Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Clean it out!
To finish out our first unit, we cleaned out our folders today and stored all of that paper in a file folder. AND we began our next unit with a little "tasty" reading about fractions. I had your children's mouths watering for fractions! Ha! No homework, though. :)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Finished the test!
Another short post today... all we did was finish the test... but I shouldn't say "all we did" because it was quite an accomplishment! Whoohoo! We finished the test!!!!! :)
Friday, September 26, 2008
TEST DAY!
Well, we started taking our test today. And guess what? We didn't finish!!!
So, no worries, we'll all pick it back up on Monday.
AND, we've extended the review work deadline until Monday (for those who forgot to bring theirs in :)).
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Test Tomorrow!
Today we spent ALL of our time working on our review work for the TEST TOMORROW! Whoohoo!
Homework tonight? Study! (And do review problems... ) :)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Back To School Night!
Reminder that Back to School Night is tomorrow (Thursday) night!
Please aim to be at the MS ready to go around 7:15 and come ready to
visit your child's morning classes, meet their advisors, and
experience some of our electives!
Please aim to be at the MS ready to go around 7:15 and come ready to
visit your child's morning classes, meet their advisors, and
experience some of our electives!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
REVIEW!
Today we began our Review process, a process that all of my first year math students over the years have grown to love and crave. :) Here's how it works:
First, I prepare a selection of sheets that have skill-based practice problems on them. If you're wondering what will be on this test, check out the earlier post on that: http://firstyearmath.blogspot.com/2008/09/whats-on-first-test.html
Next, the kids get the opportunity to complete as many problems as they would like, on the skills that they would like to work on. Why? Because I'm trying to teach them to take ownership over their learning. Love GCFs? Do tons! Hate LCMs because you're not sure how to do them? Hm... might be something you should REALLY work on. See?
Finally, a few minutes before the test, I take up all of the review sheets/problems and I check them when I check their tests. For every correct review problem they complete? Earn a sticker. Again, you'd be amazed at what a sticker can do!
Can they complete other problems for review? Sure! I'd just like them to clear it by me so I know they aren't doing something way out there, or way too hard or easy.
So, tonight and tomorrow night they may choose to work on their review problems. Do they have to? Technically, no! Thursday we will play some review games and then Friday we will test -- so Friday at 10:35 AM all Review Problems must be in.
Hope this makes sense! I'll be making a post soon about what a "test" means in my math class and with regards to their learning in math. I'll email you if that post gets made this evening after the automatic email goes out. :)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Catching up...
Today after our warm up, we shared about our weekends and we talked more about our upcoming test. Look for a later posting this evening on how I do tests. :)
NO HOMEWORK.
Friday, September 19, 2008
What have you guys been up to?!
Whew! It has been an intense past two days for me! I'm not sure if I've explained how blogging works for me, but I wanted to just let you know what it looks like in terms of my reliability. My afternoon schedule allows me three chunks of time to work on planning/blogging/checking papers/etc. These are M-F at lunch (provided there are no meetings that I have to attend and that I am not on lunch duty), M/W/F during 6th period (again, barring meetings), and T/H 7th period. For emails to be sent out to you on time (they should arrive to your inbox between 3 and 5p) I have to blog what I'm going to blog for the day by 3p. So, in a case like yesterday and today when I'm on lunch duty and have afternoon meetings until 3p... sitting down to blog becomes incredibly difficult! But, I try my best to keep to a schedule, thus insuring you get your daily update as regularly as possible. :)
With that being said, we've been working on prime factorizations, factor trees, primes and composites for the past two days. I introduced the kids to prime factorizations and factor trees on Wednesday and yesterday they got some good practice making the trees and working with primes and composites.
Today they got a chance to finish up their work with primes, composites, and factors and we had a little bit of a fun day playing with our calculators. The kids are fascinated with using a calculator to spell out words... so I found some work that they could do to encourage this passion! You should have seen them jamming their fingers into those buttons on the calculator!
Some of them may have finished and I would encourage them to keep playing with those numbers. Others may not have finished and I would love for them to keep working at it over the weekend, but I am not requiring it at all. It works for some kids and not for others. :) Have a great weekend!
Calculator Fun!
For some Friday fun today we used our calculators to spell come words!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Short Post
Worked a lot today, will post more about that later, but what's important is... NO HOMEWORK!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Growing Roots with Factor Trees!
We settled in today after our warmup by checking our homework and then started growing our roots with factor trees! Yea! You'll see a few examples below from the board, and the most important thing? NO HOMEWORK. Oh, they'll be some tomorrow!
