates, I have been posting all of our daily activities and class notes.  As always, you can access these resources via the "Class Links" box on the right side of this site.

In any case, please see the post below about our summative assessment this week.

Unit 2 summative assessment

Our summative assessment for Unit 2 scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 2 (for period 6), or Thursday, Nov. 3 (for period 7)

What will the test cover?
The test will cover all of the objectives from our second unit on solving systems of equations.  Students have green "self-assessment" sheets taped into the inside cover of their notebooks that list all of these objectives.

Some suggestions on how to prepare
We've spent the last two class days self-assessing, reviewing, and discussing study strategies.  Here are some resources that other students have found useful to prepare:

1. Students' notebooks have a complete record of all of our class activities.  Students can look back thorough all of these activities to assess mastery and find questions to ask.
2. The "daily activities" link in the "Class Links" box on the right side of this website takes students to a website containing all of our daily activities and class notes for the year.
3. Students have feedback from the check-in assessments that they have taken throughout the unit.  They should look back at these assessments to assess mastery.
4. Students have a green "self-assessment" sheet taped in the beginning of their notebooks that lists all of the objectives that the test will cover.  Students should thoughtfully self-assess themselves on these objectives and use the results to focus their study.

Review sessions for the week of 10/3 - 10/7

This week, I have scheduled the following review sessions:

• Wednesday, 10/5, from 2:00 - 4:00 (during tutor time, and then one hour after school)
• Friday, 10/7, from 3:00 - 4:00

I would really like to meet with students to discuss their last summative assessments, as well as any other questions that they have.  

Parent-teacher conferences

Parents: I'm looking forward to meeting with you during our first-semester parent-teacher conferences.

Conferences will be held on Tuesday, 9/27, and Thursday, 10/6.

I will be available for conferences from 3:30 - 5:30 each of these days. See you soon!

More opportunities for review: iGrad at CHS

This week, CHS is starting an after-school club where students can get help, make up quizzes, and earn graduation credit.  The club is called iGrad.  It runs from 3:00 - 5:00 in the Horizons Room in the library every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  It will be staffed by teachers and CU students that specialize in particular context areas, as follows:

Tuesdays: Spanish, Math, Science and other subjects
Thursdays: Geometry, Algebra, and other subjects
Mondays and Wednesdays: All other subjects, no specific math and science help


This represents another great opportunity for students to ask questions and get help.

Our first summative assessment

Our first summative assessment is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 26.

What will the test cover?
The test will cover all of the objectives from our first unit on solving single-variable equations.  Students have pink "self-assessment" sheets taped into the inside cover of their notebooks that list all of these objectives.

Some suggestions on how to prepare
Here are some resources that other students have found useful to prepare:

1. Students' notebooks have a complete record of all of our class activities.  Students can look back thorough all of these activities to assess mastery and find questions to ask.
2. Students have feedback from the check-in assessments that they have taken throughout the unit.  They should look back at these assessments to assess mastery.
3. Students have a pink "self-assessment" sheet taped in the beginning of their notebooks that lists all of the objectives that the test will cover.  Students should thoughtfully self-assess themselves on these objectives and use the results to focus their study.
4. We have scheduled two review sessions for students to come in and get help.

Review sessions for the week of Sept. 19

We've scheduled two review sessions for the week of Sept. 19 - Sept 23:

1. Wednesday, September 21, from 2:00 - 3:00 (during tutor time)
2. Friday, September 23, from 3:00 - 4:00 (after school)

In these review sessions, we will review the material that was assessed on our first four check-in quizzes.  Students and parents: Please check your grades in Infinite Campus.  If you have a "5/10" for either of these quizzes, then please plan to attend one of these review sessions.

We will also answer any questions that students have before taking our first summative assessment on Monday, Sept. 26.

Some thoughts on homework

Last week, the New York Times published an article about homework:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/opinion/sunday/quality-homework-a-smart-idea.html

We've read most of the research that is discussed in the article, and we try to incorporate the best practices that are summarized.  As we said in the syllabus:

We’ll use homework for many purposes.  It will be used to practice new concepts and skills.  It will be used to explore previously unseen topics.  And it will give you a chance to apply your knowledge to new situations.

In other words, we don't think homework should be busy work, and we don't think that homework should just be a repetition of what we did in class.  Homework is an opportunity to practice, but it's also an opportunity to problem-solve.

Are we getting it right?  Are your sons and daughters challenged enough on the homework?  Are they getting enough practice?  Are they problem-solving?

Please email me at Frederick.Peck@BVSD.org or leave a comment on this post if you have any suggestions for how we can improve the homework.

Update: Review session date change

I apologize, but due to a faculty meeting, I have to reschedule our Thursday review session to Friday.  The review session will still be held from 3:00 - 4:00.

Review sessions for the week of Sept 12 - Sept 16

We've scheduled two review sessions for the week of Sept. 12 - Sept 16:

1. Monday, September 12, from 3:00 - 4:00
2. Thursday, September 15, from 3:00 - 4:00 Friday, September 16, from 3:00 - 4:00

In these review sessions, we will review the material that was assessed on our first two check-in quizzes.  Students and parents: Please check your grades in Infinite Campus.  If you have a "5/10" for either of these quizzes, then please plan to attend one of these review sessions.

Review sessions

I will be hosting two upcoming review sessions:

1. Thursday, September 1, from 3:00-4:00
2. Tuesday, September 6, from 3:00-4:00

These review sessions are open to all students.  The focus will be on the topics that we explored up to our first quiz, including:

• Fair-sharing
• Division
• Fractions
• The word, "per"
• The "find-one" strategy

Students: Check your quiz grade in Infinite Campus!  Consider the feedback conversation that we've had on your quiz.  If you want to ask questions or retake the quiz, the review session is a great opportunity.

Two levels of homework

As described in the syllabus, this is a problem-solving course. That means that homework is almost always a problem-solving activity.

Problem-solving should be fun and challenging. In order to help ensure that all students have an appropriate level of challenge on the homework, we offer two "levels" of assignments each night: the regular level and the challenge level.

Students get to choose their level each night.  They should choose a level of homework that makes problem-solving fun: challenging enough to be interesting, but not so challenging as to be impossible.

"per"

The word "per" is going to be very important for us this year. Parents, here are some questions that you might consider asking your sons and daughters:

(a) what does the word per mean?

(b) what is the difference between miles per hour and hours per mile?

(c) If I run 5 miles per hour, how can I convert that to hours per mile?

Notebooks!

Just a quick reminder that every student needs a graph paper notebook starting on Monday.

Students can by a notebook from me for $1.50. We order the notebooks in bulk and pay $1.47 each. This is the best price that we have ever found for graph paper notebooks. However, students are by no means required to buy notebooks from me, this is just a service that we offer for convenience. If you would prefer to get the notebook elsewhere, please do so. And, if you find a better price for graph paper notebooks, please share this in the comments below.

What is algebra?

Today we had a quickwrite on the question, "What is Algebra?"

All of the responses are available in the "Daily activities, notes, and HW" link on the right.

Or, here is a word cloud of the most common words used.



It will be interesting to see how this changes over the year.

Welcome!

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year!  This website is for both parents and students.

In this main section, I will post class updates, review session schedules, and other items of interest.

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