Entering the Weekend Having Taken Our First In-Class Quiz

Today's quiz was reflective of many of our future class assessments in that it was entirely open-response and based primarily on topics/problems that appear in the students class notes. This weekend, students are asked to return to working out more SAT problems, all having to do with integers and number sense, with the intention of strengthening our overall reasoning ability, an often neglected quality in mathematics classes.

ALSO!!!
Ask students about their comfort level with today's quiz. It is likely that those students who worked on their class notes nightly found questions to be at least familiar. This is done intentionally! STUDENTS MUST WORK ON THEIR CLASS NOTES NIGHTLY!

One useful exercise is to take a problem we worked out in class and 're-invent' it at home to see if you can still solve it, even with the values being altered.

At the end of next week, families should expect that I will post current first term grades and send home log-in information for Snapgrades.

Home Nugget #7
Assigned on Friday September 21, 2009
Due on Monday September 24, 2009

From SAT sheet pages 41 and 42

page 41 # 13 - 18

page 42 # 1 - 7

FCAs
2 points: all problems completed
2 points: evidence provided for all solutions

A Bounty of Incredibly Fundamental and USEFUL Math Properties

Students left today's class simultaneously thinking that much, if not all of what we covered, seemed like common sense and at the same time, amazed at how far a little logic can take you in mathematics. Students must be intimately familiar with ALL of the properties we covered today and be able to recognize their use in context.

Some reminders for tomorrow!
1. Math textbooks must have a cover or they will be confiscated until a cover is brought to class. The books are barely two years old and yet they have suffered enormous wear and tear. We wish not to further exacerbate the problem.

2. Our second quiz is scheduled for tomorrow. The higher score based on quiz 1 and 2 will be counted towards the term grade. Tomorrow's quiz includes:
a. Lessons 1-1 to 1-4 in the book
b. All the SAT questions we have discussed
c. All the content from the class notes (father/son problem, boys and dogs problem, exponential table, etc.)

Students should be working on their class notes nightly to begin with! Tonight is a particularly important night to do so.

Home Nugget #6
Assigned on Thursday September 17, 2009
Due on Friday September 18, 2009

In Algebra book,

Page 23
# 8 - 16 even
# 21 - 23

Page 24
# 25 - 29

Page 25
# 36 - 38


FCAs
2 points: all problems completed
2 points: evidence/explanations provided for all problems

Open Sentences and Terms like Replacement Sets, Solution Sets and Elements

One of our inquiries today had us investigating a hypothetical student's home nugget grades, where on the surface of things, it appeared that the student was faring well overall. However, once we actually calculated the mean, it quickly become evident that the average was a 60%. I wished for students to take home the following messages from this exercise:

1. You cannot afford to miss any home nugget lessons because it is too severe a blow to the overall home nugget average.

2. You cannot afford any grade lower than a 3.

Students are also reminded that they should be working on their class notes every single night for a two-fold purpose:

A. Reviewing and commenting on the notes is a process of reflection and lets you really digest content in a meaningful way.

B. The class notes will be periodically collected and graded as a quiz score.

Home Nugget #5
Assigned on Wednesday September 16, 2009
Due on Thursday September 17, 2009

In Algebra I textbook,

Read pages 15 - 17

Then solve:

Page 18 # 12, 13, 15, 21

Page 19 # 41

Pag 20 # 64 - 67

FCAs
2 points: all problems completed
2 points: evidence/explanations provided for all problems

Order of Operations and What it Means to Evaluate an Expression or Equation

Often the blog title will reference the topic that was discussed in class. Certainly today's title is representative of today's class themes. In following with our philosophy of developing class autonomy, students were provided with a numerical equation which they had to then translate into distinct verbal expressions. We continued by discussing the pros and cons of using a device like PEMDAS for the purpose of using order of operations.

Home Nugget #4
Assigned on Tuesday September 15, 2009
Due on Wednesday September 16, 2009

In Algebra textbook,
Page 13
#29 - 31
#33 - 39
#41 - 43

Page 14
#44, 48

FCAs
2 points: all problems completed
2 points: evidence provided for all problems

Re-Establishing Home Nugget Norms and Expectations Once and For All

The first lesson students turned in, home nugget #1, prompted me to create a candid presentation for students, in order for them to be perfectly clear on what the class standard is for work that is done in connection with the class. The presentation can be found at http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcszzgg_230d6r6tg96.

Simply put, the home nuggets students hand in are primarily graded on whether the student convinces me that they have invested their absolute best effort and this seemingly subjective conclusion is based on whether all problems are attempted and justified along with the adherence to the format that I have prescribed.

Tonight's lesson will count for the full 4 points and a second 10 point quiz assigned within the week to hopefully take the place of quiz #1.

Home Nugget #3
Due September 15, 2009

From SAT problems sheet
page 38 # 1 - 7

Page 40 # 9 - 12

FCAs (Focus Correction Areas)
2 points: all problems completed
2 points: evidence presented for all problems