Archive for October, 2009
What the High Schools Say about Homework and Late Work
In light of the challenges we are facing getting many students to complete their homework and turn major projects in on time, I thought I would check with math teachers at the high school to see what they say. here is the e-mail exchange I had with one of my high school collegues;
Me: Today our grade level was discussing problems we are having with getting students to turn in homework (at all) and projects (on time). What policies do you and the other 9th grade teachers have for late work? We want to make sure we are saying the right thing when we talk to students about preparing them for high school and what will be expected of them.
HS Math Teacher:
We do not take late homework. We check homework every day for anywhere from 0-3 points (3 meaning they did all of it and showed work). If they do not have it, it’s a 0 and can’t get credit. As far as projects go, if it is an unexcused reason why it’s late, I take 10% off the project for each day it’s late. If it’s excused, I do not penalize them. I use the student handbook to determine what’s excused and what’s unexcused.
Let me know if this helps. They have to learn the hard way at the beginning but they are getting used to it. I never give full credit unless they do ALL problems and show ALL work…
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )What should I study?
If I were preparing for this week’s quiz I would make sure I knew how to
- Graph an equation given in Standard Form
- Write an equation in Standard Form given Slope-Intercept Form
- Be able to find the x & y-intercepts given a graph or an equation in Standard Form
- Write an equation in Slope-Intercept Form given Standard Form
- Write a linear equation (function rule) given a graph
- Graph an equation given Standard Form (hint: cover-up method)
- Graph a function given Standard Form when intercepts don’t quite work for you.
- Find the slope from a table then write the function rule (equation)
- Find the slope between 2 points
- Find the slope of the graph
- Undertstand the difference between slopes of horizontal and vertical lines.
And oh by the way all fractions from here on out need to be simplified. Not converted to mixed numbers, but written in their simplest form.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Parent Help Requested!!!!
Parents, we need your help insuring that your child does their homework. On any given day we are seeing between 30-40% of our students who have not completed their homework and many of these have not even attempted it at all. There is a direct correlation between completing the homework for understanding and quiz and test results. Before you e-mail us about your concerns for your child’s grades in math might I suggest you check parent connect and then have a chat with them about their homework completion average? There is absolutely no excuse for any homework average to, on a regular basis, be below 80-90%. We understand that occasionally things come up, a late game, a family issue, etc. that might keep a student from getting to their homework. This is not what I am referring to. I am talking about the student who habitually does not have his/her homework. Parents if they tell you they do not have homework on a regular basis then they are not being truthful with you. We have scheduled homework every night there is not a quiz or test. All you have to do is check this BLOG on the page for your student’s level and look at the assignment calendar.
Thank you for your assistance with this issue. There is too much riding on their performance in 8th grade math to let this continue without correction.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Week #1 of Linear Functions
The attached powerpoint gives students and parents class notes from last weeks lessons covering rate of change, determining if a table represents a linear function, finding slope from a graph, and the slope formula.
The below powerpoint contains some warm-up starters covering sequences
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Unit 2 Study Guide
The study guide covers unit 2. Please remember to review your unit 1 concepts for the cumulative portion of the unit 2 test! The study guide below is for both advanced and on-level Math 8 classes. The test is Thursday October 8!
Solutions for Functions Study Guide
Unit 1 concepts to maintain: Exponent Rules, Solving Equations and Inequalities
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
8th Grade Math 