Today in class 10/11/2011

Algebra 2 -
Review quizzes
Chapter (Quadratic Functions) Review and Hints
Begin Test - Finish Thursday due to PSAT on Wednesday

Functions -
Review Tests
Synergy Session 2
Complete Worksheet Linear Vs. Non-Linear

Geometry -
Learn the Properties of Isosceles Triangles

Today in class 9-30-2011

Algebra 2 -

• Quiz on Solving Quadratic Equations by:
• Graphing
• Square Roots
• Assignment in Book on Complex Number System (page number in Edmodo)

Functions -

• Complete the Synergy Orientation
• Begin Manga High Challenges

Geometry -

• Complete 2-5 Proving Parallel Lines
• Work on Projects
• Complete make -up work
• Study for TEST

Today in class 9/20/11

Algebra 2 - PARABOLAS

1. Relearned how to graph in Standard Form. (review from yesterday)
2. Learned how to graph using Vertex Form.
3. Learned how to transform equation from Vertex Form back to Standard Form.

FUNCTIONS - GRAPH TRANSFORMATIONS

1. Reviewed assignment on how graphs move based on the equation.
2. Reviewed assignment on how equations are created based on the graphs.  (square graphs and absolute value)
3. Homework -  Study for a TEST.  p.138 - 154  Choose any problems that may be necessary to study.  Bring questions to class.

GEOMETRY - STAIN GLASS WINDOW PROJECTS (Day 4) - final day

1. Create written portion of blueprint
2. Create blueprint with compass tool
3. Begin final design on poster board

9/19/11

Algebra 2 - Notes on Quadratic Functions.  Will practice in class tomorrow.
Functions - Homework 1.14 (Graph Transitions).  Finish 9 & 10 in class tomorrow.
Geometry - 1 day extension of Stain Glass Window Project using Geometric Constructions.

Today we discussed grades with the students as well as absences and tardies.

Day 4

Today we hunkered down and started getting into the meat and potatoes of the subject matter.

Algebra 2:  Absolute Value Inequalities & Equations  -  Worksheet 1.7 assigned for classwork with hand-picked problems.

FADA:  Continued working on Problem Solving and discussing the thinking skills involved while solving a problem.  The classwork due tomorrow resulted in 5 problems from section 1.3.

Geometry:  Completed the Segment Addition Postulate, review pythagorean theorem, and learned the distance formula.  Classwork was 14 problems on SAP and 7 problems on distance.  Those not completed by the end of the 45 minutes had homework.

Students were reminded that they can meet with a math or science teacher at lunch time on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  This will begin next week.

Day 2

Today we started hunkering down and began to get into a routine.  Each class has its own sense of self.  First period seemed to be pretty traditional today.  I hope that we can change that and make it more interactive with the subject.  In Functions, everyone had a great opinion to the intense problem that we had to solve.  It was nice to see people working together in this class and 1st period.  In Geometry, I think everyone is excited to see where the subject will go, but there is still the basics that we must cover before we grab the bull by the horns.  I love teaching Geometry and I hope the students will get something out of my passion.

For homework:
algebra 2:  10 hand picked problems on a worksheet.  6 to solve, 4 to set up.
geometry:  18 problems on points, lines, and planes and understanding the notation.

Day 1 - Douglass!!

Today, in all three classes we discussed the class expectations for being successful in the course.  I was also able to hear some of the student's expectations for themselves, but I would like to hear more.  Hopefully by the end of the week, I will also hear what their expectations are for me.

Algebra 2 - We worked on Solving Equations in Manga High and will continue this lesson tomorrow since we did not get very far.  This was a review of the steps learned in Algebra 1, used in Geometry, and a key operative for their success in this class.

Functions - Students were introduced to Edmodo and we began working on the first activity answering questions on a google form that I created using the questions from Activity 1.1.  Students were to focus on collaborating to formulate answers and problem solving.

Geometry - Students learned how to navigate on the Synergy program.  If they had time, they began the lesson on Point, Lines, and Planes.

For Homework, all students were to sign up for Edmodo.

Connect to Facebook and Twitter

In order to keep everyone informed of what is going on this year, I am trying a few new things. I have put together both a facebook and twitter account for the class room. I will not be checking these things - they will be read only accounts, but it is my expectation to meet everyone on all forms of social media. If you want to contact me, you may call the school at 571-252-2060 or email me at jason.fournier@lcps.org. Parents that sign up with douglass.edmodo.com and join their child's class, will be involved even more deeply within the communication process. I hope this meets everyone's needs for it is my goal to communicate better with parents.

