Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Reminder about Class Docs!
Remember that you can now watch play-by-play with what happened during your child's math class when I use the tablet @ http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs!
Multiplying integers?!
Why in the world did Matthew skip over subtracting integers?
Well, we're trying something a bit new this year. Every year I teach integers I do the same order... +, -, *, and /. So this year I'm trying to mix it up a bit. We've done Adding (still practicing it though!) and today we walked through the rules for Multiplying. The pictures you see below are of the Cheerleading Routine that Rachel (et al) helped to create to help us remember the rules for multiplying integers. We got so wrapped up in our routine that we only got to do a few examples before it was time to go! Alas, no homework.
And an apology for such a late post. The latter part of my day was spent in my role as fourth year advisor on a mini-retreat with the fourth years. AND, Math 6 will not meet tomorrow due to Adolescent Issues Forum. Until Thursday!
Well, we're trying something a bit new this year. Every year I teach integers I do the same order... +, -, *, and /. So this year I'm trying to mix it up a bit. We've done Adding (still practicing it though!) and today we walked through the rules for Multiplying. The pictures you see below are of the Cheerleading Routine that Rachel (et al) helped to create to help us remember the rules for multiplying integers. We got so wrapped up in our routine that we only got to do a few examples before it was time to go! Alas, no homework.
And an apology for such a late post. The latter part of my day was spent in my role as fourth year advisor on a mini-retreat with the fourth years. AND, Math 6 will not meet tomorrow due to Adolescent Issues Forum. Until Thursday!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Practicing Adding Integers
Today we mainly worked to nail down the rules of adding integers. We worked on a sheet, #110 Sans Matthew, that has two sides... both should be completed by tomorrow morning, first period. Most were done with the first side (Adding Integers #4) in class and will need to work on the back.
For a copy of what we did today, see http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs.
For a copy of what we did today, see http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs.
Friday, January 23, 2009
More on integers... Rules!
Today was a day!
We first completed a "Mental Math" warm up - math that can ONLY be done in your head. :)
Then I collected the test corrections.
On to our study of integers. Today we focused mainly on adding integers, and we talked about the rules for adding integers. See the wikispace @ http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs under Math 6 (The Sweet Taste of Integers!) for links to our notes today.
No homework tonight/over the weekend, though! :/ Too bad! :)
We first completed a "Mental Math" warm up - math that can ONLY be done in your head. :)
Then I collected the test corrections.
On to our study of integers. Today we focused mainly on adding integers, and we talked about the rules for adding integers. See the wikispace @ http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs under Math 6 (The Sweet Taste of Integers!) for links to our notes today.
No homework tonight/over the weekend, though! :/ Too bad! :)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Integers!!!
We skipped over our warm up today to share our tests! The kids got their Decimals test back today and I've asked them to complete their corrections tonight for homework.
And then... we moved onto our new-new-new unit: INTEGERS! :) You can see a few pictures of our work from the board below.
The kids have really seemed to take to integers. We focused today on defining the term integers and naming the "aka's" -- signed numbers and positive/negative numbers. We even were able to add and subtract some simple expressions. NO homework, but be ready for a spot over the weekend... maybe...
And then... we moved onto our new-new-new unit: INTEGERS! :) You can see a few pictures of our work from the board below.
The kids have really seemed to take to integers. We focused today on defining the term integers and naming the "aka's" -- signed numbers and positive/negative numbers. We even were able to add and subtract some simple expressions. NO homework, but be ready for a spot over the weekend... maybe...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
No Post!
No post today... as we didn't see each other because of the shortened Delay schedule. Until tomorrow!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Taking our test!
Today we took our Decimals test! Most everyone finished quite early... and even after double checking their answers, they had some free time at the end of the period.
Notebooks also got checked, and overall, while some could use some TLC... most are in good shape!
Have a great weekend!
Notebooks also got checked, and overall, while some could use some TLC... most are in good shape!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Dusting out the notebooks!
Today we focused on some review (see the pictures above/below) and mainly worked on cleaning out our notebooks.
Tomorrow's the notebook check and the Decimals test! They're going to do fine! :)
Tomorrow's the notebook check and the Decimals test! They're going to do fine! :)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Getting Ready for the Decimals Test
Hello, all!
It feels like its been awhile since I last sat down to write about Math 6. Well, we've reached that time again. Test time.
