Aiden had a great class today as we discussed how to write and solve two step equations. We began with a scenario that Marley had 3 more than twice the number of golfballs that Tucker had. Aiden did a great job coming up with the equations 2m+3. Then we related that to Tucker's amount and set up the equation T=2m+3. Then we created a table with various amounts of golfballs that Marley had and considered how that would result in Tucker's amount. Next we discussed a problem where Aiden would purchase a $335, put $50 down at the store and then make 6 equal monthly payments, p. We considered how we would find how much each monthly payment would be. Aiden said he would take 335, subtract 50 and then divide up that result by 6. He was correct! Then we had to consider how we would turn that into an equation. (335-50)/6=p. We "undid" the properties by multiplying by 6 on both sides to get 335-50=6p. Then adding 50 to both sides we'd have 335=6p+50. Aiden thought about this for a while to make sure he understood this concept. These word problems are quite difficult for students at first. I believe after seeing more examples, Aiden will do great with these.
Today Andrew was 14 minutes late to class. I had a conversation about this and he wasn't happy. He told me he was late because he needs to clean up his paints. I told him that he can do that on his own time, but it should not run into his Geometry class. He got upset and said that Art is his job and his priority over anything else. I told him NO, he is a high school student, and his other core courses are just as important as any other class and that it is his job as a high school student. He said "It's not like when I come to class I don't do anything." I said, "Right, well when you come to class it's expected that you work. You don't get to get out of class because when you're in class you work." He disagreed with me but I stood my ground. I am there for his class, ready for him, but He can stroll in whenever he wants and there are no consequences.
Today we worked on Kites and Isosceles Trapezoids. We discussed in kites, adjacent sides are congruent, the diagonals are perpendicular and bisect the shorter side. We used these facts to find missing side lengths and angle measures.
Next we talked about isoceles trapezoids. We discussed how interior angles are supplementary and interior sides are congruent. Again, we used those facts to find missing side lengths and angle measures.
Rachel, Samantha, and I had a brief conversation in Spanish involving 3 or 4 common questions in familiar tenses.
We reviewed por, para. They shared two acronyms that they are using as pneumonic devices. They took a practice quiz online and earned a 19 out of 20 with minimal assistance.
We reviewed material from their last section.
We discussed their recent presentations on which they both got A’s!
We discussed strategies to improve presentations and good class habits to improve their grades.
Rachel and I briefly discussed her new material including combining functions like fx and gx. She stated that she was very confident and comfortable with this material so we reviewed the topic from the week before.
When she first looked at the material, she had a momentary lapse in her ability to interact with the material. We used this opportunity to pretend that this was a test and practice recouping from a tough situation. We wrote out a systematic approach for her to attempt these situations including a series of questions and approaches.
We then worked out the solution to several equations with roots.
We discussed solving equations with square, cube, and higher power roots.
We took the time to graph the equations to help give Rachel a visual of what is happening and went so far as to graph the negative of each root as well to show how to make educated approximations of possible sensible answers.
Matthew was supposed to complete his test today. He worked the entire period, but still had one questions left to do when the bell rang. He will have to complete it on Monday.
Matthew had a test today on Solving literal equations, solving absolute value equations, and solving quadratic equations. He was focused all period. He wasn't sure of himself in one problem, so I gave him some guidance without giving away the answer. He did not finish his test today, so he will complete it tomorrow.
Today we continued with the concept of distributing and factoring. As we were working, I realized that PJ doesn't quite have the prerequisite skills to do some of the problems involving variables. For example: one problem had him simplify 4n-n and he got 4, instead of 3n. So tomorrow's class we will scaffold it back and discuss what it means to combine like terms and how to properly do it.
Today Joshua and I began by reviewing the problems he missed from his AP Classroom homework assignment. Overall, he did well. I explained to Joshua how to do the problems that he missed. One concept he misunderstood, we were able to address and correct. Next, we practiced a similar problem to make sure he understood, and he did. We then moved onto 2.13A Solving Exponential and Logarithmic Equations. These can be tricky since there are many different approaches to try, but not all of them work for the given equation. It comes with practice to recognize which approach works best. I showed Joshua how to solve several different problem types. Then he practiced 2 on his own. We also discussed that when we are done solving, we must check for extraneous solutions. Sometimes the algebra will produce a solution that when you check, it actually doesn't work.