But, in the mean time, if you wanted to brush up on factor trees? Check out this quick review.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
HW Answers
1. prime, 1, 2
2. prime, 1, 11
3. composite, 1, 2, 4, 8
4. composite, 1, 2, 13, 26
5. composite, 1, 5, 17, 85
6. prime, 1, 61
7. prime, 1, 3
8. composite, 1, 3, 9, 27
9. prime, 1, 83
10. composite, 1, 3, 9
11. prime, 1, 13
12. prime, 1, 31
13. composite, 1, 5, 25
14. prime, 1, 29
15. composite, 1, 3, 13, 39
2. prime, 1, 11
3. composite, 1, 2, 4, 8
4. composite, 1, 2, 13, 26
5. composite, 1, 5, 17, 85
6. prime, 1, 61
7. prime, 1, 3
8. composite, 1, 3, 9, 27
9. prime, 1, 83
10. composite, 1, 3, 9
11. prime, 1, 13
12. prime, 1, 31
13. composite, 1, 5, 25
14. prime, 1, 29
15. composite, 1, 3, 13, 39
Primes & Composites
Today we talked about the difference between prime numbers and composite numbers. (See the notes posted below).
Their homework is a sheet of 15 problems where they need to decide if the given number is prime or composite and then list ALL of the factors of that number, regardless.
This sheet I do not have electronically, so I can't post it online yet. But I am going to try and remember to post answers. I've got to set a reminder for myself or something! (I was supposed to post answers last night... and that didn't happen! ;) )
Monday, September 15, 2008
Working, working, working
On GCFs! Whew, man have we been working hard on those darn things.
So hard, that we're going to keep working tonight! For at least 20 minutes, on their front & back sheet on GCFs.
Friday, September 12, 2008
All about the factor...
Today we checked our HW, and moved into factor-land... a land not quite as easy as multiple-ville. :/
We started working through some greatest common factor (GCF) problems and discovered they aren't completed nearly as quickly as those LCMs!
NO HOMEWORK!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Multiples and LCMs
Today we stretched out our arms to check our homework! (Ask your kids :))
And then we got some great time to practice with LCMs. They'll need to finish the front and back of their LCMs sheet for homework tonight.
Tomorrow? FACTORS. :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Multiples!
Today was all about the multiple. We checked our homework on averages, finally got to talk about the operations quiz that you all took over the weekend ;), and moved on to a review of multiples and least common multiples. Tonight's homework is the first page (front and back) of a sheet on multiples.
We're rocking and rolling!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Workdays
This is a posting that I'm making for all of my morning class blogs:
Matthew... What the heck is a workday?
I am so glad you asked!
I call, at random, for workdays in each of my morning classes when I'm feeling like the kids are getting a bit antsy sitting in those desks day after day and/or they are tired of hearing me yap yap yap about math. A workday is exactly what it sounds like... a day of work, and nothing else. It usually begins with a brief meeting where I lay out the requirements and expectations for the day and the assignment they will be completing. Usually, they are allowed to leave my room and work anywhere in the middle school (including tutor rooms if available and sometimes outside, weather permitting). They are also allowed to work together, provided that the partnership/relationship is mutually beneficial and all parties complete and turn in their own assignments. Finally, most work not completed during a workday is to be completed at night for homework.
I hope this helps with clarity on what a workday is! Have a great evening!
Matthew... What the heck is a workday?
I am so glad you asked!
I call, at random, for workdays in each of my morning classes when I'm feeling like the kids are getting a bit antsy sitting in those desks day after day and/or they are tired of hearing me yap yap yap about math. A workday is exactly what it sounds like... a day of work, and nothing else. It usually begins with a brief meeting where I lay out the requirements and expectations for the day and the assignment they will be completing. Usually, they are allowed to leave my room and work anywhere in the middle school (including tutor rooms if available and sometimes outside, weather permitting). They are also allowed to work together, provided that the partnership/relationship is mutually beneficial and all parties complete and turn in their own assignments. Finally, most work not completed during a workday is to be completed at night for homework.
I hope this helps with clarity on what a workday is! Have a great evening!
Averages
After a quick two-digit multiplication problem, today we talked about averages!! Check the posts below for pictures of our notes.
After copying down our notes, we had a good ole fashioned "workday" -- which I'll explain in a post later in the afternoon. :)
What they didn't finish in class? To be completed at home!
Monday, September 8, 2008
All Together Now!
