Weekly Class Summary: June 9-13

SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.6 Angle Relationships
Math Dictionary Sections:  35 Angles; 36 Angle Relationships; 37 Angle & Line Bisectors
Upcoming Assessments:  NONE!!!

So here we are!  The year's officially over and it's been a great one!  On Wednesday, we had our awards ceremony with the finale slideshow, which can be found on Edline, followed by an attempt at an outdoor carnival until the rain forced everyone inside. With the wash-out, students instead got to come in and watch movies or socialize.

For math this week, we did a bit of work on angle relationships, which tied into my favorite end-of-year activity, origami.  While going through the steps for folding the paper, I pointed out the various things that relate back to our work this week and throughout the year:  supplementary angles found within the folds, how the diagonals of a square form perpendicular bisectors, etc.  It took a bit of time along with 12 pieces of paper per student, but students' final product was a 24-faced polyhedron.  Those who finished early also had a chance to make 8-pointed stars and/or other pieces of origami.



I hope everyone enjoys their summer break and stays safe.  I'd also like to encourage students to review every once and awhile over the summer so their math skills stay fresh.  To help with that, students will still have access to the accounts I set up for them this year aside from TenMarks, which they can instead sign up for on their own.  The county has also made resources available on their SOL & Summer Resources page.  And finally....

Have a great summer!

Weekly Class Summary: June 2-6

SOLs Covered:  SOL 8.10 Pythagorean Theorem
Math Dictionary Sections:  34 Pythagorean Theorem
Upcoming Assessments:  NONE!!!

Things are slowly winding down now, but we still have Math 8 topics to cover.  This week's topic was the Pythagorean theorem, one of my favorites!  We had a little bit of story time with "What's Your Angle, Pythagoras?" by Julie Ellis.  The book discusses a hypothetical situation for how the Pythagoras might have come up with the theorem since the actual events are unknown.  From there, we moved onto working some real world problems requiring the use of the Pythagorean theorem and then a few practice SOL type questions made by the district.  Students who finished up early got started on next week's packet, which they'll be expected to bring everyday next week.


The last day to turn in work for term 4 (missing or incomplete assignments, error analysis for assessments, and/or extra credit work) was Friday.  For any students who were absent or making up SOLs, I'll still accept the Pythagorean theorem work packet on Monday, but that will be the deadline for that.  At this point, I'm not sure what grades I'll be taking next week as we've not been told when to start sending grades, so we'll have to go day-by-day for future grades.  Any additional grades will be designed to help students improve their grades and will not have a negative impact on their overall grade unless the student were to refuse to do the work (thankfully something that rarely ever happens with this group of kids!).

Weekly Class Summary: May 19-23

SOLs Covered:  All Math 7 SOLs
Math Dictionary Sections:  Review all sections
Upcoming Assessments:  Math 7 SOL (1^st Wed. 5/28, 3^rd Thurs. 5/29, 7^th Fri. 5/30)

The kids can tell you how I've not been feeling very well at this week and while I'm feeling much better now than I have been over the past three days, I'm still thinking I'll keep it a bit shorter this week so I can head out at a reasonable time today.  I first have to thank the kids for (mostly) being on their best behavior this week in order to make things easier for me, knowing how bad I was feeling.  You guys rock!

We wrapped up the last of our individual category review last week, so this week was spent going over the released test.  We went over strategies for attacking each questions and possible variations they could expect to see.  While going through the problems, we reviewed how the Smart Chart could help them with the different problems.  Students should practice making the components of the Smart Chart they need help with (there's no need to make the portions they rock at) since they'll need to make it from memory on blank paper the day of the SOL.  As previously stated, the tests for the Math 7 SOL will be held next week, so I encourage students to use this 3-day weekend to at least spend part of the time reviewing.  In addition to the SOL simulation letter and feedback form, on Friday students were given their SOL mini-quiz letter, which gives another peak at the areas of strength and weakness for each student, allowing them to fine tune their focus for study.



I'm going to end this here, but I do encourage students along with their parents/guardians to email or message me on Edmodo if they have questions while they review this weekend.  Extra practice (which can also earn the students extra credit!) has been added to the class Edmodo pages to help students along with their personal review.

