Wednesday 30 January 2019

Weekly Update #17

Math 7A and 7B
Good morning,
Students are writing the midterm today and tomorrow. If they are absent either of these days they will write the midterm or finish up when they return.

Next week is a short week with Teacher's Convention on Thursday and Friday and we will continue to work on the adding and subtracting fractions unit. 

Midterms will be graded as soon as possible but marks may not show up on PowerSchool immediately as we want to sit down as a math department and ensure that all the midterm questions were fair. Any unfair questions will be eliminated and grades will be adjusted accordingly. 

Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing those that have book interviews tomorrow - if you were unable to book an interview and want to meet with me please contact me directly to see if we can meet at a different time.

Thanks

Math 8
Good morning,
Students are writing the midterm today and tomorrow. If they are absent either of these days they will write the midterm or finish up when they return.

Next week is a short week with Teacher's Convention on Thursday and Friday and we will continue to work on the surface area and volume unit. 

Midterms will be graded as soon as possible but marks may not show up on PowerSchool immediately as we want to sit down as a math department and ensure that all the midterm questions were fair. Any unfair questions will be eliminated and grades will be adjusted accordingly. 

Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing those that have book interviews tomorrow - if you were unable to book an interview and want to meet with me please contact me directly to see if we can meet at a different time.

Thanks

Tuesday 29 January 2019

Monday 28 January 2019

Wednesday 23 January 2019

Weekly Update #16

Math 7A and 7B
Students are currently reviewing for their midterm exam next Wednesday and Thursday. The unit reviews are given to students in class and posted to my daily blog posts with the answers. I want to reiterate that the math midterm exam is written during regular class period and it is just broken up into two parts written over two classes. There is no midterm break and students will be attending regular classes as they would normally do.

The midterm accounts for 9% of a student's grade and covers everything that we have done so far this year. Unit 2: Integers, Unit 3A: Operations with Decimals, Unit 1: Divisibility Rules, Unit 3B: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents, and half of Unit 5: Operations with Fractions.

If you have any questions regarding the midterm please do not hesitate to contact me.

Additionally, interview booking is now open. Booking usually does fill up quickly and if you are unable to sign up please contact me directly and we can trying finding another time outside of January 31st to meet and discuss your child's progress in math this year.

Math 8C
Students have finished up part 1 of their Geometry City project. We will do part 2 later on in Febuary when we cover volume. Tomorrow students will begin reviewing for their midterm exam next Wednesday and Thursday. The midterm review will be given to students and the answers will be posted to my daily blog posts. I want to reiterate that the math midterm exam is written during regular class period and it is just broken up into two parts written over two classes. There is no midterm break and students will be attending regular classes as they would normally do.

The midterm accounts for 9% of a student's grade and covers everything that we have done so far this year. Unit 2: Integers, Unit 3: Fractions, Unit 1: Square Roots and Pythagorean Theorem, and half of Unit 4: Volume and Surface Area.

If you have any questions regarding the midterm please do not hesitate to contact me.

Additionally, interview booking is now open. Booking usually does fill up quickly and if you are unable to sign up please contact me directly and we can trying finding another time outside of January 31st to meet and discuss your child's progress in math this year.


January 23, 2019

Math 7A and 7B
Midterm Review - Unit 1 (Answers) - we went over the answers and played a few Kahoots

Math 8C
Geometry City Project - Due Wednesday (end of class)
Surface Area Quiz - Cancelled - we will start reviewing for Midterm on Thursday

Tuesday 22 January 2019

January 22, 2019

Math 7A and 7B
Midterm Review - Unit 1 (Answers)

Math 8C
Geometry City Project - Due Wednesday (end of class)
Surface Area Quiz - Cancelled - we will start reviewing for Midterm on Thursday

Monday 21 January 2019

January 21, 2019

Math 7A and 7B
More Subtracting Fractions (Answers)
BLM 5.5
Midterm - Jan 30/31

Math 8C
Geometry City (Part 1) - Due Tuesday (at end of class)
Surface Area Quiz - Thursday
Midterm - Jan 30/31

Thursday 17 January 2019

Wednesday 16 January 2019

Weekly Update #15

Math 7A and 7B
Students are currently working on a unit on adding and subtracting fractions. They wrote a quiz today that covered adding fractions. Tomorrow and Friday we will start working on subtracting fractions which will continue into early next week. After that we will begin reviewing for the midterm.

