Week 11

Math Center
Monday's and Wednesday's Math Center topic is Multiplying Decimals.  It will be located as usual in Room 802 from 3pm - 4pm.

Math Contest
John Muir Middle School will be participating in the American Mathematics Contest (AMC 8).  It will be held on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 from 3pm - 4pm in the Cafeteria.  There are only 50 spots for the entire school, so it will be first come first served (students must return a signed permission slip to Mrs. Tamura).  The AMC 8 is a 20 question, multiple choice test.  There is no penalty for guessing and is open to all middle school students (no question will require Algebra nor Geometry).

6th Accelerated (https://sjusd.app.box.com/s/4da00xgz3wfsxk92o874)
This week, we will be preparing for the second unit test.  Students will receive a study guide and a practice test.  The second unit test will be administered on Thursday, October 30.

7th Grade (https://sjusd.app.box.com/s/fvpzcxpzao0bdhrp86pg)
This week, we will further our understanding of solving equations and inequalities by looking at real world situations and writing equations and inequalities that represent the situation.  We will take our second unit test on Thursday, November 6.

Week 10

Math Survey

Math Department Goal
This year, one of the our department's overarching goals is to conform student mindsets about math.  As teachers, we believe that "intelligence" is malleable and that success in math is not fixed (so we are not born or naturally good at math).  The mindset that we are trying to convince students to discard is that they are either "good at math" or "bad at math" and instead embrace the idea that "I am good at match because I work hard" and "I can get better at math."  These ideas are important for all students because for those who believe that they are good at math because they born that way, the day will come (and it may be in Algebra 1, or Trigonometry, or Calculus) when math becomes difficult and if students believe that they used to be good at math because they were born that way without hard work, then when they face a challenge, they will give up.  For students who see themselves right now as "bad at math because they are born this way," there is no hope that things can get better.  We want to equip all of our students with the attitudes that will set them up for success.

This idea is the whole reason for our simplified in grading categories (Assessments + Effort) and why we allow students to retake assessments.  The message we are broadcasting is that maybe you didn't understand a concept at the time of the original quiz, but it's never too late to master it because WE BELIEVE YOU CAN.  We also want to reward students for making an effort, so all classwork/homework/warm ups etc. are graded only by completion.

You as parents can help us change the minds and attitudes of our students.  Below are some helpful things that you can use to encourage your child:

• "Great job!  I can tell your studying paid off!"
• "Amateurs practice until they get it right.  Professionals practice until they never get it wrong.  By practicing, you are becoming a professional student!"
• "It looks like you did well on Topic X, but not on Topic Y.  Why don't you talk to Mrs. Tamura about getting better at Topic Y?  I know that you can do it."
• "I wasn't always good at Skill A.  But I got here because I work hard and spent many hours honing that skill."

Please avoid remarks like the following:

• "I was never good at math," or "I don't like math, either."
• "Math is not your strong suit."

We'll be monitoring how students feel about math 3 times during the school year (this week, in January, and in May) to see how they perceive themselves and compare that with their grades/assessment scores.

Math Center
This week's Math Center topic on Monday and Wednesday is simplifying fractions.  There will be a special Math Center on Thursday on the 8th Grade topic of Rate of Change (a.k.a. slope).  Math Center is in room 802 from 3pm-4pm and all students are welcome to attend.

6th Accelerated (https://sjusd.app.box.com/s/4da00xgz3wfsxk92o874)
This week, we will continue our study comparing Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple while spiraling review of fraction division with both pictures and the algorithm.  We will also begin our study of dividing decimals (specifically why moving the decimal allows us to still get the same answer).

7th Grade (https://sjusd.box.com/s/fvpzcxpzao0bdhrp86pg)
This week, we will be using manipulatives to solve equations and inequalities.

