Today Ben was to do Test corrections in attempt to improve his Test grade. Out of the 5 problems he got wrong, he attempted corrections on 1 of them. I will grade it tonight and we will discuss tomorrow how it will improve his grade.
We continued with slope today, but incorporated how slope is involved in the equation of a line. We discussed slope intercept form of a line: y=mx+b. We did an exercise where I gave Ben and equation and he had to identify the line’s slope and y-intercept. Once he got the hang of that, we practiced then using the slope and y-intercept to graph a line.
Ben is really getting the hang of this stuff. Tomorrow he will have a Quiz on Slope. At the end of class, we did a mock quiz to show Ben what the questions will look like tomorrow.

Ben worked hard today. First we discussed what a line looks like with a positive slope, negative slope, then zero slope (horizontal). We considered a vertical line and determined it's slope is undefined. Then Ben practiced writing drawing lines with a given slope and starting point. He did extremely well. Lastly, we practiced finding the slope of a line if given two points. I introduced the whole purpose of learning this is to be able to determine things like, "If after 1 month you have $400 in your account, and after 3 months you have $600 in your account, then if this same trend continued, how much would you have in your account after a year?"
I also reminded Ben that his Test Corrections are due on Monday. I taped his test to the wall and wrote a big sign "Test corrections due Monday!!" (with an arrow pointing to his test). I'm really hoping he works on them.

We reviewed Ben’s test from yesterday. Unfortunately he got a 43%. The test had 7 questions and he left 3 completely blank (wrote I forgot). We discussed each problem to clarify misunderstandings. To give Ben the opportunity to improve his grade, he has the option to Re-do each problem correctly for half the credit back (this means he can improve his grade to a 72%). I showed him in his notes where we did similar problems. I showed him how to use his notes as a guideline for help if he’s stuck. I know we aren’t supposed to give Ben homework, but I really want to see if he can do those problems, on his own, still using his notes for guidance. He’s fully capable, it’s just a matter of the effort on his part. He has until Monday to make the corrections.
After the test, we returned to the lesson we started yesterday on slope. We reviewed what positive, negative, and zero slopes look like. Then I had him consider the slope of a vertical line. Through calculation, we determined it is Undefined. Then we did an activity using the “I do-We do-You do” method, to calculate the rise and run given a graph. We started to discuss the slope formula, but will go into more detail tomorrow.

We reviewed for a test on Properties of Real Numbers.

Ben used the first half of class to finish his Chapter 1 Test. I will grade it tonight and we will go through it tomorrow. Then we started Chapter 2, introducing the concept of slope. We discussed how the steeper the line indicates a larger slope. We discussed how decreasing line would have a negative slope. We related slopes to computing the rise over the run. We began to derive the slope formula, but we will continue tomorrow.

We converted algebraic expressions and equations to phrases and phrases to algebraic equations. We identified areas of functions that were increasing, decreasing, or neither. Next we looked for positive, negative, and no correlation on scatter in plots.

Today Ben had a test on Chapter 1. He did not finish within the class time. He will resume tomorrow.

Today Ben was supposed to take his Chapter 1 Test. When I walked into his room, he was asleep with his head in his arms on the table. I tried to wake him up gently. It took a few, "Ben? Ben - it's time for math!" to get him up. He woke up startled. He said he was tired and hungry. I have him a minute to get situated. He got up and sharpened his pencil. I told him today was Test day and he sighed. I asked, "Do you want to spend 1 more day reviewing and take the test tomorrow?" He said, "Yes please." So that's what we did. I looked at his test and then created similar questions for him to practice. He took the lead and worked through them. He seems pretty ready for the test. Conceptually he understands. I'm hoping during the test he remembers all of the rules - as some times the little things are what mess him up.

Ben and I reviewed for a Test he will have on Monday. We started with a warm up problem involving sets and subsets. Ben had difficulty starting the problem, but once reminded what to do, he was able to with no issue. Then we did a problem comparing decimals, fractions, and roots without a calculator. Ben was able to do this easily. Then we moved on to review inequalities. Ben made small errors in calculating, but was able to make corrections when reminded. I asked Ben if he was ready to take his Test today, or if he preferred to wait until Monday. He said let’s wait. So then I gave him more practice to do independently. I said, “Try these problems on your own, and pretend like it’s a test and I’m not here.” He worked through them aloud, and I was able to hear his thought process. Ben is VERY smart and as he works he’s making other connections simultaneously. It’s interesting to see. Ben did excellent again today!!

Ben was on point today! He was energized and ready to work. Not once did he fall asleep. Today we worked on Review problems for his Chapter 1 Test coming up. I helped to lead the problems with writing them down, but Ben assisted with telling me what to do next. There were 2 problems I asked him to do in its entirety with no help, and he did! Tomorrow we will finish the review and he will test on Monday.