Beatle fans will recognize the title! (I am a HUGE Beatles fan. :))
Today the kids got back their responses from their pictures, we warmed-up with a division problem, and we worked on two multi-digit multiplication problems... TOGETHER. That's right, on the board, one by one, we pieced together these two difficult problems... and we succeeded! The hardest one I've posted below.
Their homework is a sheet of about 10 problems with just multiplying and dividing, that they should spend about 20 minutes on. Have a great evening!
Friday, September 5, 2008
All about the operations... :)
Full day today!
After our warm up I took up their Picture Assignments, we finalized our multiplication charts and we even had time to take notes on something that... well, I can't tell you yet because you're involved!
I can tell you that your children will be coming to you with an assignment for YOU to complete over the weekend. :) I want to thank you in advance for participating willingly!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
On Multiplying...
Today was all about the multiplication. We practiced using different multiplying strategies in our warm-up, reviewed our basic multiplication facts, and then started on our homework--creating our own multiplication charts.
Don't forget that their picture assignments are due tomorrow as well!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
M.A.D.
No! I'm not actually MAD!
M.A.D. stands for Multiplication and Division and that's where we started today. After our warm-up (see later post) we took some beginning notes on multiplying one-, two-, and three-digit numbers. As I suspected, the Math Brain Munching Bugs have been at it again and we're going to have to do some review! No worries, I'm an expert at this one. :)
No homework for tonight, but expect some tomorrow!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Next Ten Minutes (Matthew's Example...)
The Next Ten Minutes
“Will you share your life with me? For the next ten minutes?” It was like looking down a long tunnel, and not being able to breathe. Words couldn’t form in my mouth, my mind was blank. I was freezing and my teeth were chattering and I couldn’t figure out what Rick was talking about. The high temperature for the day at over 11,000 feet above sea level was around 0 celsius. And then those lyrics: The next ten minutes. This picture was taken at Jungfraujoch, in the Alps of Switzerland, right after Rick proposed to me… and I accepted. These are our hands, of course, and our rings. The white space surrounding them is actually the snow of the glacier we were standing on. This picture represents the best of my summer bouncing around Europe—the memory of a lifetime. It symbolizes love, companionship, trust, faith, fun, passion, commitment… and one heck of a journey!
I am excited to be beginning another year at CFS. It is my fourth year here after graduating with a degree in Middle Grades Education from NC State University the same number of years ago. One of the most important reasons I teach at CFS, other than believing in the philosophy and mission of the school, is the support and love and acceptance that I receive… which is another reason why I chose this picture to represent my summer. ☺
Dear Students...
Dear Students of My Morning Math Classes:
Hi! My name is Matthew and I will be teaching you First Year Math / Math 6 / Pre-Algebra / Jacobs Experience. The document that you hold in your hand is your very first assignment and I’m so excited to share it with you that I’m going to waste no time with small talk!
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. We’re going to test out this theory here at the beginning of class.
Your assignment is to choose one, yes ONE, picture from your summer that represents either WHO you are or HOW you spent your summer. The sky is the limit on this one; but pick carefully! First things first, choose a title for your picture. Then, I would like you to compose a caption that describes the picture and how it relates to you, your summer, AND how you are thinking and about your upcoming year in math. But keep your caption short… maybe a paragraph. Remember, the picture is the focus of this assignment.
You may choose to include an original picture that has been pasted onto a piece of paper or a picture that you print off from your computer. The picture does not necessarily have to be one you took—if you have any worries about this, please ask. One reminder is that I will hold on to these pictures for awhile… so pick a picture that you can live without for a little while. ☺
The best part?! I will respond individually to all of your captions within the next week (once I get your pictures and have a chance to sit down and look at them).
I’ve also given you my version of completing this assignment as an example for you to consider.
Enjoy the process of completing this assignment! And, as with your materials, this assignment is Due Friday, September 5.
Much love and light--
Hi! My name is Matthew and I will be teaching you First Year Math / Math 6 / Pre-Algebra / Jacobs Experience. The document that you hold in your hand is your very first assignment and I’m so excited to share it with you that I’m going to waste no time with small talk!
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. We’re going to test out this theory here at the beginning of class.
Your assignment is to choose one, yes ONE, picture from your summer that represents either WHO you are or HOW you spent your summer. The sky is the limit on this one; but pick carefully! First things first, choose a title for your picture. Then, I would like you to compose a caption that describes the picture and how it relates to you, your summer, AND how you are thinking and about your upcoming year in math. But keep your caption short… maybe a paragraph. Remember, the picture is the focus of this assignment.
