Happy Holidays from Mrs. S!

I wanted to wish all of my students and their families Happy Holidays!  I hope that you take the two week break and refresh your bodies and minds.  Once we return we will be hot and heavy on the downhill slide towards the TAKS test.  Love you all!

Semester is Winding Down!

I thought I would go ahead and give you the head's up on what the remainder of this semester will look like so that you can plan accordingly.

Thursday 12/2- Quiz over Data Representations
Friday 12/3- Linear Functions Problem Solving

 *** Tuesday 12/7 an Thursday 12.9 are the LAST tutoring days for this semester!

Monday 12/6-Thursday 12/9- Probability (Unit 8)
Friday 12/10- Unit 7 and 8 Test (Data Representations and Probability)

Monday 12/13- Tuesday 12/14- Review for Exam
Wednesday 12/15- First Period Exam is Math!

November 29th-December 3rd

Monday:
Displays of Data and Data Representation
HW: Practice Sheet #14

Tuesday:
Scatterplot Practice and Is There A Relationship?
HW: Practice Sheet #14 and bring in a graph from newspaper, magazine, etc. for 5 pts. on quiz

Wednesday:
Misuses and Validity of Data
HW: Practice Sheet #14 and bring in graph

Thursday:
Review Displaying Data and Data Representations
Data Representations Quiz
HW: Practice Sheet #14

Friday:
Review Displaying Data and Data Representations
4 Corners Recording Sheet Group Work
Practice Sheet Due!

Graphs Extra Credit

Don't forget that the Extra Credit poster is due when we return on Monday, November 29th! I will NOT accept any late projects.

The graphs that need to be included are:
Scatterplot Diagrams
Bar Graphs
Line Graps
Histograms
Venn Diagrams
Circle Graphs
Line Plots
Stem and Leaf Plots
Box and Whisker Plots

November 15th-23rd with Mrs. Smith

We have only 6 1/2 days until we are out for the break and a lot to do during that time.  Here is a run-down of what we will be doing so that you can be caught up and ready for the holidays.

Monday:
Graph Match-Up (review for next Monday's test)
Sampling TAKS Workout 30
HW: Samples and Surveys w/s

Tuesday:
What's In A Name? Group Work (Box and Whisker Plots)
HW: How Old Are They? (due Thursday) and Practice Sheet #13

Wednesday:
What's In A Name? Presentations
HW: How Old Are They? (due tomorrow) and Practice Sheet #13

Thursday:
Unit 5, 6 and 7 Review
HW: Practice Sheet #13

Friday:
Unit 5 Test

Monday:
Finish Unit 5 Test
Unit 6 and 7 Test

Tuesday: 
Finish Unit 6 and 7 Test

Have a Safe Thanksgiving!  EXTRA CREDIT(for 3rd Six Weeks): Create a poster of the 9 different types of graphs we are learning about this week. It must include a visual representation, definition of the graph and labels. DUE 11/29 for credit!

This Week in Mrs. S's Classroom

We are starting a new unit here at school covering Mean, Median, Mode, Range and different types of graphs.  I will be starting to give TAKS practice to the students as well so that they can see how the topics we are covering are going to be asked on the test.

Assignments (and Homework) for this week:

Monday:
Monday Memory Quiz (Algebraic Expressions)
Mean, Median, Mode and Range Practice
HW- Practice Sheet 12 and TAKS MMMR w/s

Tuesday:
Begin Graph Notes
Scatterplot, Bar Graph and Line Graph TAKS
HW- Practice Sheet 12 and FINISH classwork

Wednesday:
Continue Graph Notes
Histograms and Venn Diagrams
HW- Practice Sheet 12 and Finish classwork

EXTRA CREDIT(for 3rd Six Weeks): Create a poster of the 9 different types of graphs we are learning about this week. It must include a visual representation, definition of the graph and labels. DUE 11/29 for credit!

Thursday:
Continue Graph Notes
Circle Graphs
HW- Practice Sheet 12 and TAKS Graph w/s

Friday:
Continue Graph Notes
Line Plots, Stem and Leaf Plots, and Box and Whisker Plots
Practice Sheet Due!

Pack Your Bags Project

Don't forget that your "Pack Your Bags" Project is due on FRIDAY, November 5th with NO EXCEPTIONS!  If you are absent, you can email it into me so that I can print it out and grade it.

The Six Weeks grading period is over on Friday and I need to get these graded and in the gradebook (remember they are a TEST grade) so that they will be on your 2nd Six Weeks grades.

Agenda for Nov. 1st- 5th

Friday marks the end of this six weeks and ALL of my grades will cut off on Thursday after tutorials is over at 4:30 p.m. Yes, I will have an extended tutoring time to cover those who are working on make-up work and Zero Busters.

Agenda for the week:

Monday-
Benchmark during class
Practice Sheet #11 (due Friday)

Tuesday-
Benchmark during class
Practice Sheet #12 (due Friday)

Wednesday-
Solving Equations Algebraically
(evens will be homework)

Practice Sheet #12 (due Friday)

Thursday-
Writing Algebraic Expressions
(WAE w/s will be homework if NOT finished in class)
Practice Sheet #11
Extended Tutorials (until 4:30 p.m.) because TODAY is Grade cut-off

Friday-
Review of Algebraic Expressions, Equations and Algebraic Thinking
Project Print Outs DUE!

