Welcome to Mr. Moylan’s iBlog!
Given that DHS is currently in online-schooling mode, all important updates and resources are going to be posted to/available on our class Schoology sites. Please make sure that you are checking the site regularly to stay up to date with everything.
Please email me at moylanc@dearbornschools.org if you have any questions or concerns!
This week’s review assignment is all about everyone’s favorite topic: Transformations! (I know, not really, but at least it’s only a week this time.) Please make sure that you are replying to the weekly announcement on GoogleClassroom for your Engagement credit (no more Hangouts) and getting your weekly assignment turned in by Friday morning!
Just a couple reminders: If you turned in an assignment, but don’t have a “1” in your gradebook, read the comment(s) I added to your assignment on GoogleClassroom! Mrs. Karazim hosts a weekly video chat Tuesday nights if you need some extra help or just want to hangout with a cool math teacher. We’re happy to answer questions and offer explanations via email if you are confused or stuck, just reach out!
Remember, the majority of our classroom information is now available through our Google Classroom. Almost everyone has joined the class (congratulations go to Second Hour for being the first class to have 100% enrollment!) but there are a couple stragglers who still need to check their school email for the invitation link. Otherwise, please make sure to stay up to date on our weekly assignment which was posted yesterday at noon and make contact with your teachers! The major update for this week: No Google Meets! Check with your teachers what that means for your Engagement credit moving forward; I included the new directions in this morning’s announcement in Google Classroom.
Also, don’t forget that Mrs. Karazim still has office hours for students who want a bit of extra support. The directions for that are posted on her blog, so go check them out!
We have officially moved over to our new GoogleClassroom! Most of us have already joined the class, but there’s a couple who still need to check their school emails and accept the invitation for each hour, so please get on that stat! More details can be found on the Classroom itself, but highlights include: make meaningful contact with your teachers at least once a week and complete the weekly assignments by Friday morning.
This week’s assignment is all about Geometry in Your Home and focuses on reinforcing our understanding and mastery of specific geometric vocabulary.
Anyone who wants some additional support during this time can also reach out to Ms. Karazim. She is very reachable by email and will also be trying to host a weekly GoogleHangout of her own each Tuesday from 9-10 at night starting this week. The link to that Hangout can be found on her Geometry Intervention blog.
Monday, April 13: Welcome back from “Spring Break”! Hopefully everyone is still safe and healthy, let’s make sure that we’re following the proper procedures to stay that way too. For now, I’ve only got two things for you: if you haven’t done so yet, please make sure that you respond to the survey about EnVision in the previous post on April 1; also, there’s a new discussion prompt on EnVision, so please head on over there when you get a chance to read and respond! As always, if you are struggling with anything, please reach out, we are still here to help you as best as we can!
Tuesday, April 14: If you haven’t done so yet, please respond the to survey from April 1 and yesterday’s discussion prompt on EnVision. I love reading your responses and finding out what y’all have been up to. I wish EnVision allowed me to respond to your comments directly but I’m really interested to find out what some of you have been cooking/baking and bingeing on Netflix.
Wednesday, April 15: I just went through and responded to as many of you as possible on the Discussion board. EnVision doesn’t allow me to reply directly, so I broke it down individually in a new comment. If you get the chance, answer and reply as well! As a side note, I’m keeping the EnVision assignments from before break open until the end of this week for a few of us who were having trouble getting them to work. Remember, EnVision is having some trouble with Chrome currently, so either try a different browser or have a lot of patience if you are one of the students that it doesn’t seem to be working for right now.
Thursday, April 16: Happy Thursday all! Still looking for a number of people in each hour to respond to that EnVision Discussion prompt from Monday!
Friday, April 17: Keep an eye on your email today/this weekend. To try and keep everything as organized and simple as possible for everyone, I’m listening to a few students’ suggestions and going to be creating a Google Classroom for each hour. I’ll be “inviting” your school account once I get them set up. All of our assignments for the rest of the semester will be posted on there. If you’ve got any questions, I’m available via email!
Monday, March 30: Happy Monday! Starting off our week before Spring Break we’ve got two fresh assignments: Lesson 11-3 on EnVision (due Wednesday) and some extra practice about determining when triangles are similar on Khan (due Friday). As a heads up, we know that some students are having trouble accessing assignments on EnVision, so don’t wait until the last minute to work on this. The recommendation from EnVision is to use a browser other than Chrome for now if you are having trouble.
Tuesday, March 31: Continue working on those two assignments from yesterday. Supposedly EnVision underwent an update yesterday, so it might be working a bit better on Chrome again. Feel free to give it a shot. As always, please reach out if you are having trouble. I know that Ms. Karazim is still posting helpful information on her blog!
Wednesday, April 1: Lesson 11-3 is due today! Along with the “11-3 Quiz” (which when you click on it will be called “11-3 Additional Practice”, this one you do need to complete)!
Thursday, April 2: New Lesson available on EnVision today! Lesson 11-4 is all about Spheres, but it is due tomorrow. There will also be another “Quiz” tomorrow, along with the KhanAcademy Similarity practice which a few of us still need to complete from Monday. As always, please reach out if you are having an trouble!
The school district wants to know how students feel about EnVision before we make any final decisions about which resource we might be using for future years. Please take this quick survey, be honest but professional: EnVision Student Survey.
Friday, April 3:
Monday, March 23: There’s a new Similarity practice on Khan and a new section about Volume on EnVision. Make sure that you are checking both of those out and getting them completed as soon as you can. Don’t forget to reach out if you have questions.
Also, any of us who may be dealing with additional stress and anxiety during this time may find it beneficial to read this letter and follow some of these relaxation techniques.