You may choose to include an original picture that has been pasted onto a piece of paper or a picture that you print off from your computer. The picture does not necessarily have to be one you took—if you have any worries about this, please ask. One reminder is that I will hold on to these pictures for awhile… so pick a picture that you can live without for a little while. ☺
The best part?! I will respond individually to all of your captions within the next week (once I get your pictures and have a chance to sit down and look at them).
I’ve also given you my version of completing this assignment as an example for you to consider.
Enjoy the process of completing this assignment! And, as with your materials, this assignment is Due Friday, September 5.
Much love and light--
Getting Organized and the First Assignment
Today was all about making sure everything was in order with our folders, composition notebooks and assignment books. (All loose-leaf pieces of paper will live in the yellow folder, all notes taken from the board will live in the composition notebook).
Plus, the kids got their first assignment (see earlier post) that is DUE on FRIDAY.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Welcome to First Year Math!
Hello!
My name is Matthew and I am your child's First Year Math teacher. As promised, this is the follow up email. :)
We met as a class for the first time on Thursday and in that time your children received a sheet of paper describing what they will need for First Year Math and how to contact me (posted on the blog).
The Blog - http://firstyearmath.blogspot.com/
We have a class blog! What grew out of an experiment in keeping parents informed about class happenings last year has grown into a staple of my morning classes. A blog is kind of like an online journal that dates posts chronologically. I have grown to at most posting several times a day and at the least every other day. Once I realized that I could post pictures to the blog, my postings grew from simply words to pictures of notes from the chalk/white board... to becoming an online reservoir of my classes. There have even been videos of me teaching posted on the blog! Besides being a little nervous about watching myself teach ;), all of these mediums (text, picture, video) are meant to help keep you informed about what is going on in your child's math class and to serve as a resource for your child should they lose track of their notebooks or are absent from class.
You may be thinking, "Jeez, Matthew?! Do I have to check this blog every day??" Well, that depends. Can you manually check it everyday? Sure. Do you have to? No. It is totally up to you to choose to check in on what's happening in class. Is there a way to make it a bit easier to stay informed? Yup and I'm glad you asked! On the right hand side of the blog there is a box that says "Subscribe via email" and when you enter your email in there and follow the instructions, you can get an email (once a day if there has been a post) that contains all of the posts for that day. Sometimes the timestamp is a bit wonky, but most of the time the emails go through without a hitch.
I want to go ahead and invite you to First Year Night on Tuesday, September 16. On this night you will be able to put a face to all of your child's teachers and we will get to spend some time together. During your time with me, I'm planning on showing you the blog and some of the cool things it can do.
Emails
So, you may be wondering, am I going to continue to get long emails from you, Matthew? Only occasionally, I promise! Starting this week, notes like this will be posted on the blog and I will only email you when the information I'm sharing is time sensitive. I'll also be posting this email up on the blog as soon as I hit send. :)
Materials
On the sheet of paper your children came home with there was a list of materials they will need. You'll notice that there is only one: Pencils. They must have pencils. Writing in pencils for math is one of the hills that I will die on! Other than that? Your child is covered--they will be using a Composition Book to keep up with their notes and a yellow folder to hold everything else. More on that early in the week.
Whew! What an email!
That's more than enough for now. On Tuesday/Wednesday there will be a post on the blog about how we organize our folders and then we'll be off and running!
I hope this email finds you all well, enjoying your Labor Day weekend, and let me know if you have any questions! Love and light--matthew
My name is Matthew and I am your child's First Year Math teacher. As promised, this is the follow up email. :)
We met as a class for the first time on Thursday and in that time your children received a sheet of paper describing what they will need for First Year Math and how to contact me (posted on the blog).
The Blog - http://firstyearmath.blogspot.com/
We have a class blog! What grew out of an experiment in keeping parents informed about class happenings last year has grown into a staple of my morning classes. A blog is kind of like an online journal that dates posts chronologically. I have grown to at most posting several times a day and at the least every other day. Once I realized that I could post pictures to the blog, my postings grew from simply words to pictures of notes from the chalk/white board... to becoming an online reservoir of my classes. There have even been videos of me teaching posted on the blog! Besides being a little nervous about watching myself teach ;), all of these mediums (text, picture, video) are meant to help keep you informed about what is going on in your child's math class and to serve as a resource for your child should they lose track of their notebooks or are absent from class.