Facebook

Twitter

RSS FEEDS from EDMODO

Parents & Students, you can pick which feed you would like if this is how you get your news.

Geometry RSS

Functions and Data Analysis RSS

Algebra 2 RSS

If you are unsure about what an RSS feed is click here and you will be surprised you haven't started using them years ago.

Having fun with Viewbix

Trying to see if I was able to create an interactive video before school started.



Now......................what happens on the FB and TW connections I have to this blog?????

Trying something new

Going to use this as my classroom website for updates and activities.  The goal is to keep everyone in the now of what is going on.

JIBJAB FRANKENSTEIN

 Well, I just had to do it.  Put my wife and I into a Jib Jab video.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Video Game Statistics

Source: Online Education

A Day on the Internet

Created by Online Education

Tsunami

So this week I took the students through the events of Sri Lanka in 2004. We watched a few clips of the horror and they asked tons of questions. My students were all around the age 0f 9 or 10 at this time, but they remembered it. We discussed the devastation and what a tsunami was and how they are created.

I then used Google Earth to show them where the earthquake had taken place. Using a "ruler" tool, I was able to connect a line from the coastline of Sri Lanka to the epicenter and measure the distance. I made up another spot of where the wave was after "X" amount of seconds and some times of when this was taking place. I explained to the kids that they are the Homeland Security of the nation of Sri Lanka, and they have to figure out how long the had before the wave hits the coastline. They must evacuate the coastline by a certain time after figuring out the speed of the wave.

After giving them some time, I went ahead and showed them how I would've solved it. A lot of them were very close in solving the problem. They used the tools given to them by previous teachers to solve the problem. I then proceeded to give them some new tools in which we use in algebra formulas. Slope and the Point-Slope Formula in function form was my goal for them that day.

Granted, this kept the students attention and they were all 100% engaged in figuring it out. The entire time that I was giving the lesson, I was thinking, how can I have them do all of this? I think upon reflection, I would give them some coordinates to find on the earth and find the distances on their own. I would show them the tools to use on google earth and they would have to recreate that much. I would provide an XY table for those that I saw subtracting the distance for each second that went by. I also think that I would send them a video of how to create functions from real life problems to see if my brightest students were able to come up with something.

The finale of the day was to have them create their own real life problem given some numbers. I wanted to see if they were able to be creative even though the numbers were just given to them. I did this because we were getting pressed for time. I know in the future that I want them to look up a natural disaster and come up with their own scenario using real data.

A Rumor

Last night I went through our course watching Priscilla link learning to living and living to learning.  We did it through a mystery that she had set up in which we were to sift through data that the class had derived.  The mystery ended up having us play a bit of detective and solve a problem in which Priscilla made up.  As quick and busy as I feel right now, both in class and in my other duties of life, I'm never sure how much is going to stay in me.  The problem is, I want it all.

Knowing that we had class the previous night I was sitting at my desk getting ready to go through a pretty standard day.  Not because I wanted to, but just out of exhaustion.  I got out my favorite worksheets to work with.  They're my favorite because they have a riddle on them.  If you solve the problems, you can decipher the riddle.  So, I was, for whatever reason, reading the answer to the riddle of the worksheet that I was going to give them.  It said, "Did You Hear About...." with a bunch of blank lines on it.  Answers streamed down the sides with words and problems filled the middle of the page.  The answer was "the boy and the girl who went into the revolving door and started going together".  Instantly, I thought of rumors that are spread in our school.  Once that popped in my head, all hell broke loose.

I started thinking about what we've learned.  Come up with an end product for the students to hand in.  Have an entrance and exit strategy on an authentic question.  How can I incorporate software skills?  How can I make a real world problem from this????!!!!!  I quickly wrote a scenario of rumors being spread in the school.  I figured out that I would have the students recreate the same type of problem as I when we get finished.  That way I can assess them.  I figured I can introduce the lesson as a real problem in the school and used a software program that allowed me to have our Security Specialist read my scenario.  Listen to our security specialist.