Weekly Class Summary: May 12-16

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.9-7.16 P&S and PF&A
Math Dictionary Sections:  Review all sections on P&S and PF&A
Upcoming Assessments:  SOL Quiz #5 (Fri. 5/23/14); Math 7 SOL (1^st Wed. 5/28, 3^rd Thurs. 5/29, 7^th Fri. 5/30)

We had yet another fun-filled week of SOL review!  Well, as fun as practice problems can be at least.  Students worked on the packet for the final (and biggest!) category of the SOL, Probability & Statistics (SOL 7.9-7.11) and Patterns, Functions, & Algebra (SOL 7.12-7.16).  Thankfully, my data projector was finally fixed by the end of the week, so we can now view online resources and use the Promethean board and ActivSlates again.  This was incredibly important since it allowed us to start looking at the practice problems from the VDOE website (links to it and other resources put together by CCPS).  These practice problems (31 total for Math 7) give students a taste of what to expect for online testing, which is really important for those students who are taking the SOLs for the first time this year.  There are various online tools available and we went over each one and some of the possible complications that can pop up with each.  As we continue to work through these practice problems as well as the newly released test (the first released test since the SOLs changed in 2009), we will continue to discuss various strategies for approaching the questions, how best to use the eTools available, and possible pitfalls that "hide" in the more rigorous questions.

We are quickly approaching the end of the school year.  With that I always have students asking what they can do to pull their grade up.  In order to give students an opportunity to earn some extra credit as well as continue their review for the SOLs, I've uploaded an assignment to Edmodo using their new snapshot tool.  The questions chosen are all for the probability, statistics, patterns, functions, and algebra section since that is the biggest category as well as the one the majority of students struggle with the most.  The assignment will remain active through May 30th, which will be the last day of Math 7 SOL testing.  Regarding the actual dates for testing, there was a slight change for the block 3/4 students, who had previously been scheduled to take the test on May 28th.  They are now scheduled to take the test on May 30th in order to allow students to go to their electives classes (and get a little break from the test-prep and testing environment) as well as to allow teachers to have a planning block.  I've updated the Google student calendar with this information as well as the other 7th grade testing dates/times (students must login with their CCPS account to view the calendar).

Weekly Class Summary: May 5-9

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.5-7.8 M&G
Math Dictionary Sections:  Review all sections on M&G
Upcoming Assessments:  SOL Quiz #4 (Fri. 5/16/14)

This is going out a bit later than usual since I had errands to run after school and thus couldn't stay after to finish up work the way I usually do on Fridays.  I'm sitting at home with a sitcom on in the background and trying not to doze off after a very busy week, so I'll be keeping this on the shorter side.  Before moving on to the nitty gritty of this week's math class, I just wanted to send my virtual thanks to the students and parents/guardians who made this an awesome Teacher Appreciation Week!  The PTA kept us well fed all week long and I cherish the drawings and little tokens of thanks from the students.  I also want to thank all my teachers who put me on the path to becoming one myself; I wouldn't have made it this far without them!



Our focus in class this week was on the Measurement and Geometry (SOL 7.5-7.8) category.  Students again spent time working independently and I spent some time going around to check in on each group.  I also gave each student a letter to take home and share with their parents/guardians that was personalized with information on how each individual student did on his/her SOL simulation test.  Attached to the letter was further feedback, showing each student the topic of each question he/she missed.  I have an "old" version of this form which students can use to access hyperlinks to resources about each of the topics.  I'm currently working on a "new" version that I'll continue to update with additional resources.  The beauty of using GoogleDrive is that I can continue to edit it and students will always be able to access the most recent version without having to get a new link.  I'm going to "take off" now and try to get a bit more work done on this new version and maybe a bit more grading before bed.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and those how have motherly roles out there!

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: Apr. 21-25

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.11 & 8.13 Statistics
Math Dictionary Sections:  32 Measures of Center; 33 Graphical Methods
Upcoming Assessments:  SOL Quiz #2 (Thurs. 5/1/14)

We started the week by working on our final Math 7 unit, data analysis with an emphasis on histograms.  We'll have a few Math 8 topics to cover after our SOL test as part of the county's Middle School Math 2 curriculum, but since students will not see them on their SOL test and we missed so much time due to weather this year, we decided to save them.



Part of Wednesday was devoted to our first SOL mini-assessment.  Students will be taking five of these in total (10 questions each), which together will represent one practice SOL test.  Students should be familiar with these from last year along with progress charts that will be hanging in the classroom so they can gauge how close to a passing score they'll be at this moment.  While of course we want the students to get the maximum score possible, they need to average 6.5 on each to reach an approximately passing score on the state assessment.  I understand that many parents aren't happy with the major focus being on testing (overall I agree), but it is important that students be prepared for these state tests while they do remain the focus.



