Some ideas for summer activities

Ah, summer!

Summer should be a time for active bodies and minds.  Just as inactive muscles atrophy, so to do inactive minds.  On average, students that do not keep their minds active over the summer lose approximately 2.5 months of school learning in mathematics over the summer.

What a waste!

Here are two websites that provide fun and challenging activities that students can work on over the summer to keep their minds active:

The art of problem solving:
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Alcumus/Introduction.php

Project Euler:
http://projecteuler.net/


Furthermore, if students' final grades indicate that they have not yet mastered a topic or two, they can watch targeted videos and try practice problems at the Khan Academy:

http://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra


I hope that everyone has a fun and active summer!

Request for feedback

As grades are now final, I would like to ask parents to take a moment to complete the survey below, which provides me with feedback on the course.  I take this feedback seriously, and try to incorporate your suggestions into class. For example, after-school review sessions, the "challenge"-level homework problems, and the class website were all implemented as a result of student and parent feedback.

Here is a link to the feedback survey:


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJDanEzVHE0emZVWWxwdk9UR0E4WWc6MQ


Thanks in advance!

Final grades

Just a quick note that final grades are available in Infinite Campus.  Rather than receive one single final exam grade, students received a final exam grade for each section of the course -- these grades correspond to the level of mastery that the student demonstrated on that section of the final exam.   Hence, each section in the gradebook has a final exam grade.  I did this because I believe that this level of feedback is more helpful than just one overall score.  

As always, please email me if you have any questions.

The end of our final exam review sessions, and some activities that students can work on independently

Today marked our last after-school review session for the final exam.  In the past two weeks, we've had approximately 90 student-visits to review sessions.  Those students who took advantage of this opportunity grew considerably in their mastery of our objectives.

Although there are no more after-school review sessions, there is still time between now and the final exam for students to work independently to improve their mastery.  To help with this, I have uploaded review activities for each topic.  For each activity, I have also included step-by-step solutions so students can get help and check their work.

You can access these activities by clicking the link below:

Review activities and solutions for the final exam

Students: Please email me if you have any questions as you are working on the review activities.  Have fun!

Mock-final, and review plans for the final exam

On Monday, we took a "mock" final exam (both the exam and the key can be found here).  The purpose of this activity was to give students up-to-date feedback on their mastery of our course objectives.  On block day (Weds or Thurs), we spent time reflecting on the feedback, and each student wrote down their own individual review plan based on the feedback. These review plans should be taped into the front of every student's notebook.

So now, students have accurate feedback about their current mastery level, and they have a review plan for the next two weeks. For most students, part of the review plan involves coming in after school for one-on-one help.  I'm available nearly every day after school for the next two weeks, as shown in the calendar at the bottom of this post.

In summary, the effort that students put into the next two weeks will be reflected in the extent to which they show mastery on the final exam.  It doesn't matter where they are now, what matters is what they do over the next two weeks to achieve their goals.  Anyone can become a master mathematician with effort.  Parents: please help you daughters and sons stick to their review plan.

Here is the calendar of review sessions:

Review problems for the unit 5 summative assessment

Just a quick note that review problems and solutions are available in the folder for 3/21/2012 in the "daily activities" folder.  Students: If you have any questions when you check your solutions, please email me at frederick.peck@bvsd.org

Also, a quick reminder that our final review session before the test will be held on Thursday, March 22.  These review sessions have been very well-attended this week as students prepare for the summative assessment on Friday.

Unit 5 summative assessment and review sessions

Our summative assessment for Unit 5 is scheduled for Friday, March 23.

What's going to be on the test?
The test will cover all of the material on exponential functions and general rules for working with exponents.  In general, this means: (1) Using tables, graphs, and equations to model exponential growth, and (2) doing arithmetic and algebra with exponential expressions, (3) working with scientific notation and square roots.

Students can find many examples of this in their notebooks.  In addition, students have a precise list of objectives taped into the front of their notebooks.  This list can also be found in the "unit objectives" folder in the "daily activities" section of this website.

How to review for the test

• We will review in class on Thursday (March 22).  Part of this review will involve students self-assessing their mastery of each objective, and choosing review material that meets their needs.
• Students should look back at the feedback that they have on two quizzes that we've taken this semester, as well as all of our class activities and homework.  All of this should be in their notebooks.  Students should also check their grades for these assessments.  If they have not passed an assessments, they should plan to attend a review session!
• I will be available for after-school review sessions on every day next week from 3:00 - 4:00.

Homework completion, and a new plan for communication

This year, our homework completion rate is over 90%!  This is great news because homework is an integral part of the learning process in this class.  As discussed in the syllabus (the following was addressed to students):

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. 

Each day, we'll check homework in class.  I will provide solutions, and you can ask questions.  This process of getting feedback and asking questions is vital to your learning!

