We discovered the difference between a statistic and a parameter. Univariate data can be represented by the mean, median, and mode, as well as by measures of variation. The mean absolute deviation is the average of the absolute values of the differences between the mean and each value in the data set. Variance is the square of the standard deviation. We reviewed symmetric, right and left skewed distributions of data and their meaning to prepare for a test on Friday.
Ben was reluctant to begin today. I had him the period after lunch and when I walked in he said, "Wait, lunch is over!?!" He was bummed he did not have time to finish his lunch. I encouraged him to finish eating while I got computers and signed us into the MAPs test. He took advantage of the offer and was still not ready when it was time to begin. I told him he had two more minutes. When time was up I asked him to put away his computer and food. He did. He then began his MAP Testing. He put in his best effort. Today he was working on a problem involving lines and he had the right thought process but couldn't recall what to do. That concept is important for us to build upon so we will review it when he is done MAP Testing. He worked diligently the rest of the period. He did not finish his MAP Test. I informed Megan so she can put him on the schedule for at least one more period.
Ben started the class expressing his frustrations regarding a new teacher of his. I tried to help him by saying things like, "the teacher means well", "he's got to get to know you", "it's almost the end of the year", "You are able to get through this with some positivity". He did not want to hear me, he just wanted someone to validate his feelings. I understood where he was coming from but also tried to encourage some resilence - which he is capable of.
Today we had MAPS math testing. Ben was ready for it. He told me he would try his best. It took him a while to get started. The room lighting, the font, the screen brightness were all factors in delaying his start. Eventually, we got there. He asked if he could work the problems outloud and I encouraged him to do so. It was really wonderful to hear his thought process as he worked the problems through. He's extremely bright. He got through only 4 problems during the class period, but he did them with intention and I am pretty sure he got them all right so far. I thanked Ben for working hard and told him I was proud of him.
Ben put in a good effort this morning but was not feeling "it". He expressed how he wished he had math class a little later in the day so he had time for his brain to warm up. I validated his feelings and kept it moving and he rolled with it. We worked on factoring out the Greatest Common Factor with given polynomials. Ben had to consider what is the largest number that can be factored out of all given terms. He also considered what is the largest exponent is that could be factored out of both. He had difficulty considering this but was able to understand once I showed him how to do it. We will need to spend another day on this, scaffolding the concept of GCF.
Today I introduced to Ben the concept of factoring polynomials. We first started with GCF- greatest common factor. I had Ben explain to me the difference between a product and a factor. He wasn’t positive at first, but when I showed him a few examples he recalled what it meant. I asked Ben to tell me some common factors of 36 and 24. We agreed they had a common factor of 4- but it was not the greatest factor they had in common. So we considered other factors and came up with 12. Next, I added the a variable to the 36 and asked Ben to factor the GCF. With guidance he wrote 12(x+3). For each new problem I added powers of x to make it more of a challenge. Ben was always able to follow the method. For one problem, I wanted to interject to help him, but he asked me not to and said he wanted to figure it out on his own. So I let him, and he came to the correct conclusion! I was very proud of him for taking ownership of his learning. He had an excellent class today.
Today Ben Bero was scheduled for Math MAP Testing. We had a bit of spider drama followed by some technical difficulties.
As we were about to begin the test, I reached to throw away trash and a HUMUNGOUS Spider was on the ground. I'm not THAT afraid of spiders but this was the size of a softball! I jumped, Ben sprung into superhero mode, I got Jordy, and long story short Ben saved his life and released him to the wild. During that adventure our testing paused. I tried to get Ben logged back in and while doing so, I clicked "next question" and it went to Question #2. I could not figure out a way to go back to Question #1 . I saved the test session and tried to restart it again to see if it would restart the test, but it did not. So then I deleted the session. I realized this then deleted the entire Test session! I tried to restart the test one more time but it wasn't available. We contacted Meg and she will have to recreate the session. Ben will have to be rescheduled for the test next week.
We reviewed problems that were missed on a previous test. Then we practiced completing the square and solving radical equations. Next, we practiced graphing quadratic equations. We reviewed how to find the vertex of a parabola and the points where it crosses the x-axis. Then we reviewed the quadratic formula and when it is necessary.