We were in the computer lab on Thursday and Friday for the county's SOL simulation test.  Students out on Friday for the chorus field trip will be able to finish the test next week when I booked the lab for one of our fun review days.  I'll use these results along with the SOL mini-assessments to determine areas of strength and weakness for each student, which will then allow me to help students plan out their study plans.  We still have a paper-pencil portion of the test to complete next week, so I'm hoping to have feedback forms to students by the end of next week. We still have several weeks before our test (scheduled for Math 7 on May 28-29), so we'll be reviewing everything we've covered thus far throughout that time.

Weekly Class Summary: Apr. 7-11

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.9,10 & 8.12 Probability
Math Dictionary Sections:  31 Probability
Upcoming Assessments:  SOL Quiz #1 (Wed. 4/23/14); SOL Simulation Test (Thurs. 4/24/14 & Fri. 4/25/14)

I'll be keeping things extremely short and sweet this week since I'm just as ready as the kids to start Spring Break!!!  We devoted the week to working on probability.  We discussed the differences between theoretical and experimental probability along with the basics of single-event probability questions.  From there we branched into two or more events happening, both independent events as well as dependent and how to tell the difference between the two, from the obvious questions that state with or without replacement to the less obvious ones when two things are happening simultaneously.  We even had a bit of time to play one of my favorite games, SKUNK!, in which students have to think about the possibility of rolling ones with a set of dice in order to determine whether to stay in the game or play it safe.  I think the kids really enjoyed the game if their enthusiastic behavior was anything to go by.  We ended the week with a little review and updating the Smart Chart before students took the quiz, which has already been graded and even returned to some of the students if they were still with me when I finished.  Grades weren't quite what I'd hoped for, but students made some pretty common errors (like simply forgetting to multiply the ratios after they set it up... a bit too focused on the upcoming break, I'd assume), which I'm sure they'll catch as soon as they get it back and be able to correct their errors to earn back at least some credit.



So there it is folks, possibly the shortest WCS yet!  I hope all the students enjoy the break and come back ready to settle into SOL review mode!

Weekly Class Summary: Mar. 31-Apr. 4

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.8 & 8.8 Geometric Transformations; SOL 7.12 & 8.14,16 Relations & Functions
Math Dictionary Sections:  28 Transformations; 29 Relations & Functions
Upcoming Assessments:  Probability Quiz (Fri. 4/11/14)

This week was predominately filled up with testing, so I don't have too much to write about this time.  We did spend Monday in the computer lab, reviewing current and old materials by playing DimensionU.  By the end of the day, I was able to join in and play with the students; while I'm a little rusty, I did show them I've got some gaming skill by the second round (just had to rest the keys for my "leftiness" first).  On Tuesday, we started class by going over a few last minute details from the review packet before the students started the test on transformations, similar figures, relations, and functions; most students finished the test on Wednesday and used any extra time to wrap up odds and ends for the third term.  Ideally, I would leave it at the one test, but we are required to give the county's post-assessment, which shows student growth in each content area, by the end of the third term; with all the snow days, this was the only viable option for scheduling.  Therefore, Thursday and Friday were devoted to the test.  For those students who finished early, the new packets on probability (notes, homework, and classwork) were made available, which start off with review materials.  We'll start going over all of it together on Monday.

Weekly Class Summary: Mar. 24-28

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.12 & 8.14,16 Relations & Functions
Math Dictionary Sections:  29 Relations & Functions; 30 Patterns & Sequences
Upcoming Assessments:  Trans. & Rel./Func. Test (Tues. 4/1/14); CCPS Post-Test (Thurs. 4/3/14)

I'm keeping things on the "short and sweet" side this week for the simple fact that I need to get home and take a nap!  I know springs finally starting to make its way into central Virginia since I can already feel the affects on my sinuses.  Now onto the math!

We've been working hard on functions this week, discussing how to identify a function, the different parts of a function, and how to represent relations/functions using tables, graphs, rules, and words.  Students were again given packets (one homework and one classwork) for the unit.  The classwork packet was worked on in class throughout the week, though students are only responsible for completing pg. 1-10 of it; the rest can be used by the students independently for their own personal review and we'll likely come back to it after spring break as part of our SOL review depending on what materials are released by the state and/or county before then.  We ended the week with a test review packet, which does not have to be turned in as the students should keep it as study material.

