Math: Week 33

MSM2 Blocks 1/2 & 7/8
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.1-7.4 Numbers, Number Sense, Computation, & Estimation
Math Packet:  SOL Review Folder
Upcoming Assessments:  CCPS Mini-SOL Quiz #4 (Fri. 5/22/15)

7H Block 5/6
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.1-8.5 Numbers, Number Sense, Computation, & Estimation
Math Packet:  SOL Review Folder
Upcoming Assessments:  CCPS Mini-SOL Quiz #5 (Fri. 5/22/15)

As the kids can tell you, it's been a little bit of a crazy week what with the start of SOL testing and the varying schedules each day, so I'm just plain beat and ready to call it a day.  I'll therefore be keeping this on the short side (at least that's the plan, but you know how I get carried away sometimes).

Math: Week 19

MSM2 Blocks 1/2 & 7/8
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.4 & 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  Proportional Reasoning Study Guide
Upcoming Assessments:  Proportional Reasoning Test (Mon. 1/26 & Tues. 1/27)

7H Block 5/6
SOLs Covered:  SOL A.2b Polynomials
Math Packet:  #13 Polynomials
Upcoming Assessments:  Polynomials Wrap-up (Mon. 1/26, not a grade); Pyth. Theorem Quiz TBD

Things are starting to wind down now for the first semester, so I'd like to start with a reminder about grades.

Math: Week 18

MSM2 Blocks 1/2 & 7/8
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.4 & 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  #12 & #13 Solving Practical Problems Using Proportional Reasoning
Upcoming Assessments:  Consumer Math Quiz (Wed. 1/21); Proportional Reasoning Test (Mon. 1/26 & Tues. 1/27)

7H Block 5/6
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  Proportional Reasoning Study Guide
Upcoming Assessments:  Polynomials Quiz (Mon. 1/26)

This is going out a bit later than usually this week (my apologies to anyone who might have been expecting this yesterday), but it's not exactly been a normal week as it is.

Math: Week 17

MSM2
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.4 & 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  #12 Solving Practical Problems Using Proportional Reasoning
Upcoming Assessments:  Consumer Math Quiz (Wed. 1/21); Proportional Reasoning Test (Mon. 1/26 & Tues. 1/27)

7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  #12 Solving Practical Problems Using Proportional Reasoning
Upcoming Assessments:  Proportional Reasoning Test (Wed. 1/14 & Thurs. 1/15)

It's been a busy first week back to school after the winter break.

Math: Week 16

MSM2
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.14&15 Algebraic Equations & Inequalities
Math Packet:  Algebra Study Guide
Upcoming Assessments:  Rates, Ratios, & Proportions Quiz (Fri. 1/9)

7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  #12 Solving Practical Problems Using Proportional Reasoning
Upcoming Assessments:  Proportional Reasoning Test (Wed. 1/14 & Thurs. 1/15)

Since I'm just as eager to head home for the winter break as the kids, this week's summary will be super short....for real this time!

Math: Week 15

MSM2
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.15 Algebraic Inequalities
Math Packet:  #11 Solving & Graphing Inequalities
Upcoming Assessments:  CCPS Quiz #3 (Mon. 12/15); Algebra Test (Fri. 12/19)

7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  #12 Solving Practical Problems Using Proportional Reasoning
Upcoming Assessments:  CCPS Quiz #3 (Mon. 12/15)

This week seems to have flown by fast!  The MSM2 classes started working on solving and graphing algebraic inequalities.

Math: Week 14

MSM2
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.14a,b & 8.15a Two-step & Multi-step Equations
Math Packet:  #10 Solving Equations: Part 2
Upcoming Assessments:  Solving & Graphing Inequalities (Fri. 12/12)

7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.3 Proportional Reasoning
Math Packet:  #12 Solving Practical Problems Using Proportional Reasoning
Upcoming Assessments:  Proportional Reasoning Part 2 Quiz (Fri. 12/12)

This is a bit late going out, so I apologize to anyone who expects to see it earlier.

