• Students have been working on Lesson 2 this week- Understanding Subtraction of Integers. They are learning how to rewrite subtraction problems as addition problems by adding the opposite. We have been using the saying, “Keep-Change-Change” or “Keep-Change-Opposite”

• The lesson should wrap up by tomorrow, but due to Friday being a half day the Lesson 2 Quiz will be 9/23. If something changes, I will let them know and put it on the blog too.

• Summer Learning Reminder: Khan Academy- 480 minutes DUE Friday, September 20th. Refer to the blog post from Wednesday 9/4 for more information.

Homework
1) Catch up on Summer Learning – Khan Academy (480 minutes due 9/20

Important Dates:
Friday, September 20 — 1/2 Day of School (11:05AM dismissal)
Wednesday, September 25 — Late Start

• Thank you to all the families that were able to make it to Open House last night despite the heavy rain. It was a pleasure to meet everyone!

• Hours 2-6: We finished Lesson 1 today. Lesson 1 Quiz tomorrow 9/13.

• Hour 1: Due to the practice fire drill and testing of the alarm bells this morning,  we will wrap up Lesson 1 tomorrow. Quiz will be Monday 9/16.

• Summer Learning Reminder: Khan Academy- 480 minutes DUE Friday, September 20th. Refer to the blog post from Wednesday 9/4 for more information.

Homework
1) Catch up on Summer Learning – Khan Academy (480 minutes due 9/20)
2) Review Lesson 1 in the Instruction book and Practice & Problem Solving book to prepare for the quiz. 

Important Dates:
Tuesday, September 17 — Picture Day 
Friday, September 20 — 1/2 Day of School (11:05AM dismissal)
Wednesday, September 25 — Late Start

• We started the NWEA Math test yesterday and continued today. We will continue testing tomorrow and, if needed, Friday. 

• Summer Learning Reminder: Khan Academy- 480 minutes DUE Friday, September 20th. This will be counted as a summative grade in math for marking period one. In class every few days, I will show students their current minutes in Khan Academy so they can see where they are at or confirm they have completed 480 minutes. Students can also check their minutes at home- click “progress” menu, then “activity”, then change the starting date to June 3rd.  Furthermore, students should continue to work on their minutes at home if needed! Any students that participated in Bryant Summer Learning and completed all of the those requirements do not need additional Khan Academy minutes. However, students that were in Bryant Summer Learning that did not complete the requirements should get working on Khan Academy in order to complete the minutes by the due date. Students that are new to Dearborn Schools DO NOT need to complete minutes!

Homework
1) Catch up on Summer Learning – Khan Academy (480 minutes due 9/20)
2) Supplies (See me if you need help getting anything!)
3) Discuss the syllabus that was sent home last week (Blog post 9/26/19 and in Class Info section of blog)

Important Dates:
Wednesday, September 11 — Open House (6:00-7:30pm)
Tuesday, September 17 — Picture Day 
Friday, September 20 — 1/2 Day of School (11:05AM dismissal)
Wednesday, September 25 — Late Start

• Students finished their “About Me” Pennant and shared it with 2-3 classmates. These will be hung around the room and/or hallway.

• In preparation for NWEA testing next week and due to student passwords getting reset last week, students used the link on the “student portal” page of the district website to change the password that was printed on their schedule to something they would remember. Any students that didn’t have their schedule with them can do this at home, do it in class tomorrow or on Tuesday. If at any time your son/daughter forgets their district password, remind them to let a teacher know so someone can arrange to have it reset. The password is used to log in to a district computer, to access their district email account, for Google applications such as Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.), Google Classroom, Clever, Student Connect and other applications.

• Some classes went onto Khan Academy to add me as their teacher/coach for the year. This will allow me to create assignments for them related to our weekly lessons, as well as to view their summer learning minutes. If your son/daughter did not have the chance to add me as their teacher today, there will be time in class tomorrow or next week.

• Students worked on the About Me “Pennant” to share information about themselves. We will be finishing these tomorrow and sharing them so everyone in class can learn about each other.

•  The pennants that students worked on had some of the first few Fibonacci numbers on it and has the Golden Spiral so I wanted them to have some background of both, even though these are topics not generally explored in middle school or even high school math classes. Students had a brief overview of the Golden Ratio (aka the Golden Rectangle or Golden Spiral), the Fibonacci sequence, and the number represented by the Greek letter phi. We discussed how you find it in art, architecture and even nature!

The class syllabus went home today! (I know some kids/families were hoping to start working on getting the supplies needed for their classes.) Students were asked to share it with their families, but to bring it back to class so we could discuss it on Wednesday and Thursday.

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing summer! It was exciting to meet all of my students today! Today in class, I gave a short introduction of myself and briefly discussed some suggested supplies for math class, as I know some students and families are hoping to get that taken care of sooner rather than later. Hours 2 and 4 also got to meet Ms. Beydoun (my co-teacher) and Mrs. Alasady (Ms. Beydoun’s student teacher).