It's all about the decimals this time. The test is THIS FRIDAY. Here's a list of what the kids should be able to do on this test:
• Identify the two parts of a decimal
• Identify the place value of a decimal up to the ten-thousandths place
• Read and/or write any decimal correctly
• Compare two decimals to see which one is bigger/smaller
• Put a list of decimals in order from least to greatest, or greatest to least
• Round decimals
• Add decimals
• Subtract decimals
• Multiply & Divide decimals
Today we took a "Mock Decimals Test" -- just to get a feel for what the test will look like. You too can see what this looks like by going to http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs
Yesterday we worked primarily on dividing decimals, and you should have seen four problems come home for homework last night. Those answers are posted below (in a picture of the board).
Tomorrow we will NOT see each other--it's a funky block week... and we'll regather on Thursday for a final review.
On a side note, I began today by talking about attitude and how we see ourselves as students/learners of math. In my life outside of school, as well as inside, I've really started to realized that how I approach a day/conversation/topic/subject/person or what I think about a day/conversation/topic/etc. GREATLY influences just how well whatever it is will turn out. For example, "Gosh, I'm really worried about having a conversation with X and I'm pretty sure I'm just not going to be able to find the right words to express myself." Sure enough, lo and behold, there's the conversation... and it happened the way I thought it would, given the context that I have created.
This really hit home for me (again!) in my morning math classes when I found myself last week spending half of a period bucking the students up about themselves and their mathematical abilities. If, while we're learning something new or getting ready to take a test, you are saying to yourself, "I'm really bad at this... I don't get it... I'll never get it... This is horrible... I don't want to be here..." -- guess what you are creating for yourself??
I think of (and wrote on the board for the kids today) the Einstein quote:
Whether you think you can or you can't, either way you're right.
I'm hoping for Friday that your children will think they can!! (We tried a little today to choose how we were thinking and talking about the Mock Test... with a little more practice, who knows!)
It feels like its been awhile since I last sat down to write about Math 6. Well, we've reached that time again. Test time.
It's all about the decimals this time. The test is THIS FRIDAY. Here's a list of what the kids should be able to do on this test:
• Identify the two parts of a decimal
• Identify the place value of a decimal up to the ten-thousandths place
• Read and/or write any decimal correctly
• Compare two decimals to see which one is bigger/smaller
• Put a list of decimals in order from least to greatest, or greatest to least
• Round decimals
• Add decimals
• Subtract decimals
• Multiply & Divide decimals
Today we took a "Mock Decimals Test" -- just to get a feel for what the test will look like. You too can see what this looks like by going to http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs
Yesterday we worked primarily on dividing decimals, and you should have seen four problems come home for homework last night. Those answers are posted below (in a picture of the board).
Tomorrow we will NOT see each other--it's a funky block week... and we'll regather on Thursday for a final review.
On a side note, I began today by talking about attitude and how we see ourselves as students/learners of math. In my life outside of school, as well as inside, I've really started to realized that how I approach a day/conversation/topic/subject/person or what I think about a day/conversation/topic/etc. GREATLY influences just how well whatever it is will turn out. For example, "Gosh, I'm really worried about having a conversation with X and I'm pretty sure I'm just not going to be able to find the right words to express myself." Sure enough, lo and behold, there's the conversation... and it happened the way I thought it would, given the context that I have created.
This really hit home for me (again!) in my morning math classes when I found myself last week spending half of a period bucking the students up about themselves and their mathematical abilities. If, while we're learning something new or getting ready to take a test, you are saying to yourself, "I'm really bad at this... I don't get it... I'll never get it... This is horrible... I don't want to be here..." -- guess what you are creating for yourself??
I think of (and wrote on the board for the kids today) the Einstein quote:
Whether you think you can or you can't, either way you're right.
I'm hoping for Friday that your children will think they can!! (We tried a little today to choose how we were thinking and talking about the Mock Test... with a little more practice, who knows!)
Mock Decimals Test
More text soon, but the Mock Decimal Test has been posted as a PDF here:
http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs
http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs
Friday, January 9, 2009
Multiplying & Dividing Decimals
Today was a continuation of yesterday, just practicing problems getting ready for our Decimals Test. We checked the work from yesterday (if the kids needed to) and then I gave the kids a new set of problems just on Multiplying & Dividing. :) They will need to complete the ODD of Multiplying and EVEN of Dividing. And yes, they should finish over the weekend. Look for answers posted on the blog over the weekend.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A little too late!
Well, this post is a bit too late to be of any use tonight!
