Week of 9/28/09

This week marks the beginning of a new unit for everybody. Remember, intelligence is malleable. If you struggled with the last unit, it doesn't mean that you're destined to be bad at math. This is a new unit with new material and if you work hard and study starting now, you can be excellent at this new unit!

Although last Friday marked the end of the first grading period, there are still opportunities to bring your grade up for the second grading period. Everybody is eligible for the Unit 1 Test Retake/Correction this Wednesday, September 30. You have two options:

1) Test Correction - during lunch (half credit)
Come to room 504 during lunch to correct the problems you got wrong. On a sheet of binder paper, you must write the problem and show your work in order to receive half credit.

2) Retake Test - after school (full credit)
Come to room 504 directly after school to retake the test. You must show all work. This is only from 2pm - 3pm. I will take the higher of the test scores (your original or this retake).

The 6th graders had a book project that was due on September 9. Although most students turned theirs in, there are still quite a few who have not and it is adversely affecting their grade. Since the number of missing books is smaller, I will list those names here. The project instructions and rubric are available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/20291082/Book-Project (click on Download or Print in the upper left hand corner). An example is in the classroom. Please complete the project, turn it in, and as soon as I receive it, I will take your name off this list:

Missing Projects
Period 4	Period 5	Period 6
Lauren D. Elexis F. Matthew G. Colton J.	Sara A. John C. Megan C. Kenny D. Oliver M. Jacob P. Kevin S. Leyri V.	RJ G. Riley M. Nathaniel S.

The homework assignments are as follows:

6th Grade HW
Mon. (9/28): Pg. 78 # 36, 37; Pg. 79 #49-51; Pg. 84 #43-45; Pg. 85 #50
Tue. (9/29): Pg. 90 #22-29
Wed. (9/30): Pg. 90 #45-47, Pg 91 #50, 51, 54
Thu. (10/1): Quiz 5 Practice Problems
Fri. (10/2): No HW (Quiz today)

8th Grade HW
Mon. (9/28): Pg. 260 #2, 4, 20-23
Tue. (9/29): Pg. 266 #14-17, Pg. 267 #24, 25
Wed. (9/30): Pg. 277 #20-27
Thu. (10/1): Quiz 5 Practice Problems
Fri. (10/2): No HW (Quiz today)

Week of 9/21/09 - Unit 1 Test Results

On Friday, we each took Unit 1 Test. Our goal was for each student to demonstrate at least 80% mastery. Since there were 25 questions, that means you had to get at least 20 correct. Congratulations to all students who met our Big Goal and demonstrated mastery of Unit 1!

There were several students who had outstanding performance.

Grant Cooperman and Leonardo Robles Gonzalez answered 25 out of 25 questions correctly!

The following students answered 24 out of 25 questions correctly:
Cayla Antonio, Byron Campbell, Jalen Fleming, Rachel Kiep, Dara Masri, Noah Pierce, and Jose Ruelas.

In addition to the students mentioned already, the following students met our goal of 80% mastery:
Luis Aguirre-Toribio, Cammy Tran, Chris Umbenhower, Sophia Conn, Ashley Dennis, Brendan Nguyen, Ryan Niederer, Andrew Sy, Brianna Carmona, Lindsay Cutler, Nick Escobedo, Araceli Esquivel, Colton Jack, Hannah Larson, Dana Lloyd, Melissa Murphy, Victoria Ramirez, Jaclyn Sealy, Andrew Soper, Gabe Yee, Jenna Bess, Dante Cerrillo, Kathy Chavez Alvarez, Sophie Coover, Brooke Deeds, Taijhza Payne, Jacob Powers, Gaby Rodriguez, Cole Scheler, Kevin Soto, Kainoah Anzalone-Pinhei, Semone Cortez, Dominique Curtis, Brandon Estergard, Quentin Gambe, RJ Garcia, Kendall McGriff, Kelsey Mirrasoul, Emily Renteria, Alex Ruffo, and Kailee Vasquez.

Great work, everyone!!

Below are class results of the Unit 1 Test.

Period	Average (Raw)	Average %	Students Above 80%	Total Students
1	11.7	45%	3	34
3	13.6	54%	5	34
4	18.7	75%	15	27
5	17.5	67%	11	27
6	18.5	74%	16	31

Reminder: I will be in training at the District Office on Monday and Tuesday (topic: English Language Learners) and will not be at school. There will be a substitute teacher who will go over the notes for each day. If you have questions about the homework, please go to the Homework Center, which is in the Library Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 2pm-4pm. There will be a fantastic John Muir math teacher there at all times who can help (or at least check your answers).

