New Links To Extra Textbook Helps

The textbooks we use here at FMCS are published by Glencoe. They offer all kinds of internet material free of charge. We have just installed a new link to some of the Glencoe sites. If you click on the link on the right side of my blog just under my baby's picture, you can access all kinds of stuff to help you study. You can take practice tests, review vocabulary words, do self-check quizzes, try extra examples of the work we're doing in class, and a whole lot more. I encourage you to check it out, and use it whenever you need that little extra help. I'd love to see many of you students using this resource out there in cyberspace. Plus, doing those self-checks is fun because you know they'll give you all of the right answers and tell you how you've done. Use this link and try out the site that corresponds to your classroom textbook. If you do, leave a comment on my blog, and I'll give you extra credit on your next homework assignment.

Grading Changes That May Affect Your Child

The next time you look up your child's present grade on Info Direct, you may be surprised. That's because I have implemented some changes to the percentages used in calculating grades. After examining the amount of work each student has been doing in class, I realized that the portion of the student's grade that is determined by homework should be greater. Consequently, I changed some things and weighted the grades with a larger percentage going towards homework assignments, and less toward quizzes. I also added another section which is entitled "Participation," but what I call PACE. PACE is an acronym for Participation, Attitude, Cooperation, and Effort. That will be worth ten percent of each quarter's grades, but will not be inputted until the end of the quarter.

So, in a nutshell, here are the new weights or percentages of your child's math grade:

Assignments 40 %
Tests 30 %
Classwork 10 %
Quizzes 10 %
Participation 10 %

I believe this will be a combination which more fairly calculates how your child is doing this year.

Please post any questions or comments you may have, or e-mail me at the school.

Math Lab Available

Each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon during elective hour (2:00-2:51), I have a Math Lab for any students who would like and need help. So far, it's been working pretty well. I have a couple of students who frequent my classroom. They ask for help, and then work independently on their assignment for the day. They may come back to my desk more than once for help, but they are learning how to work. Besides them, I have had a steady group of students come in to ask one or more questions, or to get clarification about some concept, and then return to another location/study hall to complete their assignment. I've been privileged to be able to help both kinds of students. Maybe you'd like to get some help too!

If you are a student who needs help, and you have opportunity to come to my classroom during those hours, please feel free to join me during Math Lab on Tuesday or Thursday.

There Is Joy in the Development of Conscience

Let me share with you an experience that happened today that gives me joy for today and hope for tomorrow. It involved one of my students who asked to see me privately after class. This student approached me and confessed that they had not done a recent assignment, but had copied it quickly while we went over it in class. The student confessed the wrong, and asked for forgiveness.

What was my initial response? Wow! A student with a conscience! I was blessed by the honesty and openness of this student. The LORD encourages us through the Apostle Paul to walk with a clear conscience. He even talks about some who have suffered the shipwreck of their faith because they have rejected a clear conscience. Having been in the public school for several years, I saw plenty of evidence of students with a troubled conscience. This experience today was a refreshing change, and gave me hope that there is a generation of young people who will grow up with clear consciences. These youth will live holy lives before God and man, and not be plagued by the heartache of constant guilt without a way of solving that guilt.

This student's actions have made my day!

Tinkering with the Mimioboard

WHAT IS A MIMIOBOARD? Last year our school was able to secure a "Mimio" board for my classroom. It is a version of a "smart" board, where you can interact with items on the whiteboard through the use of a projector. In no way do we know the intricacies of the board, but we've got a few of the basics down. Today we put it up for use and had fun with it. It's a portable electronic gadget that has to be attached to the wall each time we use it. The newness of the board made all the students want to try it. Our eighth grade Algebra class was writing answers to questions on mathematical properties. The sixth grade math we used it to work on order of operations problems. In both seventh and eighth grade Pre-Algebra we correctly identified ordered pairs on a coordinate plane.

There is a learning curve on this board just like all other electronics, but hopefully we'll be able to incorporate more and more interaction in the classroom.

AM Report for Wednesday, 9/10

What I wrote about in the previous post was the integration of AM with our regular math curriculum. We are studying order of operations, and this week we decided to use Accelerated Math to test how well they did. Sixteen students handed in their test cards, and I'm happy to say nine of the 16 passed that objective. Seven others did all right, but need a little work. I'm pleased, but also know that we need to work with them plus the others who did not complete the assignment/exercise.

Integrating Regular 6th Grade Math with Accelerated Math

This Wednesday (9/10) is going to be an adventure! We started teaching about Order of Operations on Tuesday. The sixth graders had an assignment on it, and tomorrow they will have a reinforcement of that lesson during Accelerated Math. Each student will get an opportunity to work through a few examples in class, and then they will do an objectives practice over six other questions. If they pass this one, then they will have passed this objective. I'm confident that most, if not all, of the students will do well on "order of operations." Correctly understanding the order of operations is foundational in math. It is important not only for sixth grade math, but for all of the remaining math classes your children will take throughout their educational days.

I'd love to hear how they respond to this special arrangement (integration) of math class. You can leave a comment if you create an account for yourself.

Remember: Students will get extra credit on their next homework assignment when I can see they wrote a comment on this blog.

Rescheduled Tests/Quizzes

Note to you parents: I was conferring with your children on Wednesday about what was coming up on Friday (today, 9/5), and they told me about all of the tests and quizzes they were facing on that day. For that reason I rescheduled all of their quizzes for this coming Monday. This was to relieve some of the pressure for them.

Since they now have the weekend to prepare for my exam, I'm sure they will all do well on it. :-)


P.S. This reschedule applies to all of my classes EXCEPT the eighth grade Algebra class. They had already taken their quiz on Wednesday. Besides that, many of them were gone for the NJHS gathering in Orlando on Friday.

Please feel free to post a response here, or e-mail me with any questions. Thanks for all of your support!

God bless you this weekend. Have a great LORD's Day on Sunday.

Accelerated Math for our Sixth Graders

We have started to implement the Accelerated Math program in our sixth grade class this year. The Elementary Department is using it in grades 2-5. It has been a fun start so far. Accelerated Math, or AM for short, will be done on Wednesdays. Students are able to go at their own pace and have the ability to go over things they are not so sure about. Several have started out strongly. Others are working at a steady pace. I love to see the initiative that's been shown already. I believe the program lists 219 objectives that can be covered. The students can tackle two or three at a time. I don't know if anyone will complete all 219, but there are a couple who might want to try. This track will also help our administration to determine which students belong in the standard and the accelerated classes in 7th and 8th grades. I am encouraged by the effort of each of the sixth graders. If you're a parent, you can be proud of how well your child is doing during our AM time.

Initial Post

Welcome to the new blog for FMCS Mathematics. I have set this blog up for further interaction between parents, students, and me. I will post here about things that are pertinent to our math classes, and will also interject a bit of who I am and what I enjoy. Sometimes we'll talk and interact about fractions, decimals, and algebraic expressions. Othertimes, we'll talk and interact about our families, friends, and mostly our faith. The LORD Jesus has saved me, and I will forever be indebted to Him.

To God be the glory!