Tuesday, March 24: Don’t forget that Section 11-2 on EnVision is due tomorrow, and there will be a one-day assignments (the practice quiz) due tomorrow along with it as well. Ms. Karazim has been posting some helpful information on her blog if you find that you are struggling with some of these Volume concepts.
Wednesday, March 25: Section 11-2 and the 11-2 Lesson Quiz are both due today! Take a few minutes to make sure that they are both completed and turned in! Don’t wait until the last minute either, because you may need to reload/refresh Section 11-2 a few times in order for it to load. Just keep trying though, don’t give up.
Thursday, March 26: Over halfway through the week! The last assignment for this week is Mathematical Modeling in 3 Acts! One of those activities we did in class where you had to figure out the number of sides those zoomed in images had or figuring out how tall to make the Mayor’s figure in that city planning design, but this time all about volume. The 3 Acts are due tomorrow, so don’t take too long to get this one done!
Main Question you’ll need to answer/make a conjecture about: What are the dimensions of the package that has the least surface area?
Friday, March 27: Math in 3 Acts is due tonight! Don’t leave it to the last second either, because we know that EnVision is acting up a bit and might need to be refreshed a few times before it works perfectly. As a reminder, this week’s Khan assignment is also due tonight, so don’t forget about that one either!
Monday, March 16: It’s certainly a change of pace for the next three weeks since we aren’t meeting in person. Instead, we are going to have a number of online assignments we need to work on together and complete. There are two sources of these assignments: EnVision and KhanAcademy. Starting today, there is a discussion prompt on EnVision which I need each student to comment on as proof that they can access the site still (please reach out to your friends and classmates and make sure they engage with it as well if you notice they haven’t yet). KhanAcademy will be used to practice our skills from Similarity, and the first assignment is already live and will close Friday at 11:59 PM.
If you need the links to access our KhanAcademy Class, click on your hour: First Hour – Second Hour – Fourth Hour – Fifth Hour – Sixth Hour
Tuesday, March 17: Still looking for students to interact with the Discussion Prompt on our EnVision page! Remember, if your friends/classmates don’t prove that we can continue learning during this time, there’s a chance that we extend the school year into July!
Wednesday, March 18: Our first “official assignment” on EnVision goes live today! Students need to sign in and complete the Unit 11 Readiness Assessment before the end of day Friday. Also, don’t forget about the Similarity practice on Khan.
There’s still an awful lot of students I haven’t heard from in one form or another yet; please check in with your friends and classmates to ensure that they are signing in and keeping up.
Thursday, March 19: Students have today to continue working on the Readiness Assessment on EnVision and the Triangle Similarity Practice on KhanAcademy, both of which are being checked in officially tomorrow.
If you are having trouble logging on or accessing either of those, please let me know so that I can support you. If you are struggling with the material, Ms. Karazim has a brand new blog where she will be posting some helpful things. As always, we are here to help you so don’t be afraid to reach out!
Friday, March 20: Hey, things are due today! Make sure they are done! Things I’m checking in today and will be considered Late after today: Topic 11 Readiness Assessment (on EnVision) and Triangle Similarity Practice (on Khan). As always, let me know if you are having trouble accessing/submitting either of these so that I can help you troubleshoot.
Monday, March 9: We spent today practicing our skills of dealing with similar triangles when they are overlapping with one another. Again, the best approach is just to redraw and relabel them separately, then compare corresponding parts.
Tuesday, March 10: Today was all about practicing our skills with overlapping triangles as we had one more entry ticket and then a practice worksheet with five problems. The worksheet will be collected at the beginning the hour tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 11: We continued practicing our skills with similar figures today by breaking into small groups. Each group worked on some practice problems to better prepare for Monday.
Thursday, March 12: We got our review for Monday’s assessment today, and students had the hour to work their way through the problems. Moylan was available to discuss/explain anything students were struggling with from the review or earlier assignments.
All classes: Check your answers using the above key. The “Unit Review” assignment on EnVision can be used as additional practice, but is not required. Technical difficulties mean that it cannot be used to check the hard copy of the review but similar problems to the packet can be found and practiced.
Friday, March 13: Schools are closed until Monday, April 13. However, starting next week, begin checking EnVision each day for current assignments.
Today is the last day to turn in any EnVision assignments for this unit! Make sure that they are all “submitted” by 3:00 today!
The Similarity Unit Assessment is currently postponed until the Friday after we return from break, 04/17! Extra practice assignments for similarity will be assigned on Khan Academy each week. If you are struggling with logging in to EnVision, please check the reference document on the Class Info page of the blog!
Monday, March 2: We picked up where we left off on Friday, finishing a couple more examples from Section 7-3. Afterward, students had two assignments, both of which are due at the beginning of class tomorrow. In the textbook, p.322, #16-20 (make sure to do all of the success criteria for #19 and 20) along with the 7-3 Lesson Quiz in EnVision.
Tuesday, March 3: Today was a quick checkpoint to see what we remembered from yesterday and Friday before diving into Section 7-4. We continued practicing similar triangles and learned a new shortcut/justification for triangle similarity (Theorem 7-4).
Wednesday, March 4: We finished up section 7-4 from yesterday, discussing Geometric Mean a bit more, and then students spent whatever time was left at the end of the hour working on two EnVision assignments (7-4 Lesson Quiz and Do You Know How?)
Thursday, March 5: Moylan was out of the classroom for a meeting today, so students practiced our skills from earlier this unit on a practice worksheet as well as a few problems from the book. Page 330, #17-20, writing out the success criteria for each problem.
Friday, March 6: We started today off with an Entry Ticket to practice our skills again, then moved directly into an Modeling in 3 Acts activity for the majority of the class period. With their table partners, students calculated the appropriate height of a model for a scale figure.