The homework assignments are as follows:

6th Grade HW
Mon. (9/21): Pg. 72 # 22-25, 27, 28, 31-34
Tue. (9/22): Pg. 78 #21-24, 29, 37-41
Wed. (9/23): Pg. 78 #25-28, 30, 32, 36, 42-44
Thu. (9/24): Quiz 4 Practice Problems
Fri. (9/25): No HW (Quiz today)

8th Grade HW
Mon. (9/21): Pg. 117 #1-4, 7-10, 30
Tue. (9/22): Pg. 174 # 5-8
Wed. (9/23): Pg. 181 #20-23, 33, 35
Thu. (9/24): Quiz 4 Practice Problems
Fri. (9/25): No HW (Quiz today)

Week of 9/14/09

Big news for all of my students: our first unit test is this week! Can you believe that we have been in school studying hard for 4 weeks already? This Friday, you will all have an opportunity to show how much you have learned!

Now, if you are worried about preparing for the test, there are some excellent resources available.

Quizzes
You should have all of your quizzes back. These quizzes are great snapshots of the key objectives we have been studying. If you can answer every quiz question, you are right on track. Go back and look at the questions and see if you can remember how to do them!

Textbook Resource
Did you know that our textbook is available online? You can pick any page and see it on the website or download it! You can also watch video tutorials, lesson power points, and find extra practice problems and quizzes. Check it out at http://my.hrw.com. You will need a user name and password and those are as follows:
6th Grade User Name: 6math16
8th Grade User Name: algebra460
The password for both of these accounts is the name of our school (first name and last name) all lower case and one word.

Homework Center
If you need help with your homework or going over the quiz answers, please come to the homework center. It is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in the library from 2pm - 4pm. The math teachers take turns working there so that there is ALWAYS a math teacher there. I am there on Wednesdays from 3pm - 4pm. Remember, the homework center is a place for YOU to get help. YOU have to raise your hand and ask a question. YOU have to raise your hand and ask the teacher to check your answers. Don't just wait. Don't give up! There might be a lot of students needing help, but keep your hand up and someone will help you.

Here are the homework assignments for the week.

6th Grade HW
Mon. (9/14): Pg. 42 #4-6, Pg. 45 #4-6, Pg. 49 #4-6, Pg. 52 #1-3
Tue. (9/15): Pg. 42 #8-10, Pg. 45 #7-9, Pg. 49 #8-10, Pg. 53 #10-12
Wed. (9/16): Unit 1 Study Guide
Thu. (9/17): Unit 1 Study Guide
Fri. (9/18): No HW (Unit 1 Test today)

8th Grade HW
Mon. (9/14): Pg. 139 #22-29, 32, 33
Tue. (9/15): Pg. 145 #7-9, 13, 14; Pg. 151 #20-22, 51, 52
Wed. (9/16): Unit 1 Study Guide
Thu. (9/17): Unit 1 Study Guide
Fri. (9/18): No HW (Unit 1 Test today)

Week of 9/8/09

Last week was a tough week! The material for both 6th and 8th graders is increasing in difficulty. Even though the quiz scores were lower, you can still improve your grade by working out the problems you got wrong and taking the quiz re-take on Friday during class.

Quiz averages:
1st period overall average: 56%
3rd period overall average: 71%
4th period overall average: 60%
5h period overall average: 76%
6th period overall average: 75%

If you need help with the quiz or homework problems, be sure to come to the homework center in the Library. It is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 2pm - 4pm. There are two teachers working there during those times, one of which is a math teacher. I am there on Wednesdays from 3pm - 4pm. Remember: the homework center is a FREE (gratis) resource staffed by excellent John Muir teachers. You can come for 5 minutes or 2 hours and there is no need to sign up.

Please look at your quizzes and make sure you understand how to do the problems. Our first unit test is one week from Friday. It will be on Friday, September 18. Our Big Goal is for every student to demonstrate at least 80% content mastery on each unit test. Let's study hard and make it happen!

Also, Back to School Night is this Wednesday night. Parents, guardians, students, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents, nieces, and all friends and family are welcome. Come by to say hi and see the great student work on display.

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for: homework for the week.

6th Grade HW
Tue. (9/8): Pg. 26 #7, 8, 12-17, 21, 23
Wed. (9/9): Pg. 30 #6-15
Thu. (9/10): Quiz 3 Practice Problems Worksheet (optional: Quiz 2 Practice Problems)
Fri. (9/11): No HW (Quiz today 3 + Quiz 2 retake)

8th Grade HW
Tue. (9/8): Pg. 75 #2-5, #8-13
Wed. (9/9): Pg. 82 #14-17, 19, 27-30
Thu. (9/10): Quiz 3 Practice Problems Worksheet (optional: Quiz 2 Practice Problems)
Fri. (9/11): No HW (Quiz 3 today + Quiz 2 retake)