You may be thinking, "Jeez, Matthew?! Do I have to check this blog every day??" Well, that depends. Can you manually check it everyday? Sure. Do you have to? No. It is totally up to you to choose to check in on what's happening in class. Is there a way to make it a bit easier to stay informed? Yup and I'm glad you asked! On the right hand side of the blog there is a box that says "Subscribe via email" and when you enter your email in there and follow the instructions, you can get an email (once a day if there has been a post) that contains all of the posts for that day. Sometimes the timestamp is a bit wonky, but most of the time the emails go through without a hitch.
I want to go ahead and invite you to First Year Night on Tuesday, September 16. On this night you will be able to put a face to all of your child's teachers and we will get to spend some time together. During your time with me, I'm planning on showing you the blog and some of the cool things it can do.
Emails
So, you may be wondering, am I going to continue to get long emails from you, Matthew? Only occasionally, I promise! Starting this week, notes like this will be posted on the blog and I will only email you when the information I'm sharing is time sensitive. I'll also be posting this email up on the blog as soon as I hit send. :)
Materials
On the sheet of paper your children came home with there was a list of materials they will need. You'll notice that there is only one: Pencils. They must have pencils. Writing in pencils for math is one of the hills that I will die on! Other than that? Your child is covered--they will be using a Composition Book to keep up with their notes and a yellow folder to hold everything else. More on that early in the week.
Whew! What an email!
That's more than enough for now. On Tuesday/Wednesday there will be a post on the blog about how we organize our folders and then we'll be off and running!
I hope this email finds you all well, enjoying your Labor Day weekend, and let me know if you have any questions! Love and light--matthew
Friday, August 29, 2008
What you will need for First Year Math
This is what I gave your children today:
Bring these materials to class Tuesday and we’ll get started!
o Pencils
You may be thinking, wow! Where’s the rest of the stuff I need to bring? That’s it! We’ll be using Composition Notebooks and Pocket folders to keep up with things—and I’ve already got those for ya! ☺
How do I get in touch with Matthew?
There may be times throughout the year when you need to reach me when we’re not at school. Here are some ways to get me:
• Cell Phone – 919.414.1983. This is your best bet. If I don’t answer, leave a message and your name and number (if it’s not in the directory) and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
• Email – ross.matthew@mac.com (try this one first) or mross@cfsnc.org. I also am pretty good about checking and replying to email, but if it is urgent—call.
• Blog – http://firstyearmath.blogspot.com/ Every day I will post information about what we’re doing in class including homework and pictures from that days’ lesson or activity on our class blog
For your Parents: Email & The Blog
Parents: I have created email lists of all of your emails that are listed in the directory. Regularly throughout the year I will be emailing you updates on what we’ve been doing in class. Our primary means of everyday communication, however, will be through our class blog at http://firstyearmath.blogspot.com/ -- your homework tonight (parents!) is to check out the blog and Subscribe to receive Email Updates if you choose. I’ll also be emailing you about this so if this doesn’t make sense, no worries! I’ve got most of your email addresses, but if would like to receive updates at an email address not listed in the directory, shoot me an email ross.matthew@mac.com so that I can write it down and add it to my list!
Bring these materials to class Tuesday and we’ll get started!
o Pencils
You may be thinking, wow! Where’s the rest of the stuff I need to bring? That’s it! We’ll be using Composition Notebooks and Pocket folders to keep up with things—and I’ve already got those for ya! ☺
How do I get in touch with Matthew?
There may be times throughout the year when you need to reach me when we’re not at school. Here are some ways to get me:
• Cell Phone – 919.414.1983. This is your best bet. If I don’t answer, leave a message and your name and number (if it’s not in the directory) and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
• Email – ross.matthew@mac.com (try this one first) or mross@cfsnc.org. I also am pretty good about checking and replying to email, but if it is urgent—call.
• Blog – http://firstyearmath.blogspot.com/ Every day I will post information about what we’re doing in class including homework and pictures from that days’ lesson or activity on our class blog
For your Parents: Email & The Blog
Parents: I have created email lists of all of your emails that are listed in the directory. Regularly throughout the year I will be emailing you updates on what we’ve been doing in class. Our primary means of everyday communication, however, will be through our class blog at http://firstyearmath.blogspot.com/ -- your homework tonight (parents!) is to check out the blog and Subscribe to receive Email Updates if you choose. I’ll also be emailing you about this so if this doesn’t make sense, no worries! I’ve got most of your email addresses, but if would like to receive updates at an email address not listed in the directory, shoot me an email ross.matthew@mac.com so that I can write it down and add it to my list!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
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