That's a Function!!! Interactive from ASSET & ASU

The test will be on Tuesday and Wednesday (as needed), after a computer lab review day on Monday (students are reminded to bring their headphones/earbuds that day).  Normally I avoid having multiple assessments in one week, but we've been given a deadline for the county's post-assessment test, which is to be completed by Friday, April 4th, so we'll spend Thursday and Friday next week working on that.  This isn't the same as the county's SOL simulation test, which I have scheduled for the week after spring break (see the Team 7-2 Student Google calendar; students must login with their county accounts for access).

As I promised the students, I'm giving one last extra credit opportunity.  Students can complete assignments/tests on TenMarks and/or JLab (be sure to use the "new" 2009 standards on JLab) for up to 20 points extra credit.  Students can either email or send their results through Edmodo/Google or print a hardcopy to turn into me.  The deadline for this is next Friday, April 4th (the official end of term) and students will be allowed to use part of their computer time on Monday on this if they cannot work on it at home.  As previously stated, all corrections on old assessments and assignments were due by today (3/28), but since I always allow (and strongly encourage) students to work on pulling their grades up, assignments from this week (homework and classwork on functions) will still be accepted next week.

Weekly Class Summary: Mar. 17-21

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.12 & 8.14,16 Relations & Functions
Math Dictionary Sections:  29 Relations & Functions
Upcoming Assessments:  Trans. & Rel./Func. Test (Tues. 4/1/14); CCPS Post-Test (Thurs. 4/3/14)

I promised the kids I'll get all of their work graded and back to them at the beginning of each class on Monday, so I've got a stack of stuff to get through this afternoon before leaving, therefore I'll be (trying) to keep this on the short side (though I've said that before and ended up with quite a bit more).  This has been another crazy weather week, so Monday and Tuesday were both two-hour delays, but we used every bit of the hours we were in school those days to continue working on transformations.  I went over some easy tips to help the students remember how to do each of the transformations and made a few updates to the notes and Smart Chart to add to the ease.  Students took the quiz on the unit on Thursday and were given the rest of that block to work on starting to tie up loose ends for this term.  I'll post an additional reminder, but students were informed that the last day I'll be taking make-up work and/or error analysis on assessments will be next Friday, March 28th since the week after next will be the end of the third term.




On Friday, I introduced our new unit on relations and functions.  In all of the classes, the students worked in groups to match up various real world relations before then determining which part was the independent event and which was the dependent (ex. the distance traveled depends on the amount of gas in a car).  I was extremely happy with this activity as students seemed to really enjoy it on top of getting a lot out of it.  Blocks 3/4 was able to complete and Block 7/8 was able to start a second activity in which students went about determining whether various graphs, tables, maps, and number sets were or were not a function (Block 1/2 will do this activity on Monday).  We'll be continuing this unit all of next week, but the test will take place at the start of the following week and will thus be one of the first grades for the last term.  This is in order to allow students a chance to complete an error analysis on it before the grade is closed out.

Finally, I'd like to remind students and parents/guardians that some of the county's teachers (myself included) cannot access our email at the moment, specifically all teachers with last names L-R last I heard.  I'm not sure when we'll get it back, but as I stated in the message I sent through Edline, I can still receive messages through Edmodo, as comments left here on the blog, and of course there's always the "old school" paper note sent through the student.  A message can also be left with the office and I can call back when I'm free.  If any emails were sent after email went down (I last received emails Wed. 3/19 at 9:27 PM), then there's a possibility they could be completely lost.  Since I've not heard specifics about what happened to the email system, I'm not sure what to expect from this.  Fingers crossed the issue is solved soon!

Weekly Class Summary: Mar. 10-14

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.8 & 8.8 Geometric Transformations
Math Dictionary Sections:  27 Coordinate Plane; 28 Transformations
Upcoming Assessments:  Transformations Quiz (Wed. 3/19/14)

This week has reminded us that spring is approaching (but will apparently take a detour Sunday evening/Monday morning), so we've actually had a whole uninterrupted week.  Students finished the test we "previewed" last Friday.  If they didn't finish on Monday, the completed it on Tuesday in the computer lab before we had our first completely "fun" day of math gaming.  The students all have DimensionU accounts and we were able to play a little bit the last time we were in the lab, but this was the first time they could really get into it.  DimensionU has different "worlds" the students can play in and our school accounts give EDMS students access to the math and language arts part of the game.  Obviously while in my class, students are expected to play the math portion (earning points while answering math questions related to our curriculum), but the game can also be downloaded and played from home.  I'm one of the building contacts for the company, so I've received word that there will be a web-version of the game relaunched sometime in the future.  I'm hoping it will work with the Chromebooks the students will be given next year, so we'll be able to get a lot more use out of the game.