Anyways, today during class the kids got a chance to really dust the cobwebs off of their brains with decimals. They had to complete a range of problems... by themselves. Many got quite far and checked their work with me and so will not have had any homework this evening. Others got a good bit done, haven't checked in with me, and I asked them to complete it at home for homework.
Tomorrow they will get specific work on multiplying and dividing decimals.
Late posts
Meetings took up most of my afternoon, so blog posts will come this
evening.
evening.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew Ross
ross.matthew@mac.com
mross@cfsnc.org
919/414-1983
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Back to the grind!
Today we were back to the grindstone with decimals. We talked about where we were when we left each other right before break... reviewing for our decimals test! You'll see pictures below of notes we took today including a list of what they should know and examples of multiplying and dividing decimals.
No homework, but expect review work to come across your radar in the coming days. Mid-next week you should be expecting the test and a notebook check.
It's so good to be back with your children in the classroom! :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Happy 2009!!
Welcome back!
Today we solely greeted each other and shared about our time away during first period. Lots of laughs and stories were exchanged... it's good to be back. :)
On the horizon? Decimals Test! (not tomorrow, but soon!)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The Last Post of 2008!
Today, as I suspected, it was incredibly hard to stay focused. The
last day of math class for 2008. We played our stand up/sit down
game... with our multiplication facts! (And we need some more
practice!!!)
last day of math class for 2008. We played our stand up/sit down
game... with our multiplication facts! (And we need some more
practice!!!)
Yesterday we processed our days with the computers and Excel and the
kids practiced some multiplying and dividing decimal problems.
As a heads up, we'll come back from break, pick up where we left off
with decimals and soon thereafter it will be test time. If the spirit
so moves you, you can totally practice some decimal work over the
break! Check out: http://www.cfsnc.org/units/MS/math/summer/
See you in 2009!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wrapping up our Excel work
I just can't tell you how cool it has been to watch your children lay with and in Excel... They've definitely got some of the basics down, which of course is just scratching the surface of what Excel can really do!
Today we talked about computing percent and finding the grand total. And we printed out all of their work. Who knows... maybe we'll find ourselves back in touch with these computers soon... :) NO homework!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Excel Excitement!
Today we rocked and rolled some more with Excel up in the Mac Lab (as promised). We reviewed using the SUM formula, learned more about the AVERAGE formula and the kids began creating a spreadsheet that we're going to use tomorrow to compute tax and tip. Onward! (No homework.)
Friday, December 12, 2008
EXCEL!!!
Today we used the Mobile Mac Lab... for the first time! Yippee!
After washing our hands, handed out the computers, logged on, and hit up Excel. Today was mainly an introductory tutorial to Excel... learning how to get around, what a cell is, and basic formulas. For data, we created a table of our ages and found the sum of our ages and the average age of the class (throwing my age in there threw things off a bit ;). We had so much fun, we're going to keep at it next week!
No homework!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Making computers do some work!
After our warm up (which took some time :)) we played around with using Excel to help us compute some of our sales tax and discounts. We're going to do more of this tomorrow in class with the Mac Lab. The kids do have some homework, though--6 decimal division problems--and the answers are already posted below. :)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Dividing Decimals...
Today after our warm up and checking homework, we took some quick notes on dividing decimals (see pics below). The kids DO have homework--three problems that were written up on the board and are posted below. :) Answers to those problems have also been posted... but I want to see their work!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Almost forgot!
I almost forgot!
Today was our first day using a seating chart. I told/asked the kids about this yesterday and told them that I had been considering it for sometime now and that I was committed to sitting down and completing one. And I have to tell you... in the first 3 minutes of class I noticed a difference. Whoohoo! This is a pseudo-action research project for me... so things make continue to shift around, but as of right now, things seem pretty settled and the seats seem to be working.
Sales Tax and Tipping
One of the easiest (and most applicable) conversations to have when learning more about multiplying decimals is about sales tax and tipping. Today, we (for real) did just that. (I say for real because we actually took notes on it today... not just mentioned it in the abstract.) You'll see pictures of the notes below.
Using the standard 7% sales tax, and a conversation about "socially acceptable" tipping, your children should now be armed to compute an entire dinner check in a snap! (With or without a calculator!)
In addition to the notes, your children have homework -- eight problems on solely multiplying decimals. I've posted the answers here below... they can get quite tricky and I want them to have something to check their work with!