Because HW is so important to the learning process, I've received some feedback from parents that they want to be informed if their son or daughter did not complete the daily homework.  In this spirit, I'm going to start emailing parents each day that their son or daughter did not complete the HW.  

Homework assignments are always available online via the "daily activities, notes, and homework" link in the "class links" box on the right side of the page.  Although it is much better for students to complete the HW on time, it is better to complete it late than to not complete it at all.

Powers of ten

We watched this movie in class on Monday.  It provides a fascinating glimpse of the universe at scales that are difficult to comprehend.  Our question was, "when numbers get so big and so small, how do we represent them?"

You can explore more powers of ten on the following websites:

• http://www.powersof10.com/
• http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/

Parent conferences

Hello parents!  As you have undoubtably heard by now, parent conferences are taking place this Wednesday (Feb 15) and next Thursday (Feb 23).  I will be available from 3:30 - 5:30 on each of these days to meet with you.  I'm looking forward to seeing you!

Reminder :: review session on Monday, Feb 13

Just a quick reminder that we will have a review session on Monday. Feb 13, after school.

Who should attend the review session?
Today, students got a list of objectives that will be covered on the summative assessment on Tuesday, Feb 14. Students spent time in class self-assessing their mastery of these objectives.  If students feel that they have not mastered any of the objectives, they should come to the review session to get help.

(Note, the list of objectives is available online, in the "Unit objectives" folder of the "daily activities" section of this website.)

Unit 4 summative assessment and review session

Our summative assessment for Unit 4 is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb 14.

What's going to be on the test?
The test will cover all of the material that we've explored this semester.  In general, this means: (1) finding rates of change, and (2) using rates of change to make predictions.  Students can find many examples of this in their notebooks.

On Friday, students will get a precise list of objective that will be covered on the test.

How to review for the test

• We will review in class on Friday (Feb 10) and Monday (Feb 13).  Part of this review will involve students self-assessing their mastery of each objective, and choosing review material that meets their needs.
• Students should look back at the feedback that they have on two quizzes that we've taken this semester, as well as all of our class activities and homework.  All of this should be in their notebooks.
• I will be available for an after-school review session on Monday, Feb 13, from 3:00 - 4:00.

Information for second semester

Happy new year! As second semester begins, I wanted to re-share some important course information about the course website and course structures, and discuss the final grades for first semester.

Course website
We use this website for a number of purposes:

1. Communication: The main section of the website is reserved for postings that communicate course information, including the schedule for review sessions and assessments
2. Daily activities, notes, and homework: Each day after class, I post the day's activities, notes, and homework to the website.  These can be accessed and downloaded via the "class activities..." link in the "class links" box on the right side of the page.  When students are absent, they should check this link to find the work that they missed.

Please plan to read this website often to stay current with class news.  You can receive an email each time the website is updated by entering you email address in the "Follow by email" box on the right, or you can subscribe via RSS in the "Subscribe to" box.

Support and extensions

We try to provide support and challenge for all students.  

Extra support: Each week we offer after-school review sessions for students to get individual help with questions.  I announce the schedule for the review sessions in class, and I post the schedule on this website.  The school also offers an after-school tutor session called iGrad.  Finally, the school offers a targeted support class for students in Algebra I.  If you are interested in this support class, please email me.  If your student is struggling to master some of the Algebra I objectives, please encourage him or her to take advantage of these support opportunities.

Extra challenge: Each night we offer two levels of homework -- "challenge" and "regular" -- so that all students can engage in appropriate levels of problem solving.  If your student feels that the course is not challenging enough, please encourage him or her to choose the challenge level of homework.

Quick summary of course policies

(These policies are elaborated in the course syllabus, which can be accessed via the "daily activities" link in the "class links" box on the right side of the page)

Homework: We have homework every night.  This homework provides the foundation for the following day's activities, so it is very important that students come to class prepared with their homework completed every day.  If students do not have their homework completed, they will receive an after-school detention for that day to complete the HW.  

Organization of the grade book: The gradebook in Infinite Campus is organized by topic, rather than by assessment type.  During the first semester, we studied three topics: (1) Single variable equations, (2) systems of equations, and (3) functions.  The gradebook is organized around these three topics, which means that students and parents can easily determine how well students mastered each topic.  Because Algebra I is a year-long course, these topics will remain in the gradebook for second semester, and we will continue to add new topics as we study them.

Final exam and final grades

You will notice that there are three final exam grades, one for each topic in the gradebook.  These grades represent the student's score on the final exam problems related to each topic.  I'm not going to pass back the final exams, but I do want to give students the opportunity to get one-on-one feedback on their exams.  Any student who want this feedback should sign up for a meeting time with me.  The sign-up sheet will be posted in class.  I will also schedule mandatory meetings with students who did not demonstrate mastery on any topic on the final exam.

The grades in Infinite Campus represent the final grades for the semester.  However, if students feel that their grade is not representative of their mastery, they can retake any assessment from first semester to improve the grade.  I will then change the official grade with the school's registrar.