When we returned to the classroom on Wednesday, we got started on our geometric transformations unit.  Students received their new homework and classwork packets, which are currently due on Wednesday, March 19th; this could be pushed back depending on how far we get at the beginning of next week.  We did a little review of the basics of working on the coordinate plane before starting on translations.  On Thursday, some students were able to get started on reflections, but most were only able to finish translations.  With a social studies field trip and chorus students leaving for state assessments, about half of the students were out on Friday, therefore, instead of teaching a lesson that would just need to be repeated on Monday, students were given some Pi Day activities to work on as well as a chance to complete unfinished assignments, work on error analysis for their old assessments, and get help from me when needed.  Since students were with me for both their math block as well as the block they normally have language arts, some were able to make a lot of progress on getting caught up and/or ahead in their work.  Students can work on their classwork packet on their own outside of school, but we will be continuing our work with transformations on Monday.



Students are reminded that they can make arrangements with me for a tutoring session before or after school.  At the moment, I'm not able to set up a "regular" after school tutoring session as I have in the past (my sister needs my "auntie's taxi service" to be running for a bit), but I can find a few minutes before and/or after school some days to give extra help when needed.  Students can check with me or have their parents email and we can find a time that works for everyone.  I can also work with students during SOAR class, though I have plans to help students get organized and clear out lockers over the next few weeks (some of their binders and lockers are looking like a paper factory exploded in there!).

Weekly Class Summary: Feb. 24-28

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.5 & 8.7 Surface Area & Volume of Rectangular Prisms & Cylinders
Math Dictionary Sections:  25 Solids; 26 Surface Area & Volume (with Math 7 Formula Sheet)
Upcoming Assessments:  Edmodo Review Quiz (Mon. 3/3/14); Quads & Vol/SA Test (Mon. 3/10/14)

I'll be keeping this week's WCS on the shorter side since I've got a fairly long to-do list to take care of before returning to the school for this year's school play (Willy Wonka Junior).  After taking the quiz on quadrilaterals, students reviewed geometric solids on their own, followed by a quick whole class review of the topic.  From there, we jumped into working on surface area and volume of rectangular prisms and cylinders.  This unit will carry over into next week as well as being brought up again after the spring's SOL testing is completed to go over some of the Math 8 solids that are covered during MSM2 (pyramids and cones).

Students always seem to struggle at first with how to use the formulas in middle school, so we took time to add examples to the math dictionaries using a color matching technique I prefer.  While some students do just fine without it, those who tend to plug numbers into the wrong spot or forget parts of the formula find it easier to keep their work organized with this.  We'll have to work towards using only one color as the current SOL rules do not allow using more than one color highlighter on the test, but it's a good start for those who need the "training wheels" on as they become accustomed to it.

	Surface Area	Volume
Rectangular Prism
Cylinder

Next week we'll be getting into the more complicated side of this unit (i.e. changing dimensions as well as the tricky word problems).  We'll be in the computer lab on Monday where we'll be experimenting with taking a quiz through Edmodo (hence the change in scheduling), to be followed up with some "mathy fun time" on the computers, so students are reminded to bring their headphones/earbuds.

Weekly Class Summary: Feb. 17-21

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.7 Properties of Quadrilaterals
Math Dictionary Sections:  24 Quadrilaterals
Upcoming Assessments:  Quads Quiz (Mon. 2/21/14); Review Quiz (Fri. 2/28/14)

After returning from another long, snow-covered weekend, students turned in their consumer applications packets and take-home tests.  Knowing how the snow days lead to forgetfulness, I gave the kids a little time on Monday to wrap up their work on these things.  Students are reminded to turn those in ASAP if they haven't so far.

The rest of the week, we started our first geometry unit of the year:  properties of quadrilateral.  In MSM2, we cover the general term of quadrilateral as well as the more specific terms of parallelogram, rhombus, rectangle, square, trapezoid, and kite.  We spent a lot of time going over the quadrilateral "family tree" and how things relate to each other.  I used other analogies to help students better understand their relationships, for example "all puppies are dogs, but not all dogs are puppies" helped students understand that "all squares are rhombi, but not all rhombi are squares."  I also talked about how different shapes share characteristics of their "parent" shapes the same way the students share characteristics with their parents ("daddy rectangle" and "mama rhombus" share their characteristics with "baby square" the way students might have their mom's eyes and their dad's nose).  Most of the characteristics have been covered in previous years, but students were introduced to the rules of each quadrilateral's diagonals.  I've suggested to students that they create flash cards with each characteristic written on one side of the card and all the shapes that have that characteristic on the other.



