Well it is supposed to be Spring! I couldn’t believe that we received a coating of snow overnight! Oh well, I am still going to take my daily walk with my wife anyway.

For my Geometry classes, I have posted two new assignments which will be due on Friday, 3/23/2020. Both of these assignments are very similar to the assignments that we have been doing right along with the right triangles, so you should be able to handle these problems right away on your own. However, in a few days, I will post some more videos on how I would approach solving these problems. I hope these videos have been helpful to you.

I have also posted the answer key for the Staircase Assignment. I will try to always post the answer key after you have turned in your assignments. Please do not worry if you made any mistakes on the assignments that you submitted. What I want you to do is to go back over each assignment and make all necessary corrections! That is when we really learn the material.

As always, I hope that you are able to do some enjoyable things each day. Please satay safe and healthy!

We are getting ready to start week # 2 of our shutdown. I have been looking through the work you submitted last week. Many of you are doing a GREAT JOB at completing these assignments! The work looks good in most cases. I have not entered anything in MiStar yet, but I will be adding these assignments soon. I will be uploading some new assignments and learning opportunities this week. All new assignments should be completed and submitted by Friday of this week. I will once again be making some videos on how to solve the problems for each assignment. Please email me with any questions or concerns along the way. It is a little cold, but the sun is out, so hopefully that brightens your day.

It is Saturday! Typically, our weekend days look and feel very different from a normal weekday. However, now all of the days seem very much the same. I hope that you are taking time to do some new things to enjoy yourself and relax. This has been a time where I have been able to do some things with my family that I have not been able to do for a while.

Even though the due date for the first assignments was yesterday, if you have not submitted them please do so. I will still accept them. There have been a lot of things being said in the news and through social media about these “enrichment activities” not counting toward your grade. I will tell you all this. For those of you who have been keeping up with the work and submitting these assignments, it WILL help your grade. You should all know by now that I truly want to reward students who work hard and really care about their learning. So, please keep working hard on everything which is assigned online and please continue to communicate all questions and concerns to me through email. I have been very impressed by how many of you have persevered through this difficult time.

Next week I will assign a few more assignments for us to work on during the week. They will still involve Trigonometry and right triangles. I will continue to make the screen casting videos to help you understand each assignment.

Have a great weekend! Try to stay positive!

It is very warm out this morning! Hopefully, you can get outside for a little while today. I really want to praise many of you for the time you have spent on your assignments. Quite a few of you need to getting going and try to complete these assignments. I did post the answer key to the Trigonometry Word problem assignment. I did that so that you could go back to see how I solved each problem. Please do not just copy my answers down and submit it. The purpose is so that you understand the process.

SAT Practice: This is an excellent opportunity to continue to work on SAT practice problems. You still have the SAT packet that we were working on in class before the shutdown. You can also continue to work through Khan Academy on SAT practice problems. Yesterday, I sent an email to my SSR students urging them to continue with the Khan practice. The school will continue to monitor Khan Academy progress during this shutdown. It is good practice for everyone to keep working on it. I have a Sophomore son at home that thinks I am crazy for making him do the practice tests.

Please continue to reach out to me through email with any questions or concerns. Have a great day!

I know that it does not feel like it, but today is the actual first dayof Spring. It is the Spring Equinox. Spring is always a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. I know it is hard to think that way this year. However, we do still have a lot to be grateful for and a lot to look forward to. I hope that this shutdown period has given you all some needed time to connect with your family. I know that I have been able to connect more to my own children during this time. They are driving me crazy at times (much like some of your hours do at times), but I do appreciate the time spent with them. I am very much looking forward to the time when we can get back together in school. I truly hope this happens sooner rather than later.

Last night I spent a great deal of time going through and responding individually to many emails and assignments. Many of you are doing a fantastic job of trying your best to complete each assignment. Please continue to email me with specific questions that you are having. I will do my best to respond as soon as I can. Yesterday, I received over 200 emails, so it it very hard to answer every one immediately. Be patient, and I will respond, but also be persistent. If you still need help in some area, then please continue asking.