Math: Week 6

MSM2
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.13 Evaluating Algebraic Expressions
Math Packet:  #5 Algebraic Expressions: Substitution
Upcoming Assessments:  Substitution Quiz (Mon. 10/13); Test MP 1-5 (Tues. 10/14 & Wed. 10/15)

7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.1b Comparing & Ordering Rational Numbers & Scientific Notation
Math Packet:  #5 Comparing & Ordering Numbers
Upcoming Assessments:  Comp. & Ordering Quiz (Thurs. 10/16); CCPS Wk 1-4 Quiz (Fri. 10/17)

This week started off with wrapping up the previous week's work.

Math: Week 5

MSM2
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.1a Order of Operations
Math Packet:  #4 Order of Operations
Upcoming Assessments:  PEMDAS Quiz (Fri. 10/3)

7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.4 Evaluating & Simplifying Algebraic Expressions
Math Packet:  #5 Algebraic Expressions: Substitution
Upcoming Assessments:  Substitution Quiz (Mon. 10/6); CCPS Wk 1-4 Quiz (Fri. 10/17)

It's been another busy week!

Math: Week 3

MSM2
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.16 & 8.15 Properties of Real Numbers
Math Packet:  #3 Properties
Upcoming Assessments:  Properties Quiz (Mon. 9/22); CCPS Wk 1-4 Quiz (Tues. 9/23); Test MP #1-3 (Thurs. 9/25 & Fri. 9/26)

7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.1 Order of Operations
Math Packet:  #3 PEMDAS
Upcoming Assessments:  Test MP #1-4 (Thurs. 9/25 & Fri. 9/26)

In this last week leading up to the distribution of the students Chromebooks, we've had to give a little of class time in preparation for it.

Math: Week 2

MSM2 & 7H
SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.1 & 7.3 Integers; SOL 8.1 Order of Operations
Math Packet:  #2 Integers
Upcoming Assessments:  Properties Quiz (Pd. 1/2 & 7/8 on Fri. 9/19); Order of Operations Quiz (Pd. 5/6 on Fri. 9/19); CCPS Week 1-4 Quiz (Pd. 1/2 & 7/8 on Tues. 9/23; Pd. 5/6 TBA)

Another week down and we are going strong!

Weekly Class Summary: Apr. 28-May 2

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.1-7.4 N&NS and C&E
Math Dictionary Sections:  Review all sections on N&NS and C&E
Upcoming Assessments:  SOL Quiz #3 (Fri. 5/9/14)

This week was our first full week of SOL review.  Students were given their SOL review folders along with all the work packets we'll be doing in the weeks leading up to the big test.  For this first week, we focused on the Numbers & Number Sense (SOLs 7.1-7.2) and Computation & Estimation (SOLs 7.2-7.4) categories, which make up the first reporting category on the SOL.  Students worked independently while I went around and checked over their work and gave little pointers, hints, and mini-lessons.  On Thursday, students took the second SOL review quiz and Friday, for those students who had finished all other work, we were in the computer lab for some techie review using DimensionU, TenMarks, and StudyIsland.  Students who hadn't finished this week's packet continued to work on those and could join in on the fun while the rest finished.



A few students also finally had the chance to finish their SOL simulation test.  You'll notice that a grade has not yet been posted for the test.  This is in part due to some students just finishing today.  However, I also still have to go in and analyze the data before I decide how grades for it will be done; at the moment, the plan is to pick 25 questions to use as the grade, eliminating those questions that had a high miss rate.  Students will receive their feedback form (hopefully) by the end of next week along with a letter for their parents.  Details for this will be posted next week.

Thank you to everyone who sent supplies in this week! It's been a huge help! I wish I could name everyone, but some names are escaping me at the moment and I wouldn't want to forget some of my helpers, so instead I send a blanket "Thank You!" to everyone who helped!