On Friday, we spent the day in the computer lab.  I'd already booked the lab about two months ago just for a general fun math gaming day, but we ended up needing it to submit our answers for the county's first semester benchmark test.  Since all the work had been completed on paper previously, that part didn't take too long and we had time for some less serious computer stuff as well.  Before allowing the kids to play, I did walk the students through the process of adding the team's student calendar I created to their own Google calendars.  I've been told that with the introduction of Chromebooks next year, students will no longer be issued a tracker/agenda where they've traditionally kept track of all their assignments and such.  Because of this, I'm experimenting with how to use the Google calender to keep students and parents informed as well as helping students keep their school and outside life more organized.  Next week during SOAR on Tuesday (for Block 1/2), Wednesday (for Block 3/4), and Thursday (for Block 7/8), I'll be helping students who need it in setting up their Google accounts and its various features on their mobile devices (as long as they've gotten permission from their parent ahead of time).  Students will only have permission to have their devices in class and out during the SOAR block on those days and have been reminded that being allowed to use them at any time in my class does not give them permission to use it outside of my class or those times.

Weekly Class Summary: Dec. 9-13

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.13, 7.14, 7.15 & 8.15 Algebra
Math Dictionary Sections:  19 Algebraic Concepts; 20 Inequalities
Upcoming Assessments:  Proportions Quiz TBA; Bay PBL Project (Jan. 2014)

I've got this week's test piled up on my desk waiting to be graded along with some errands I have to run before heading home, so this WCS will be on the shorter side (I know I say that often and then write an exposition, but I mean it this time).  We started the week with the inequalities quiz.  While grades weren't great, the kids predominantly made minor mistakes (ex. forgetting to flip the inequality symbol when dividing by a negative, drawing the arrow in the wrong direction for the graph, etc.) that they should be able to easily fix.  When the quiz was given back, most students immediately caught their mistakes (which is when I reminded them of the necessity to check their work before turning it in) and they've already turned in their error analysis.  Students had made their own Smart Charts but many had left off parts that would have helped them catch their mistakes sooner.  Others had papers that were just a bit too messy to be helpful, so I decided to give all the kids a new updated copy of my own Smart Chart (after I played around with my ActivInspire's settings to have the PDF save and print the way I wanted).  Students should be study the chart and practice making it at home as well as using it for all their homework.  They'll also be allowed to use it in class for most things as well, so they need to remember to bring it back to school each day.


The rest of the week was spent reviewing for the test (Tuesday and Wednesday) or actually taking the test (Thursday and Friday).  During the review, I made a few changes to how we show some of our work, which seemed to really help get the information to start clicking with the kids.  For example, when combining like terms, I previously had the students highlight the like terms in different colors.  We now just circle the like terms in the different colors and then scratch them out as we go along.  We now refer to our variables as divas who don't want to share the stage, so we spotlight the diva and set the stage (which is drawing a highlight line down from our equal or inequality symbol) before we try to clear the stage of "everyone" but the diva.  These little things have made a world of difference for the kids and I think that while they don't love algebra the way I do, they at least no longer loath and despise it!  When students finished their tests, they worked on some seasonal Cartesian cartoons, which are now hanging in the hall, adding a bit of color and life (there are some really interesting colors on those snowmen!).

Weekly Class Summary: Dec. 2-6

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.14 & 8.15 Solve & Graph Inequalities
Math Dictionary Sections:  20 Inequalities
Upcoming Assessments:  Inequalities Quiz Part 2 (Mon. 12/9); Algebra Test (Thurs. 12/12 & Fri. 12/13)

I'm going to keep things on the short side this week since I'm trying to catch up on regrading all the quizzes for which students have turned in an Error Analysis.  We started the week by going over the Algebra Part 2 quiz in detail to help fix some of the common student misconceptions.  Since the newest topic for this week was algebraic inequalities, students needed to fully grasp how to solve algebraic equations before moving forward.  After the review and a little more practice, students have a much better grasp of the topic.  We had a break in the middle of the week with a review quiz.  To help cut down on some of the drawn out assessment work, I'm now splitting the quizzes up into two separate 10-question parts, one on review material which can essentially be given at any time and one on the new materials.  This will allow us to push back the new material quizzes as needed without pushing us back several extra days, allowing us to keep a little more on track with my plans.  With potential winter weather already looming on the horizon, this will be a huge benefit in case we end up missing any time.  It also came in handy this week so I could push just the inequalities question to the beginning of next week, only pushing us about half a block behind.


