Math: Week 24

MSM2 Blocks 1/2 & 7/8
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.5 & 8.7 Surface Area & Volume
Math Packet:  #17 Surface Area & Volume
Upcoming Assessments:  Geo. Trans Quiz (Fri. 3/13/15); Geo. Test #3 (Geo. Trans. & Sim. Figs.) (Fri. 3/20/15)

7H Block 5/6
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.11 Composite Figures
Math Packet:  #17 Composite Figures
Upcoming Assessments:  Geo. Test #1 (Geo. Trans. & Comp. Figs.) (Tues. 3/10/15 & Wed. 3/11/15); CCPS Quiz #5 (Wed. 3/11/15)

I'll start with my apologies for sending this out much later than my usual Friday/Saturday postings.  With the snow days and feeling sick over that extra time off (those snow days really came in handy for that reason at least), I'm just now able to get back into the swing of things.  This will still be on the short side since I've got quite a few things on my to-do list for school, home, and helping friends out.  Before getting into the nitty-gritty of class, I'd like to start with a reminder to students and an FYI to parents that I'm changing up tutoring/extra-help times a bit.  Starting this week, I will no longer offer morning times on Tuesdays but will instead have time open for kids on Tuesday afternoons until 4PM.  Kids do not need to stay that whole time, but they do need parental permission to stay after, either a handwritten note or an email will work.  Wednesday and Thursday mornings (not afternoons) will still be open as well, no notes/emails needed.

The MSM2 students wrapped up their work on surface area and volume of rectangular prisms (review) and cylinders (new).  They started the week with a quiz covering the basics and we moved onto further work in the packets and online, including a new site CK-12 Braingenie, a branch-off the original CK-12 site they have access to through their county dashboard.  Since we lost our review days because of the snow, I uploaded an answer key (with all the needed work) to Edmodo so the kids could check their work.  While I made it an option that kids could do the assessment at home during those snow days (again, posted to Edmodo), the students who hadn't worked on it today in class.

The 7H students started the week with their quiz on geometric transformations that would have been the previous week.  We then jumped straight into working on composite figures.  This sounded a bit intimidating to students until they realized that composite shapes are just composed of all the shapes they already know.  Once they got a grasp on how to break a composite figure down into the basic shapes it's made of, they were much more comfortable.  Part of their work for the week included a mini-project (details posted on Edmodo) that allowed the kids to design their dream bedroom.  Many of the kids took off with the idea and started building their ideal homes and while I loved seeing them so excited about a project, I do encourage them to not forget the required math components.  Since their quiz day was also snowed out, the kids who didn't finish at home were given time to take it in class.  Grades were a bit disappoint for this assessment (some kids admitted they were a bit distracted when working on it at home), I'll give full credit back for any missed question, not just the TEI problems.

I'm going to end things here, but I encourage anyone (students or parents/guardians) to email or message me if you have any questions.  These crazy snow weeks have added a bit of confusion, so if I can help anyone make sense of it all, I'm happy to help.