Week 9

Math Center - This week the Math Center will be focusing on the topic of subtracting integers.  All students are welcome.  Because of the large response, we are holding two workshops on subtracting integers this week: Monday and Wednesday after school.  You can choose which day is more convenient.  Unless otherwise posted, both workshops will be held in Room 802 from 3pm - 4pm.  My students will receive 5 points of extra credit if they attend.

6th Accelerated (https://sjusd.box.com/s/4da00xgz3wfsxk92o874)
This week, we will be investigating how the pictures for dividing fractions explain why the algorithm for dividing fractions work.  Students will be expected to be able to draw pictures to divide fractions, use the algorithm to divide fractions, and explain how the two are related.  We will also begin to see the mechanics and purposes of the Least Common Multiple and Greatest Common Factor.

7th Grade (https://sjusd.app.box.com/files/0/f/2360577781)
This week, we will continue our study of equivalent expressions (combining like terms and distributive property expressions that include negative constants/coefficients).  Additionally, we will look at taking real world situations and using equations to model and solve them.  There will be a quiz on Friday and their Equivalent Expressions project (which they may do in partners or groups of up to 4) will also be due on Friday.

Week 8

6th Accelerated (https://sjusd.box.com/s/4da00xgz3wfsxk92o874)

Project Presentations: Great job on the the project presentations last week.  I was able to video tape some of the presentations and they are posted below.  In some videos you can't hear the presenters because they spoke softly and didn't have a video microphone.  The password for each video is johnmuir.  I'm limited on the weekly upload bandwidth, so the final two videos will be available on Friday 10/10.

Joshua, James, Oswaldo
Erisela, Unaza, Olivia, Claire
Landon, Alondra, Julia
KC, Jonathan, Nathan, Ben P.
Allison, Jasleen
Maya, Valeria (no video available)
Julio, Alvaro (no video available)
Chris, Christian, Minhtri, Cortez (no video available)
Aria, Ryan, Tanner, Riley (no video available)
Raeven, Justin, Jasper
Mahalet, Lauren, Steven, Adrian
Isa
Noel, Angel, Ethan
Danielle, Kaelynn
Zach, Damen, Nathan, Connor
Sasha, Odette, Mekiah
Tyler, Ben T, Sean, Nolan (coming on Friday 10/10)
Kelani, Ella, Zoe, Alyssa (coming on Friday 10/10)

Unit 1 Test Results: The results are in the gradebook.  Students were able to see their tests along with examples of Level 5 responses for each question.  These tests are intellectual property of the school district and will be used for future iterations of unit tests.  Therefore, they do not leave the classroom.  Students and parents may see the tests in the classroom either before school (7:30am - 8:00am), during lunch (12:08pm - 12:38pm) or after school (2:42pm - 3:30pm Mondays or by appointment on Thursdays and Fridays).  Since I write a Version A and Version B for each quiz, students who earn less than 80% on a quiz may re-take that quiz and replace it with a higher score.  However, there is no second version of the Unit 1 Test at this time, so there is not an opportunity to re-take the test for a higher grade.

This week, we begin our study of Pictorial Division.  Students will be using mathematics to model real world situations and use pictures to represent division of whole numbers, mixed numbers, and fractions.  These pictures will explain why the algorithm of multiply by the reciprocal works.  Indeed, students will need to multiply the reciprocal as well as draw diagrams to model division.

7th Grade (https://sjusd.app.box.com/files/0/f/2360577781)

Unit 1 Test Results:  Since this is the first district assessment of the year, 7th grade teachers from all SJUSD middle schools will be meeting at the District Office in October 14 to grade the tests together and calibrate, so that all assessments no matter which site will be graded in the same way.  Students should expect to see the results on Infinite Campus and in class no later than Friday, October 17.

We are beginning our next unit of Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities.  Students should have some familiarity with the vocabulary (variables, constants, and coefficients) from 6th grade, but the problems and situations are more complex.  We will begin this week by writing expressions and follow it with combining like terms and the distributive property of negative terms.