Well, that's it for this week.  I know it's much shorter than my usual post, but I'm beat after this week, in part due to the late night here at school yesterday for the annual art show.  We have some incredibly talented young artists here and I was very impressed!  I have my own little gallery going in my classroom with all the work students have given me this year, though some of those were a bit sillier than others.

Weekly Class Summary: Oct. 21-25

SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.1 PEMDAS; SOL 7.13 Substitution; SOL 7.1 & 8.1 NegExpo, SciNot, Comparing & Ordering Rational Numbers
Math Dictionary Sections:  Review Sections 7-12
Upcoming Assessments:  MSM2 Test 2 (Complete Mon. 10/28); Real Number System Quiz (Fri. 11/1)

This week was devoted to preparing for the second big test of the year.  Students started the week finishing the last quiz.  After grading this quiz and finding that the kids grades aren't showing the understanding of the concepts I know they have based on our conversations and work in class, I decided to take a new approach to things.  We spent some time going over the last quiz in a little more depth than usual along with making a few more additions to our Smart Chart.  We also went over a few handy dandy tricks that can be down with a times table, such as the perfect squares on the diagonal from the top left to bottom right (we'd previously talked about this during our exponents unit) as well as using the table to help with reducing and finding equivalent fractions.  For the making of the chart, I showed them a handy folding trick another teacher (Thanks, Mrs. Lawson!) showed me for making nice, neat columns for the table.

Flower Power from MangaHigh

While we spent time working on the study guide for the test, I tried a little something new, which I'm calling a "test preview."  Since the students show during regular class activities that they understand the basic math concepts, I feel the problem lies in that they do not know how to approach and breakdown the newer, more rigorous types of SOL questions my assessments have.  Therefore, for this test I started their "preview" by explaining that I was going to walk through the entire test with them, telling them what I would do if I were a student taking the test.  We read through each question one at a time, highlighting keywords and important information as well as writing the relevant Smart Chart component with each question.  We applied some of their "standard" strategies as well, like "slash the trash" (getting rid of all the obviously wrong answers).  One of the biggest factors in some of the less than stellar grades on assessments is the fact that too many students haven't been showing their work for a lot of the questions.  They seem to think that because there might be answer choices given, the work isn't necessary.  I made a huge point of telling them that even though I make the assessments, I still show my work when making the key and checking everything.  To remind them that the work is indeed important and necessary, we added a new class catchphrase (WIO! which stands for "Work It Out!") to problems where work is required to get the answer right.

Once we finished our "preview," students went back to each question and used our additions to solve the problems on their own.  While I don't plan to do these previews on future tests, I might use this strategy on some of the quizzes, though not always for the entire thing.  Students will finish the test as needed on Monday, though there are a few things that will be taking away from class time again that day, so students will most definitely be allowed additional time if needed due to the disruption to the regular math class schedule.

Weekly Class Summary: Oct. 7-11

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.13 Substitution; SOL 7.1 Negative Exponents & Scientific Notation
Math Dictionary Sections:  7 Order of Operations; 8 Scientific Notation
Upcoming Assessments:  Comparing/Ordering FDPSciNot & Review Quiz (Fri. 10/18)

In my humble opinion, this has been an awesomely magical week!  We started the week off by reviewing algebriac subsititution as it applies to our previous work from last week with the order of operations.  I've been teaching the students my math magical (forevermore known as "mathical") tricks as I showed them how to make variables "disappear" only to be "turned into" numbers!   (Imagine a mysterious voice as you read that.)  Personally, I've never had so much fun teaching thus far in my career and I'm pretty sure the students got into the goofiness with me, some possibly not even realizing we were still learning at the same time.  The kids and I really hammed it up and had a few good laughs while they did an awesome job applying their own "mathical abilities" to the problems.