It is a little gloomy today, but try to have a nice day! Try to do something fun!

Good morning! We have been especially blessed with very good weather the past few days. That may end today. Before it does, get outside and go for a walk or bike ride. Please just continue to relax. Some of you are making great progress on your work. I am starting to look through some assignments, but it may take a few days before I record anything in the gradebook.

Chromebook Distribution: Earlier today, Mr. Casebolt sent an update to all of us regarding the distribution of chromebooks to any of our students in need of one. It will occur tomorrow from 10am – 2pm at the rear entrance off of Pelham. Only parents with a valid ID or students over 18 with a valid ID will be able to sign one out. There will be a robo-call and/or email sent out to all of you from the school shortly. It may have already been sent out.

Hang in there with the work. I know many of you are frustrated. I have responded to many emails individually and I have many more to go. I will continue to look for different ways to help all of you through this process.

I truly miss ALL of you! Please stay safe and healthy and make wise decisions.

Happy St. Patty’s Day to all of you who are of an Irish ancestry! I truly hope that you all are doing well! Yesterday, I posted some videos to help you work on the Staircase Application assignment. I hope they are helpful to you. Please email me your thoughts about how things are going with the Geometry work online especially about the videos. I need feedback too.

Today, I will be making another video for Trigonometry Practice # 3. It is all material that you should be able to handle. I will also try in the next few days to upload previous assignments that we had before the shut down. Eventually (probably in the the third week) I will be uploading an assessment for everyone to take to see how well we are learning the material from a distance.

I will be emailing those of you (and your parents) who have not enrolled in my class on Google Classroom. We must do this immediately if you have not already joined the class. The school district wants the teachers to continue to contact students and parents who do not complete the course work which is assigned online during this time.

I will also start going through the assignments which have been submitted online. I have not added anything to the MiStar grade book yet, but very soon you will see some new grades added. You will always have an opportunity to improve the score of any grade if you do not get full credit by making the necessary corrections.

I hope that you all have a great day, and please stay safe! Follow all government recommendations, and hopefully this will be over soon.

Well, today is the first day of a “new normal” for all of us. We are all certainly in a new and very unique situation. We are all learning as we go. I have already learned so much since last week about how to conduct education remotely. I will still be trying and learning new strategies throughout the process. I know that I will be making some mistakes along the way, and I am sure that there will be a large learning curve for me as well as all of you. The main thing that I ask is that you try your very best on everything! You will get frustrated from time to time. I know I have many times over the past week. Hang in there! We WILL all get through it together. The work that we do remotely will have a significant impact on your overall grade when it is all said and done. Seniors need to be especially on top of things because there will be very little time left if/when we return from this shut down period.

I will be sending you all a short video made by Mr. Harrison which should help you understand how to access and submit assignments throughout this shut down period. I highly encourage you all to download Dochub.com to help you complete each assignment.

As always, I ask you to take care of yourselves and protect those around you by following the local and state guidelines about social distancing and proper hygiene such as hand washing. It is another very nice day outside, so try to enjoy it!

The school and the district have requested that we ask each of you about your technology resources. Please let me know if you are lacking in technology resources in one of the following areas:

1.) Do not have a home computer or laptop

2.) Do not have adequate internet access

3.) Do not have a method for printing documents

4.) Do not have a way to take pictures of completed assignments to submit them

5.) Any other technology issues

Please let us know if you need to borrow a chromebook from school. There will be a process for you to sign one out if needed.

It is a beautiful day outside today! I just took a long walk with my wife and it was very relaxing. I encourage you all to get outside and enjoy time with your families. During this week we will do more with the online materials and really get started on things. If you are confused or frustrated, please don’t panic. We will figure things out in the best way we can. I just ask that you give your best effort on everything moving forward and ask for help as needed. Have a great day!