As mentioned in last week's weekly update, students in my math classes will be writing a midterm. Students will be writing this midterm on January 30th and 31st. There will be ample review time during class given to students to prepare for this exam. The midterm will be broken up into two parts and completed over two classes. It will cover everything that we have done so far this year in grade 7 math. There are a few different reasons for having students write a midterm. The first is that it breaks the year up. Students will be writing final exams in June and that final will only cover material primarily from February onward. Therefore, teachers have the midterm in the middle of year to assess students knowledge from September to January. I find this more beneficial compared to having students write a final in June and being assessed on material from September. Secondly, the midterm creates a test-situation that is similar to the PAT exams students will be writing in grade 9. I hope that multiple experiences and exposures to PAT style questions will prepare them for grade 9.

I want to mention again that midterms at ELJHS are at the discretion of teacher and subject departments; therefore, you child may or may not have a midterm in their other core subject areas. Also, we do not have a midterm week like finals week and the midterm will be written during regular class time on January 30th and 31st.

I will be sending out the study guide that we will be working on in class in next week's weekly update.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the midterm examination please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

Math 8C
Students are currently working on surface area of rectangular and triangular prisms. There will be a short quiz on Tuesday.

As mentioned in last week's weekly update, students in my math classes will be writing a midterm. Students will be writing this midterm on January 30th and 31st. There will be ample review time during class given to students to prepare for this exam. The midterm will be broken up into two parts and completed over two classes. It will cover everything that we have done so far this year in grade 8 math. There are a few different reasons for having students write a midterm. The first is that it breaks the year up. Students will be writing final exams in June and that final will only cover material primarily from February onward. Therefore, teachers have the midterm in the middle of year to assess students knowledge from September to January. I find this more beneficial compared to having students write a final in June and being assessed on material from September. Secondly, the midterm creates a test-situation that is similar to the PAT exams students will be writing in grade 9. I hope that multiple experiences and exposures to PAT style questions will prepare them for grade 9.

I want to mention again that midterms at ELJHS are at the discretion of teacher and subject departments; therefore, you child may or may not have a midterm in their other core subject areas. Also, we do not have a midterm week like finals week and the midterm will be written during regular class time on January 30th and 31st.

I will be sending out the study guide that we will be working on in class in next week's weekly update. I have attached a document which contains more specific details about the midterm.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the midterm examination please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

January 16, 2019

Math 7A and 7B
Quiz Today on Adding Fractions
Midterm - Jan 30th and 31st

Math 8C
Geometry City Project
Short Quiz - Surface Areas of Rectangular and Triangular Prisms - Tuesday
Midterm - Jan 30th and 31st

Tuesday 15 January 2019

January 15, 2019

Math 7A and 7B
Quiz - Adding Fractions - Tomorrow
Midterm - Jan 30th and 31st (in class)

Math 8C
Notes - 4.4 - Surface Area of Triangular Prisms
Short Quiz - Surface Area - Monday Jan 21
Midterm - Jan 30th and 31st (in class)

Friday 11 January 2019

Wednesday 9 January 2019

Weekly Update #14

Happy new year!

Math 7A and 7B
Students have currently started a new unit that covers Adding and Subtracting fractions. This unit will take all of January and go partly into February.

Before the break students were working on a large assignment. These assignments have not been graded yet but I have indicated on PowerSchool if the assignment has been collected or has not been handed in. There are a small number of students that have not handed the assignment in and this is indicated with a "missing" icon on PowerSchool. It is very important that students hand in assignments on time - assignments that are not handed will be assigned a grade of zero. A grade of zero greatly impacts a student's grade. If you notice that your child has not handed in their assignment please encourage them to complete it by Friday.

Additionally, I have mentioned to students this week that they will be writing a Midterm sometime in February. This midterm will cover everything that we have done so far this year. I am still finalizing the date for when students will be writing this Midterm with the other grade 7 math teachers. When I know the date I will let students know. It will be around the first week of February. And we will have ample review time in class to prepare. Midterms are at the discretion of teachers and subject departments; therefore, your child may or may not have a midterm in their other core subject areas. We do not have a midterm week like finals week and the midterm will be written during regular class time. The midterm accounts for 9% of the student's grade.

Math 8C
Students have currently started a new unit that covers Surface Area and Volume. This unit will take all of January and go partly into February to complete.

Additionally, I have mentioned to students this week that they will be writing a Midterm sometime in February. This midterm will cover everything that we have done so far this year. I am still finalizing the date for when students will be writing this Midterm with the other grade 8 math teachers. When I know the date I will let students know. It will be around the first week of February. And we will have ample review time in class to prepare. Midterms are at the discretion of teachers and subject departments; therefore, your child may or may not have a midterm in their other core subject areas. We do not have a midterm week like finals week and the midterm will be written during regular class time. The midterm accounts for 9% of the student's grade.

January 9, 2019

Math 7A and 7B
Notes - 5.3 - Adding Fractions

Math 8C
Page 180-182 #3, 4, 5, 8, 10, and 11