Once we wrapped up or quick review of substitution, we jumped right into working with negative exponents as well as scientific notation.   We continued working our mathical abilities here by turning the negative exponents into positives by turning them into fractions (ex. ${ 2 }^{ -3 }=\frac { 1 }{ { 2 }^{ 3 } }=\frac {1}{8}$) and shrinking down really large numbers (i.e. the approx. distance to the sun) and really small numbers (i.e. the size of a grain of sand) by writing them in scientific notation (i.e. $a\times { 10 }^{ x }$).  In their groups, students practiced putting numbers written in scientific notation in order from least to greatest as well as converting them back into standard form.



Today after a quick review, students took a quiz on everything from the past two weeks: order of operations, substitution, negative exponents, and scientific notation along with a few review questions.   Some students will again need to finish their test on Monday, but this is in part because they are starting each quiz or test by making their Smart Charts again, which we've been practicing every week.  Students are asked to keep practicing their charts at home as part of their studying each week in hopes that they'll have it memorized by the end of the year.  By the time they take the SOLs, if they have the Smart Chart memorized, they'll be able to create it (completely from memory) right before they take the test.  They will be able to then use it throughout the test to help give them reminders when they get stuck on questions as well hopefully alleviating some of their test anxieties.  With each new unit, we're coming up with short mnemonics to add to the chart, so they should have something new to practice each week.

Weekly Class Summary: Sept. 30-Oct. 4

SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.1 Order of Operations
Math Dictionary Sections:  7 Order of Operations
Upcoming Assessments:  PEMDAS, Substitution, & Verbal Expressions Quiz (Fri. 10/11)

This week students wrapped up their tests from last week as needed, taking one last chance to check over their work.  Aside from a few students who hadn't finished Monday for different reasons, most students got their graded tests back on Tuesday, for which they can still complete an Error Analysis as stated in a post earlier this week.  Please encourage students to take advantage of this opportunity!


We then moved onto reviewing the order of operations (a.k.a. PEMDAS), which has been covered in their previous years of math.  After the basic review, we started looking at some of the twists that come into play in 7th grade, such as grouping symbols other than plain old parentheses (other brackets, absolute value bars, radicals, fraction bar, and group symbols within grouping symbols) and the integration of integers into the problems.  We worked quite a few problems together in class, which was aided by our new tech acquisition of two ActivSlates!  The kids seem to really enjoy using the ActivSlates as I've seen students who normally shy away from volunteering step up to give it a shot.  They also enjoyed the little bit of practice I let them have by signing their names to graffiti the board.

PEMDAS Blaster Lite & PEMDAS Blaster from MangaHigh

As part of our practice for we also played a round of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" along with both the lite and regular versions of MangaHigh's PEMDAS Blaster.  While we played a few others as well, the kids seemed to really love these two in particular.  They've even been begging the rest of the week to play PEMDAS Blaster.  We haven't had time to play again in class, but since MangaHigh is one of the sites for which I've given students accounts, they can definitely play (and practice their math!) at home on their own.  I've been really proud and happy to see how many students have been playing on their own this week!

We'll continue our work with the order of operations as it applies to algebraic substitution next week along with reviewing (and looking at new twists for) verbal expressions.  A combined quiz on all of these topics is scheduled for next Friday.

Weekly Class Summary: Sept. 23-27

SOLs Covered:  7.1 & 8.5 Squares & Square Roots, 7.1 & 8.3 Integers; 7.16 & 8.15 Properties of Real Numbers
Math Dictionary Sections:  Review Sections 1-6
Upcoming Assessments:  MSM2 Test 1 (Complete Mon. 9/30); PEMDAS & Substitution Quiz (TBA)

I'm starting to feel a little under-the-weather (hopefully just allergies!), so this WCS will be short and sweet.  Students took the properties quiz on Monday with some finishing on Tuesday, which was returned to them on Tuesday or Wednesday depending on when they finished.  They can still complete their Error Analysis for this, though many students have already taken advantage of this opportunity (I'm so proud!).  The rest of the week was spent reviewing for our first test, covering squares/square roots, integers, and properties.  As previously mentioned, time was cut a bit short due to pictures on Thursday (along with our monthly half-day Wednesday), so we spent a bit of time reviewing Friday before students started the test.  Most students will need time to finish their test on Monday, which I think is pretty good as I can tell they are spending more time really thinking through the problems and using the strategies we've covered in class so far this year.


