Sunday, August 16, 2015

Welcome



Welcome to 8th grade! this is going to be a great year. I have been thinking about you and some of the awesome things we will be doing all summer. We are going to work hard and have a lot of fun at the same time. Here is an extra credit assignment for you to get your year started off on the right foot.  This assignment will be worth between 0 and 5 EC points so do your best.
Extra Credit Assignment:
So that I can understand you and how you learn, please tell me about your previous math experiences.  Give three examples of things you like and three examples of things you dislike.
**Please do not name specific teachers unless it is positive.

What are your goals for math class this year? What do you need from me in order to make this happen? 

This is due by Friday the 28th of August.  

4 comments:

  1. I'm throughly annoyed as I type this, because I lost the response I spent a half hour on just minutes ago. I do hope this comment will make up for it, because I must now repeat what I said without knowing what I said.

    Moving on from that negative matter, I enjoy hands-on learning in a classroom environment, although I also like math worksheets. I'm not a fan of math textbooks in general, but that's part of the curriculum and there's nothing to be done about such. I also like teachers who have a fun classroom. In such areas I excel due to being in my comfort zone and being attentive during classes that joke around. On the other hand, I don't do well in classes that lack explanations for new concepts I've never seen before. My previous math teacher had this very issue and I disliked the teacher's class for the most part. The teacher also either lacked or had very little ability to connect with some of the students in the room including myself. My sixth grade math teacher, Mrs. Herrington, took a very different approach compared to this in her Core 1 mathematics class; she kept us all watching by having an interesting classroom and the majority of us participated in the lesson. The way you've set your classroom up makes me believe that I'll enjoy this year's mathematics. I also like any math that's not geometry, so we're all good right now. (I do, however, need a LOT of work with graphs. I'm not the best at them and I don't really prefer them.) I dislike classrooms where I feel pressured to do understand concepts I don't know or don't remember yet.

    My goals for this year are simple: get straight As and make sure everything I'm taught doesn't go in one ear and out the other. I gun high and above, and it's not stopping this year. I believe that so far you've provided everything necessary for these goals. You've successfully established an atmosphere where it's okay to make mistakes, which is important to ensure some students (namely myself) do not become arrogant and believe they can do everything themselves - or vise versa, with some students believing they can't do anything. This year will be great on the path it's headed, and I hope that I can reach my goals set for this year.

    - Evelyn Gates

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  2. I enjoy listening to the teacher as they explain how to do something, it's my way of learning to wear I could understand it. I like the math textbooks vary much because it helps me understand as well. What really helps me is when the teacher gives clear and good explanations. I dislike hands-on projects, its hard for me to learn that way. I also dislike It when a teacher doesn't give clear explanations, it makes it very hard for me to understand the problem or unit. I really dislike it when a teacher has bad hand writing because then I cant read what their writing and I wouldn't know if it's important or not (Mr. Courtney don't worry I can read you're hand writing.)

    I really only have one goal this year, that is to be able to pass 8th grade, including math class. I'm going to need your help on achieving that. I'm going to need you to give good explanations and directions on what I would need to do. I also with need you're 100% effort because I will be giving my 100% effort to pass this grade, and for you to be nice when you need to be but have some discipline when its necessary. I plan on having a wonderful and fun year and I'm hoping I will achieve my set goals for this year, thank you.

    - Dena. Roland

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  3. 3 things that I like is when the teacher explains it very clearly, that way I can understand it. I like when the teacher has the answers on the board for us to copy it down so later on for a test or a quiz we can go over it later. And I also like when we do independent work and then the teacher goes over it later like my last math teacher Ms.Schwartz. And 3 things I dislike is when the teacher goes over it and I couldn't hear the teacher, so get it wrong cause I didn't know how to do. I don't like it when the teacher doesn't tell us when a test or a quiz is until the day before the test or quiz is. And also I don't like when the teacher doesn't explain something I don't understand clearly so therefore I get it wrong on a test, quiz, or an exit-slip. When the teacher doesn't give a good explanation, for example for a long time I didn't understand how to add and subtract integers, it was all very confusing for me. I also don't like when the teacher gives me directions and I don't get them so they say to figure it out your self, that's the reason why I'm asking the teacher this to understand it more.

    My goals for this year is to get A's and B's especially for math because last year math was kinda hard for me. So if you would be kind to explain real good and give examples for me to understand math a little bit better. And I would also not like to fail math, my goal for math is to at least get a B or a C, if you help me reach my goal I will be happy and my parents would be proud of me as well. I will try my hardest to reach my goal for math.

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  4. Colin Denehy-

    I am NOT a math person. I do not like it, nor do I usually have the stamina to keep doing it when it gets hard. I have no idea where this comes from, but it's always been like that. One thing I like that teachers do in their classes is use hands on examples. For example, Mrs. Fedders brang in Hershey bars to help us with fractions, and Mrs. Music let us bring in candy so we could better understand probability. Also I like when teachers engage the students, this way we're not falling asleep over the class period. Another thing I like is when teachers make the lesson fun, like put in stories or use games. As many things as I like about math class, there are several things that I don't, one of them being teachers who just make us learn all the time. Now, I'm not saying every day we should do something fun, but it would be nice to have a break once in a while. Also, I don't like teachers who give us test after test, with no study time in between. Another thing I don't like is quizzes with very little questions. If we miss one point, it could bring our grade down a whole letter. My goals for this year is to get more into math and work harder at it, and all I need from you is just to help me get through the material with as little confusion as possible. I hope this is a great year!

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