The highlight of the week for everyone was our lesson on graphing inequalities.  For the lesson, we used Oreos™ to represent the circles (a "closed" cookie for the closed circle and an "open" cookie for the open circle) and pretzel sticks to the direction the arrow should be drawn.  The students did an awesome job with the lesson, possibly because of their happy stomachs, but I'm happy with the results.  Thank you to all of the students (and their parents!) who brought in our food materials:  Nya, Aeon, Sean, Jemia, Jacob, Thomas, Mariana, Daijah, Morgan, Colton, Erica, and Amayah.  If I left anyone off the list, please let me know; I wrote the students their "thank you" Lambie Points as they brought the items in and tried to keep track of the list as well, but I have a feeling I left off one or two.  We practiced solving inequalities as well, using the same steps we use to solve equations with the only twist (aside from the graphing) being the "flip" of the inequality symbol when multiplying or dividing by negatives.  We did a major update to our Smart Chart and students should have both a green paper with the SM as well as all the portions in the back of their Math Dictionaries.  I encourage students to continue making the chart (particularly the portions with which they struggle) from memory each week so they have it memorized by the end of the year.

Weekly Class Summary: Nov. 25-26

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.14 & 8.15 Algebraic Concepts
Math Dictionary Sections:  19 Algebraic Concepts
Upcoming Assessments:  Review Quiz Part 1 (Wed. 12/4); Inequalities Quiz Part 2 (Fri. 12/6)

This week's WCS will be short and sweet to match this shortened holiday week.  The two days were devoted to the quiz on two-step and multi-step equations.  I've graded all the quizzes already completed by students and I've not been very happy with the results.  I'm not sure whether it's the short week with the anticipation for the break and holiday or if it's the material, but either way we'll have an intense review on Monday when we return.  We'll go over the quiz and students will make their corrections, only this time they'll have my help doing their Error Analysis similar to how we did the EA together for the very first assessment.  Students who finished early, had their choice of Thanksgiving math activities to complete; any students who complete any of these activities over the break and return them next week will receive Lambie Points for them.


There we go folks!  The shortest WCS since I started writing them!  Don't forget to complete the Edmodo assignment!  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving and enjoys the break!  See you all when we return next week!

Weekly Class Summary: Nov. 18-22

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.14 & 8.15 Algebraic Concepts
Math Dictionary Sections:  19 Algebraic Concepts
Upcoming Assessments:  Review Quiz Part 1 (Wed. 12/4); Inequalities Quiz Part 2 (Fri. 12/6)

Students started the week with a quiz  reviewing the basics of algebra as they learned in 6th grade with a few 7th grade twists (such as the appearance of integers in their equations), finishing up as needed on Tuesday.  From that point we jumped into the major 7th grade components of algebra, solving two-step and multi-step equations.  We started this portion of our work off by practicing the "art" of combining like terms, which does become rather colorful as I have the students color code the like terms [those having the same variable(s), raised to the same power(s)] using different highlighters or colored pencils.  This allows them to easily see which matches go together and helps alleviate some of the confusion this concept can bring.  We also practiced a bit more with the distributive property as it applies to multi-step equations.

Sweet Algebra! from Ms. Lambert

Before jumping into the steps for solving equations, we first worked on solving equations through modeling the problems.  Instead of using the typical algebra tiles most teachers use, I came up with an activity last year using Teddy Grahams and mini-marshmallows as substitutes.  The kids seem to grasp the concept of modeling equations much easier when using the sweets in place of the tiles, plus it's much tastier!  As previously posted and emailed, I reached out asking parents and guardians if they wouldn't mind helping out by donating the needed supplies.  I was so overwhelmed (in a very good way!) by the generosity and have to thank everyone profusely for their help!  Thank you to the following students (and their parents/guardians who sent the items!):  Aaron, Shamar, Colin, Tori, Jasmine, Tessa, Citlali, Jacob B., April, Mitchell, Colton G., Cordell, Ben, Erica, Jocelyn, Dylan N., Sean S., Kelli, Morgan, and Thomas.  There were a few items left by students in the classroom with no name, so if I've missed anyone in my list, please let me know so I can properly thank you!  I'll be writing Lambie Points to give to each of the students who brought in items as part of my thanks.  A special thanks to Citlali and Jessica (and their fabulous British accents) for staying after on Wednesday to help me get everything set up for the activity!