Well, there it is--the shortest WCS ever I do believe.  Since it is so short, if anyone has questions about anything, feel free to leave a comment (it won't show up until approved as I monitor them), message me through Edmodo, or email either the "old school" way or through Edline.

Weekly Class Summary: Sept. 9-13

SOLs Covered:  7.1 & 8.3 Integers
Math Dictionary Sections:  2 Intro to Integers; 3 Integer Addition; 4 Integer Subtraction; 5 Integer Multiplication & Division
Upcoming Assessments:  Properties Quiz (Fri. 9/20)

Now that we've gotten back into the swing of things, we started the week off busy from the first minute.  Monday started with a quick review of our work from last week on squares and square roots so students would be able to complete last week's homework.  We then jumped into reviewing integers, which students were introduced to last year in sixth grade, allowing them to start solving basic single operation problems with integers.  Students started with addition, learning that if the numbers have the same sign (i.e. all positive or all negative), they still add as they normally would, simply taking the sign of the addends for the sum.  From here, we started talking about how to proceed when given numbers with different symbols.  Students were given several different methods for solving such problems, using number lines and counters along with working it "old school" by subtracting the absolute values of the two addends, giving the sum the sign of the addend with the greatest absolute value.


Once students were a bit more comfortable with adding integers, we moved onto subtracting, which can be simply turned into an addition problem when students remember our key phrase: "Keep, Change, Change."  Students picked up on this quickly, so we were able to jump onto multiplying and dividing integers.  We read a poem that can help students remember the rules but also took a look at how "smilies" and "frownies" could be used as a quick reminder as well.  Using a set of positive and negative foam fingers I'd made (along with a mini-set made out of card stock and popsicle sticks for the students), we practiced figuring out whether a problem should give us a positive or negative solution.  Again, the kids picked up on things pretty quickly, so we had extra time to play a few online games on the Promethean board to review as a class.

The unit was wrapped up on Friday with a quiz; I'm still in the process of grading the quizzes, but I can tell there are a few quick points that we'll need to review on Monday so students can work on quiz corrections.  While corrections are not required, I highly encourage all students to take advantage of the opportunity to pull up their grades as they can earn back half-credit for each missed question (see Error Analysis for further details).  My students also have the opportunity to "buy" a retake using either of the class point systems I have in place if they are still unhappy with their grade.  This applies to all assessments given throughout the year aside from the SOL simulations given in the spring, so I ask parents and guardians to encourage their children to take advantage of these opportunities.

Back-to-school night was held Thursday evening and I thank all the parents who came out last night to show their support.  My presentation is included here for any parents/guardians unable to attend.  I try to give a bunch of information in the short period of time we're allotted  so I am more than happy to answer any questions or meet with any parents to go over anything pertaining to my class and resources.  The sites mentioned are all links that will take you directly to each site. The current version of the Math Dictionary can be downloaded from here.

Back-to-School Night from Ms. Lambert

Weekly Class Summary: May 20-24

SOLs Covered:  All Math 7
Math Dictionary Sections:  All Sections
Upcoming Assessments:  Math 7 SOL Test (Tues. 5/28-Thurs. 5/30)

It's been another week full of SOL review.  At this point, I've had my mini-conference with each student about their simulation test scores and helped them understand which areas (based on this test, their SOL mini-quizzes, and their work throughout the year) they need to focus their own study time.  They were also given a chart and letter to accompany their answer sheet (which should have all the corrected answers now in order to aid their studying) for the mini-quizzes, again showing for which areas they've reached mastery and the areas they need to work on in order to get to a mastery level.