1. 106.26
2. 0.3095
3. 596.44
4. 0.08536
5. 3.4595
6. 0.5364
7. 0.3984
8. 118.72
Monday, December 8, 2008
Oh where, oh where has Matthew been?
You may (or may not!) have been wondering about my whereabouts considering my lack of posting on the blog. :)
Last week was an incredibly full week--just beside myself busy. You all know how that feels!
And to add to the mayhem, I was away at the North Carolina Educational Technology Conference in Greensboro on Wednesday and Thursday. I cannot express to you what an amazing conference this is... you'll have to check out their website and read some of the session descriptions. This trimester I am actually considered as part of the "admin" staff in the middle school--and my focus is technology. I am blessed with the gift of time in the afternoons to learn about and offer workshops for other middle school staff members on technology. This conference was a way for me to keep my thumb on the pulse of what's happening. The newest buzz in the educational technology world? GoogleDocs. :) You should check it out if you've got some time.
Anyways, last week your children worked heavily on place value of decimals, adding & subtracting decimals, and multiplying decimals. The latter they actually worked on with Lisa Ray, parent of a CFS students, while I was at the conference. Lisa helped introduce the kids to sales tax and tipping which has launched us into a conversation about percentages and world currencies. Exciting stuff!
This week will see a move to dividing decimals... and onto our test next week before break on all of the decimal stuff we've done.
Whew! Enjoy and have a lovely evening!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Can You Make Change?
Today we talked about money! Well, making change in particular. We only began our discussion today... we'll continue it on Monday when we return.
Have a great break!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Adding/Subtracting Decimals
Today we just spent some time practicing adding and subtracting decimals. They needed to complete Adding - EVEN and Subtracting - ODD. Whatever they didn't finish in class, I'd like them to complete for homework.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Can you say those decimals?
Man, did we have fun today!
We started with a warm up on comparing and ordering decimals.
And then we checked our homework...
And then we played a game!
Today focused primarily on SAYING all of those numbers correctly, without hesitation.
For example, to avoid any confusion, to say the following it goes like this:
42.847 = forty-two AND eight hundred forty-seven thousandths
Note that the AND is what you would use to denote the decimal, not "point" -- I was corrected a few years ago and now I make sure to teach the AND to my kids!
I'll have you know that they did magnificently! Have a great weekend!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Decimals!
First I must apologize for not posting yesterday. (And not just not on-time... not at all!) So this post will cover yesterday and today.
Yesterday and today have all been about review... and man have we taken some notes! You'll see pictures of all of them below.
Tonight they will have a sheet for homework called #80 First Decimal HW -- on place value and comparing decimals. We'll check that tomorrow, as well as wrap up all of our more "review" skills. :)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Getting back on the same page...
Today we just needed to all get back on the same page. I took up their Decimal work from yesterday (yes! we're on to decimals!), and we went over the transition from Trimester 1 to Trimester 2... and a new, NEON green Checklist!
Plus, and probably the most exciting, the kids got their Fractions test back today and their homework was to make corrections to the questions that they missed on a separate sheet of paper. Close to half of the kids made their corrections and won't have any homework tonight.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Test Day!
Today we took our test on Fractions! The kids will get this feedback on Monday--and you will see it on their first trimester evaluation. Enjoy the weekend!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Borrowing, borrowing!
Today was just a practice day... borrowing from one fraction and then another. :)
Homework was just to finish the SIDE of the sheet they were working on.
Test Tomorrow!!
Tomorrow we will have our Fractions test!
Today? We checked our reviews.
If you've been wondering about using some practice problems, check out our online (summer) review packet at http://www.cfsnc.org/units/MS/math/summer/m6.html -- it's a great place to start.
Or you can make your own at: http://www.aplusmath.com/Worksheets/Fractions.html or http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/fraction/
Monday, November 10, 2008
Fractions Skills Check-in
Hey all--
Late post on the Fraction Skills Check-in sheet. I've just posted it on my wiki: http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs
Now, it's not as good as the real thing (the REAL thing has examples on it! :)) -- but it's better than nothing and should help you know what's coming on this next test (Wednesday).
Gettin' Ready for the Test!
Today, after another confusing warm up, the kids were asked to complete two tasks:
(1) Continue working on their review WHILE updated their Fraction skills check-in sheet
and
(2) Cleaning up/organizing their notebooks.
They could choose to work on either one, knowing that BOTH must be completed when they walk in the door tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will review... Wednesday is the test and notebook check! I'll post a list of skills this evening (most likely late evening).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
