Today I reviewed multiplying binomials with Hunter using the FOIL method. I then showed him how we work backwards from a trinomial to factor it into a product of two binomials. Hunter grasped the concept quickly. He was able to work through p. 263 (1-23 odd) very quickly in class. I was impressed.
I returned his Chapter 4 test on Matrices. He made a 88%. He messed up multiplying two 2x2 matrices. He understood the original process, but then got confused on how to add the numbers together. I have been VERY PROUD of the hard work Hunter has put forth this week!
Session Minutes
45
Minutes Student Attended
45
Lesson Comments
This time last week, when we decided to up Hunter's math hours, I felt very overwhelmed about it! You know, Judie, from our past conversations, that teaching Hunter can seem like "pushing a large object up a hill". My intention moving forward is to cover as much material as possible, but keep things easy to understand. This means that I will not be going too deeply into the topics. For this week, my approach was successful. Teaching Hunter did not seem like "pushing a large object up a hill". He was engaged, and he exceeded my expectations this week. We spent 7.5 hours working on math this week. He worked for me during every session, with fairly minimal complaining. He completed the assignments during our class sessions, therefore I did not have to assign homework. I told him several times how proud I was with his performance this week. The other day, he asked me "Is Marcos really smart?" Yesterday, he had a chance to observe a little of the online Algebra 2 course I am doing with Olivia Charney. It is much more challenging than what he and I are working on. Today, Hunter asked me if we were going to be doing what Olivia is doing. He also asked if we were going to do Pre Calculus. I told him that I think he is smart enough to do Pre-Cal, but that it requires work outside the classroom, which he doesn't seem to be willing to do. I really wonder what is going on in his head. I'm being hopeful in saying this, but I wonder if he is wanting the challenge of the harder material. It would be AMAZING if he keeps up the hard work, and perhaps shows a willingness to be challenged more. I asked him once what his favorite subject was, and he said it used to be math.
This afternoon we spent the first portion of the period updating our stock portfolio. We also researched why one of our stock picks dropped in value by over 22%. In addition, we researched how the recent announcement by the GOP would have a negative impact on the stock market in general. Finally, we are learning more about a pharmaceutical company that looks very promising.
This afternoon we updated our stock portfolio to reflect the latest per share stock data. We noted that two of our stocks were currently priced below our initial asking price and we discussed possible reasons as to why this might be the case. We decided to purchase additional shares of a pharmaceutical company which will be announcing their quarterly earnings on Thursday of this week. We will complete our personal budget worksheet during class on Friday.
Off the top, Hunter promised me that he would talk to his football coach regarding possible college scholarships that might be available to him. Time was also devoted to the do's and don'ts of the job interview. We did a little mock role playing interview to practice some of the key areas that may come up in a job interview. Good session.
Hunter did pre-writing and research for new essay topic of his choice, which is the life of O.J. Simpson. He took notes and watched a short video biography on biography.com and read Wikipedia. He then made an outline to structure and organize his essay. We discussed the way the essay would be written and, specifically, how an expository essay should read. We did some grammar exercises at the end of class - run-on and sentence fragments and agreement between subject and verb. Hunter completed practice exercises on each.
A majority of class was spent with Hunter searching for gainful employment. He signed up on the Indeed website looking for both pet sitting and landscaping type jobs. Some other time was devoted to ten shortcut methods of solving construction-related issues such as how to remove a screw where the head has been stripped. Great session.
We are moving quickly since we now have 2 sessions on most days. Today I had Hunter work on several problems to review what I have taught him about matrices. He is adding them, multiplying, finding missing values, finding determinants, and solving systems of equations using Cramer's Rule. His review is p/ 229 (11-13, 17-27, 36-39, 47-48). Tomorrow he will have an assessment on Matrices.
Today I taught Hunter about a way to solve a system of equations with determinants. It's called Cramer's Rule. It is easy to do, once you know the process. I also explained to Hunter a little bit about Augmented Matrices. You can write a system of equations in matrix from, and then manipulate the rows to solve the system. We didn't go through the entire process of solving systems with the augmented matrices, but I did show Hunter how to get the systems of equations into augmented form. He did classwork on the desk p. 224 (1-3, 6-7, 9-11)
We covered 3 sections today. Hunter worked very hard! I taught him how to multiply 2x2 matrices, and we even worked on a 3x3. The latter took a long time, and several pages! I also taught him how to do determinants of a 2x2 and 3x3 matrix. He worked on p. 186 (1-10), p. 203 (1-13), and p. 209 (1-4).
I discovered a better way to assess Hunter's reading and comprehension of the book. He will answer questions online with interactive website that is structured to follow the book chronologically and ask multiple choice questions. He sees immediately correct and incorrect responses. There are several sources for these quizzes - BookRags, CliffsNotes, Quizlet. Today we used SparkNotes. He answered questions only to the point where he has read to - middle of Part Three. We discussed some quotes from the book and discussed Hunter's reactions, predictions and feeling about them. He completed homework and wrote about each character on the graphic organizer I sent home yesterday. He will continue reading over the weekend and choose quotes for each part of the book, responding in writing about why they spoke to him. We discussed essay topics for the next class and the next writing assignment.