As previously mentioned in the homework post, for the first time all year I did not give them any formal homework aside from getting their letters signed.  I wanted to leave the time open so they could focus on their own personal areas of need and no one assignment would work for each student to do this.  To help with their efforts, I have updated assignments on TenMarks with everything we've covered throughout the year.  Each student can work on the assignments listed their for which they need to improve.  I've been very pleased to see how many students have been logging in each day to work on TenMarks as well as MangaHigh (we won our Fai-To by the way and captured our opponents' trophy!).



We spent a ton of time practicing with the state's TestNav practice SOL test, though I encourage students to continue practicing with it at home this weekend.  Throughout our review of the practice questions, I went over all the nitty gritty details that could have a negative on their score if they aren't careful:  the fine details in wording (ex. fill-in-the-blank questions that require fractional answers in simplest form), TEI questions with multiple right answers required to get the question correct, math vocabulary and even "regular" words that are vitally important, different intervals given on a graph, etc.  I was able to get through all of the questions with my Block 1/2 class who tests when we return from the long weekend on Tuesday; I should be able to finish up the last of the questions with my other two classes next week the day before each tests.



Because of the complexity and rigorous nature of our math testing, students will automatically be getting an extra "chunk" of time (three hours) added onto our morning testing blocks to ensure they have enough time to properly address each question, though if there are any students who need extra time, they will most definitely be given it as needed.  I hope (and encourage!) all students to take as much time as they need and not to rush just because others are finishing before them; we all work at different paces and we shouldn't try to force ourselves into something that might work for someone else.

While I hope every student takes time throughout the long weekend to study (and feel free to email or Edmodo message me if you have any questions), I hope everyone has time to enjoy their mini vacay as well as appreciate the reasons we get this extra time away from school.  Since quite a few of my students' parents are part of the armed forces, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their service to this country.

Weekly Class Summary: May 13-17

SOLs Covered:  All Math 7
Math Dictionary Sections:  All Sections
Upcoming Assessments:  SOL Mini Quiz #5 (Mon. 5/20); Math 7 SOL Test (Tues. 5/28-Thurs. 5/30)

Students took the fourth mini SOL quiz on Monday and for most kids, this got them to at least the second reward mark and a few have already made it to the third!  The first little treats were Aloha Coins made of bubble gum, the second treats were glitter Hawaiian temporary tattoos, and the third treats were Hawaiian leis.  All of the quizzes have been added to a chart in the classroom that allows the students to keep track of their progress and gauge how close they are to a passing SOL score, hopefully pushing them to try just a little bit harder and study just a little bit more than they would otherwise.  The fifth and final quiz will be taken next Monday, which when added to the other quizzes will be equivalent to one SOL simulation test.  Students have not been allowed to complete error analyses on these quizzes nor the simulation test itself since they are supposed to emulate the SOLs, which would not allow for corrections after submission.  To compensate for this, students were given an extra credit booklet that when completed can be added to the quiz category to help improve their grades for this final stretch.  Students looking to improve their grade for the test category can complete TenMarks.com assignments for extra credit, which will also help them prepare for the SOLs.



The rest of the week, students got to work on their math gaming review/homework in class as I was able to snag one of the netbook carts for the week.  While the netbooks are not the latest and greatest form of technology, the students seemed to really enjoy the opportunity to continue the gaming they started last week.  You could see obvious signs that students who had previously felt discouraged about their math abilities started gaining confidence.  One student even posted to our class Edmodo page about how proud of himself he was for doing well on something math related and several others sent words of encouragement and praise, which needless to say made me an incredibly proud teacher!  We are currently part of a MangaHigh competition with another school (MangaHigh calls it a "Fai-To") and we are in the lead!  I encourage students to continue their gaming (which again is helping review for the SOLs) throughout the weekend since we've almost beaten the other school and don't want to lose our lead!  We've also risen significantly in our ranking on the leaderboard and at this minute are ranked 55th in the country, which I think is pretty awesome considering my classes are the only ones signed up from our school as well as the fact that there are thousands of schools that use this site.  On top of MangaHigh, I encourage students to review with our other sites as well.