We then moved onto the more technical (and less yummy) steps for solving equations.  Instead of students turning in this week's homework, I had them add several of the problems as examples to their Math Dictionaries.  We continued with our color coding for this and made a "quick notes" cards (as shown in the "Solving Multi-step Equations" portion of the notes) for students to use as a guide and reminder for the steps.  I've showed them my own little tip of writing 1234=↓☐✓ to go along with it, which reminds them to follow the steps  for solving equations.  We'll review a bit on Monday before students take their quiz for this section.

Weekly Class Summary: Nov. 11-15

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.14 & 8.15 Algebraic Concepts
Math Dictionary Sections:  19 Algebraic Concepts
Upcoming Assessments:  Algebra Quiz Part 1 (Mon. 11/18)

Today is my sister's birthday, so I'm making this WCS on the shorter side (at least that's the intent, but sometimes the WCS gets away from me!) in order to go celebrate with the family.

Monday was spent reviewing verbal expressions and going over some of last week's work.  Students got started on the test at the end of the block, taking most of class on Tuesday to finish it up.  Grades show that students are starting to adjust to our more rigorous style of testing as students have shown significant improvement over the past two assessments.  Keep up the good work!

Algebra Tiles from Ms. Lambert

The rest of the week was spent reviewing the basics of algebra as the students learned last year in 6th grade.  We reviewed the basic vocabulary as well as solving one-step equations, throwing in a few negatives to apply new 7th grade topics to the unit.  A quiz reviewing these 6th grade basics will be given on Monday.  We'll also move onto two-step and multi-step equations next week.  As previously mentioned, I looked into the possibility of doing a food activity I came up with last year again with this group of students.  It took a little while to hear back on everything, but I got the final "OK" on it yesterday, so letters were sent home with students today for parents and guardians to give permission for their children to take part in the activity.  We'll be needing regular and chocolate Teddy Grahams, regular and colored mini-marshmallows, sandwich baggies, small paper cups, and paper towels for the activity.  We're also currently in need of red/pink and yellow index cards so students can make their own algebra tiles along with pencils and 0.5/0.7 pencil lead.  If anyone would like to help out by donating supplies, the help would be greatly appreciated though by no means required.

On Friday, in addition to students receiving copies of their report cards along with honor roll certificates (with bumper stickers!), we held our annual flag ceremony in honor of Veteran's Day.  While the ceremony was slightly delayed for scheduling reasons, we were honored yet again to have soldiers from Fort Lee with us and the school's 8th grade band to commemorate the occasion.  Thank you to the soldiers for coming out yet again and thank you to all of our service men and women, a number of whom are family members of many of our EDMS students and staff.

Weekly Class Summary: Nov. 4-8

SOLs Covered:  SOL 7.13 Verbal Expressions
Math Dictionary Sections:  19 Algebraic Concepts
Upcoming Assessments:  Verbal Expressions Test (Tues. 11/12)

Since this was a short-and-sweet week for the students (my nieces were happy to rub in the fact they got to sleep in on Monday and Tuesday while Aunt Kimmie got to come to work), I'll keep this WCS on the short-and-sweet side (especially when you add in the fact that it's just after 5 PM and I'm still at school as it gets dark outside!).  We started the week off on Wednesday with a review of the real number system and doing a walk-through of the quiz.  Like the preview of the last test, I walked through each question with the students to point out some of the "SOL tricks" along with the problems that require more detailed work, using our new classroom expression "WIO!" (Work It Out!).  I finished grading the quizzes this afternoon, so students will get them back on Monday and can begin their corrections and Error Analysis then.

Once students finished up the quiz, they got the first part of their algebra notes.  We'll be working on algebraic concepts for the next few weeks, so we'll be building on this section along the way.  To start, we're simply working on translating from English to Mathish (as I like to call it) and vice versa.  I was really impressed with how much students remembered from last year, especially some of the trickier phrasing (ex. less vs. less than vs. is less than).  We wrapped up the week with a "translation walk" that had the students collaborating in small groups to translate various verbal expressions to algebraic expressions and matching them up with posters placed around the room.  We'll go over the activity on Monday to make sure everyone had the correct translations and get started on the test after that if there's time; otherwise the test will be on Tuesday.

Algebraic Expressions Millionaire on Math-Play.com

Also just a heads up to be on the lookout for a permission slip of sorts.  I usually do a food activity for solving equations and will send home a form to make sure it's safe for all students to participate; I'll come up with an alternative if this is the case for any student.  If the activity will work out, any donations to help with the supplies would be greatly appreciated!  Look for more details next week!