I then went ahead and explained that our principal had confiscated the new coded words and also found a key on the ladies bathroom floor.  I handed them slips of papers with the same problems from the worksheet, except they were cut up.  I put the kids in groups to solve a few and put someone in charge to put them in order as groups completed them.  The kids totally bought into it!!!  They really wanted to find out what the rumor was.  They worked as hard as I've ever seen them.  After they solved it, I walked them through how it was created.  Discussed with them the technologies used (word processor, cell phone for podcast & pics, podcasting host site) and how I used them.  Then I let them loose in groups.  Again, they worked happily until the bell and some even came in during lunch to finish their projects.  These are my at risk kids.  Now that I've tasted the authentic problem thing and so have the kids, we both are going to crave more.

John Lennon

I couldn't help but put this on my blog.  I love this song and it I love the creativity of people.

Enough Said.

I went ahead and made a podcast for my class using the site blabberize.  The best part about it, besides it being hilarious, I was able to do it all from the cell phone.  A lot of great ideas will be spawned from this.  Can't wait to see what the kids can do with it.

Busy, busy, busy.

This week was so much fun, but so much to handle.   We (my students and I) didn't stop getting used to the new technologies that we are going to use in class.   The soccer teams that I am coaching now had a game under their belt and we as coaches had a bit more direction to educating them.   My master's classes are now in full swing and the work, so far, is manageable.   My wife is in full support of all that I am doing and giving me great ideas on how to stay energized.   For example, this week we had Parent-Teacher night on top of all of the "BUSY", and she suggested I stay down in the local area at my parents, since we live about an hour away.  Great suggestion and I even had some of the kids ask me how I had so much energy.  I think I was running on fumes, but I'll never know.  I was pretty happy how I managed the week and hopefully can continue to reproduce this over and over again.
In class we were working with collecting and analyzing data.   This is the greatest approach to the subject that I have taken since I started teaching it.  The only problem is that it takes so long to work with the data, but I felt that the students were way more engaged in their projects.  I'm hoping we can continue to use chunks of data to recreate ways to analyze it.  I'm at a place where I feel that I want the students to understand mathematics and the beauty of it rather than understand the little processes of each integral part of a particular area of the subject.  The way I look at it is like a look at life, if we want an easier way to do something, we will either create it or ask if there is an easier way to get the job done.  This is a reason we create internally so we will tend not to forget the easier ways out of a sort of survival skill.   I'm hoping by providing the students with some authentic problems during the quarter, they are going to ask these questions. In turn, they have become lifelong learners of the subject, rather than students who regurgitate?? information.  We'll leave the internet for that.
This week we worked on Bell Curves and Box and Whiskers Plots. My goal was for the students to compare and contrast the same set of data through two lenses.  Although most understood the 'how to' of the process, many didn't understand how to view which one means more to that set of data.  Because this line of thought is open to interpretation and opinion, I think they were in shock that math could allow so much deep thinking.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun this week.  We created a reflection blog in class using this site, a Glog in Glogster, we organized posts and information in Edmodo & the students were able to start to understand that my expectations are going to be a lot different than any other math teacher they've ever had.  I hope they like it and stay engaged.

Foster Dog???

I've never been one to want to have too many pets. Yet, I've always felt that if you have one species running around the house, you need a second. I think that animals can communicate with each other on a different level and that they need each other. No matter how much love you give them, I think and feel that they are better off with one of their own kind.

In the house right now, we have 3 dogs and 2 cats. We got the third dog because the eldest, Lady, is such a good dog, I knew she would be a good trainer. And she has not let me down. The pup, Eko, who is now a year old, is so well behaved. She lacks a little bit of confidence, but hey, we are all flawed. I think she's a little upset about her size compared to the others, but I don't know.

Last night, we ventured into a world that I knew I wanted to try out at some point in my life. We got our first foster dog. She is a white pitbull pup, probably around 6 months old. Full of life, we fear she may have a hard time with her sight and hearing. However, we also have a theory that she is so desensitized from being with a pack of 94 and no one ever paying a bit of attention to her except for feeding her, that she had no reasons to use her senses.

She struggles going up and down stairs and using her nose, but she is so awesome!!! She gets along with the cats, actually, she doesn't even know what they are. She sleeps with her back up against the couch and loves having room to run. She was exhausted after about 20 minutes of play yesterday. Our (my wife and I) goals are for her to be able to go to a good home, but not before she we work on some of these things. She has really never had a reason to know her name or to smell or to see more than a foot in front of her. She has never run free and had fresh grass to smell. Never stuck her head out of a car window or probably never seen a bird. Last night was the first night of the rest of her life.