Elizabeth Davis Middle on MangaHigh.com

I spent time conferencing with students one-on-one Friday to go over their simulation results and discuss what areas they should focus their outside-school review time.  The only class for which I was unable to conference with each student was my last block (7/8) due to the shortened block and the fact that many of the students made it to class late from taking their reading SOL test; I will meet with those students on Monday.  During my mini-conferences, I gave students a letter to give to their parents that explain the simulation test and how parents and guardians can help their child prepare for the big test.  Attached to the letter is a student feedback form that tells students the topic of each of question they missed along with a LearnZillion video quick code (hyperlinked through the electronic copy of the form) that reviews the topic.  I ask that parents sign and return the bottom portion of the letter so I know it's been seen.  Students should then keep the letter and feedback form in their SOL review folder so they easily reference their personal areas of weakness; if parents would like a copy of the letter it can be found in the usual online locations (Edline, Edmodo, and here).

We're heading into the final stretch, so students need to buckle down and commit to their review.  SOL testing for my classes will be Tuesday, May 28th (Block 1/2), Wednesday, May 29th (Block 5/6), and Thursday, May 30th (Block 7/8).  I have faith in each of my students and I am so proud of how far they have come this year.  We'll continue our in class review, though a bit more "old school" as we will not be on the computers next week, but I hope students spend time this weekend continuing on their own.

Weekly Class Summary: May 6-10

SOLs Covered: All Math 7
Math Dictionary Sections: All Sections
Upcoming Assessments: SOL Mini Quiz #4 (Tues. 5/14); SOL Mini Quiz #5 (Mon. 5/20)

This will be a quick weekly class summary as I'm busy getting next week's materials together for each student, as will be explained further in a minute.  After taking the the third mini SOL quiz at the beginning of the week, the rest of the week was devoted to taking the county's Math 7 SOL simulation test.  The students started taking the test on paper Tuesday and by Thursday most students had finished the entire test and had time to check over their work.

We were in the lab Friday so that students could input their answers into the county's system.  Since they'd pretty much already finished, they were able to use the extra time to work on their homework, which as previously posted was to complete at least five challenges I'd set up for them on MangaHigh.com.  The students were obviously quite happy to have a bit of time for what they saw as just playing games.  I don't think they all realized they were still reviewing for the SOLs as they played, but I can honestly tell you that today was one of the best days so far in my teaching career!  To see how excited the kids got about the games along with their friendly competition was the best way I could have possibly ended teacher appreciation week!  Seeing their pride at getting high scores (all through the use of their math skills) and hearing them say how much they enjoyed today's class was incredibly rewarding for me.



With the simulation testing completed, I'll start analyzing each student's results.  Since the test cannot be sent home per county guidelines, I’ll be conferencing with each student one-on-one next week to go over their results and at that time will provide a feedback form to add to their SOL review folders highlighting (literally) the questions/topics they missed.  A digital copy of the form has already been uploaded to the usual places (Edline, Edmodo, and here) so that students can use the hyperlinks that go with each question.  The links will take them to videos on that topic along with practice items they can work on to continue their review.



They should be studying/reviewing/working on the items in the SOL review folder at least a little every night to help prepare for the SOL test.  The SOLs are definitely much trickier than they used to be; quite often students make minor mistakes that can sadly have a severe effect on their scores.  Starting with last year's math SOLs, the test is no longer strictly multiple choice, so some questions have more than one right answer and require that all the correct choices be given to get credit.  Most of the questions have multiple steps and do not give any kind of partial credit for getting the first few steps correct.  In class we’re going over all the little “twists and turns” found throughout the test, but the more students review at home as well, the easier the SOL should be.  Tests for my class are scheduled for May 28-30.

So not so short after all I guess, but hopefully helpful.