Here is the class syllabus for this year, which includes a suggested supply list for math class. It will be handed out in class tomorrow or Wednesday!

2019-20 Syllabus

I look forward to working with everyone this year!

• We started the NWEA Math test today. We will continue testing tomorrow and most likely Wednesday. 

• Students should be continuing to complete any past due assignments/videos in Khan Academy and working toward finishing their 90 minutes for the month of May. If anyone did not complete the 90 minutes for April, students may add those minutes to May to earn some or all of those lost points. For example, if you only completed 30 minutes in April, do those incomplete 60 minutes from  April in addition to the 90 minutes required in May (for a total of 150 in May) to makeup the points you lost in April.

• The last day to turn in late work or to complete quiz retakes is Tuesday, June 11!

• I am available for quiz retakes after school on Tuesdays-Fridays. If you need help with quiz corrections and/or reviewing for the retake, please see me on a Wednesday or Friday (because I teach extended day tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays and, therefore, am unavailable to help you those days!) If after school does not fit your schedule, please see me to arrange an alternate time for the retake.

Homework
1) Catch up on missing assignments!!
2) Khan Academy (90 minutes due 5/31)

Important Dates:
Friday, May 24 — NO SCHOOL (Conference Release Day)
Monday, May 27 — NO SCHOOL (Memorial Day) 
Monday, June 3 – Wednesday, June 5 — NO SCHOOL (End of Ramadan)
Thursday, June 13 — Levagood Picnic (6th and 7th grade) 
Friday, June 14 — Last Day of School (1/2 Day AM- Dismissal @11:05)

• M-Step Practice Test  (select Online Tools Training, Sample Item Sets, Grade 7, Math)
• M-Step Practice Test answer key  (scroll down to pg.5 for Grade 7)
• Tutorials  (How-To videos for: sign in, scientific calculator, typing equations, tools, etc.)
• M-Step Testing Schedule for Grade 7:
Tuesday, April 30 – Math
Thursday, May 2- ELA

In class, we will be looking at the M-Step Practice test to review the available online tools for students while taking the M-Step test (how they work), to preview question/answer formats, and review test taking strategies. It is highly suggested that students visit the practice test at home, also, to check out problems that we don’t preview in class.  The practice test may not include all topics that students could see on the actual test, and may include topics that may not show up on the actual test.

Happy Pi Day!

• We have been working on Lesson 12- Problem Solving with Proportional Relationship. Students have been practicing how to calculate sales tax, tip/gratuity, markups, commission, interest, and discounts by converting percents to decimals and then multiplying. They have been working on this during station the last few days.

• Students should be continuing to complete any current or past due assignments in Khan Academy. Time spent on assignments count toward the monthly minutes. (Many students did not earn 120 minutes for February.) Students should be working on earning 120 minutes for March now. If all their assignments are caught up, I asked students to search “NWEA” and click “MAP Recommended Practice”. Then they can select one of the four subtest areas and pick whichever skills/tasks that are recommended to them.

• Students are able to earn extra credit by complete extra time above the 120 minutes in Khan Academy. This is an easy way to not only help their grade in math, but it will help them improve the skills that they need that are at their own level!

Homework
1) Finish Stations work
2) Finish Khan Academy (120 minutes due 3/31)
3) Catch up on missing assignments!!

Important Dates:
Friday, March 29 — End of Marking Period 3
Monday, April 1 – Friday, April 5 — NO SCHOOL (Spring Break)

• We have been working on Lesson 11- Equations for Proportional Relationships. Students should have brought home the family letter the other day. We have been practicing how to find the constant of proportionality (unit rate) from a table, graph, or equation. Also, we have been finding the constant of proportionality in order the write the equation for the proportional relationship.

• Students should be finishing up their Khan Academy minutes for February (120 minutes of skill practice). I asked them to search “NWEA” and click “MAP Recommended Practice”. Then they can select one of the four subtest areas and pick whichever skills/tasks that are recommended to them. If students are interested in earning extra credit, they can complete extra time above the 120 minutes. This is an easy way to not only help their grade in math, but it will help them improve the skills that they need that are at their own level!

Homework
1) Finish Practice and Problem Solving book p. 109-110

2) Finish Khan Academy (120 minutes due 2/28) – If they can’t finish it all tonight because they waited until the last minute to start it, they should complete it over the weekend. It will be counted “late”, but I don’t want kids staying up late just to finish it. Get to bed at a reasonable time!

Important Dates:
Wednesday, March 13 — Late Start 
Friday, March 29 — End of Marking Period 3
Monday, April 1 – Friday, April 5 — NO SCHOOL (Spring Break)