Benchmarks are Coming

Next Monday and Tuesday we will be taking our second Benchmark of the year. Please make sure that your students are well rested and have eaten before taking this test. This test will go in the grade book as a test grade for this six weeks.

Also, the Pack Your Bags projects are due November 5th! Late projects will NOT be accepted and will result in a 0 for that test grade!

October 25th-29th with Mrs. S

Another crazy busy week in the land of Mrs. S! :) Make sure you refer to the previous post about the happenings for Red Ribbon Week this week!

Monday
Monday Memory Quiz over Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences
Begin Algebraic Expressions (#13-17 independent)
HW: Practice Sheet #10 (due Friday- +5 if turned in early)

Tuesday
Begin research in Computer Lab for "Pack Your Bags" project
Project is due November 5th!
HW: Practice Sheet #10 (see above)

Wednesday
Algebra Tiles and One Step Equations
Algebra Tiles (#10-15 independent)
HW: Practice Sheet #10 (see above)

Thursday
Continue research in Computer Lab for "Pack Your Bags" project
No other time in class will be given. All of the remaining MUST be done on their own tmie. Students can come to the computer lab after school for finishing their project. There is a sample project uploaded to my Teacher Web Page.
HW: Practice Sheet #10

Friday
Two-Step Equations and Mix-It Madness (Two-Step #7-9 and Mix It #1-6 independent)

Monday and Tuesday we will be doing our second Benchmark. Make sure that you are rested and have gotten a good breakfast to start your day. Our goal is for all three class periods to have a 75% or higher class average. What will Mrs. S do if we reach this?

Box Tops for Ice Cream!

Friday was our first collection day for Box Tops. After school, the Box Top Committee counted up a total of 1398 Box Tops!

Mrs. Batten's class was the runner up with almost 400 Box Tops but my class was the winning class with a total of 901 Box Tops! :)

We will be having an Ice Cream Party on November 3rd at lunch to celebrate! :)

Mrs. S's Smarties

I have been looking for a way to showcase student work in our classroom. I have a section of the bulletin board in the 8th grade hallway that I have labeled Mrs. S's Smarties. This will be for all of my students who make spectacular grades on their quizzes, homework (not Practice Sheets) and tests. What is a spectacular grade you might ask? Any student who makes a 95 or higher on any of these assignments OR they have made an improvement of at least 20 points from their previous quiz, homework or test.

This definitely will help students set goals in my class and be motivated to make the board in the hallway. Also, as an added perk, they will get a pack of Smarties from me when they make the board.

Red Ribbon Week Days

Monday- Sock it to Drugs! (Red shirt with dress bottoms, crazy socks- Contest with the winner from 7th grade and 8th grade receiving a Sonic Gift Card)

Tuesday- Be Smart, Don't Do Drugs! (Nerd Day with dress bottoms- Contest with the winner from 7th grade and 8th grade receiving a Sonic Gift Card)

Wednesday- Live Your Dream (Pajama Day)

Thursday- Lasso Up Drugs (Western Wear- out of dress)

Friday- Drugs can't find us! (Camo shirt with dress bottoms)

Classroom Update

Friday is when I had my cut off for all my grades for Progress Reports. They will be going out on Tuesday during homeroom. Homeroom switches will occur on Thursday since we have a Pep Rally on Wednesday afternoon.

If you are selling candy for Student Council, make sure that you are bringing it to me everytime you have $20. I don't want you carrying around excess money and risk it being lost. Thanks for all that you do!

Week 8 at CMS!

This week is a busy week! Just to give you a run-down:

Monday- How Big Is Barbie? due from Friday
Wednesday- Review for Unit 3 and 4 Test
Thursday- Unit 3 and 4 Test
Friday- Begin Unit 5; How Big is Barbie? Extra Credit due! Practice Sheet #8 due
Saturday- Watching Texas beat Nebraska! :)

Next week, I will be introducing our Second Six weeks project.

Don't forget that this Wednesday is Early Release. Also, Progress Reports will be out on the 19th so this week in tutorials is crucial to bring the grades up.

How Big is Barbie?

Today we are doing a project in class over ratios and proportions. The title above may make you wonder so that is why I am posting. Our project (it is a test grade) will be measuring different parts of a female and male action figure and discovering their ratios and how accurate that would be on a normal human being.

Students who are missing class today due to the Environmental Club field trip will have to make this up on their own. I will get the assignment to them on Monday, October 11th and they will have until Friday, October 15th to turn their POSTER into me! Remember this is a test grade so a ZERO would not be a good thing!

Student Council Update

This past weekend our Student Council Officers went to the TASC District 3 Leadership Conference in Corinth, Texas. They did a lot of team-building activities to help strengthen our numbers and we are excited to bring that "bond" back to Crandall Middle School. We did discuss some ideas for the upcoming year as well. We will talk about these in detail at the upcoming Student Council Meeting on October 11th at 3:15 pm.

On October 25th, we will be having our first service project for Student Council. For this Service Project, we will be making Affirmation Cards. These cards will then be sent to several different places (Elementary School Teachers, Police Officers, Firemen, Local Business, etc.) and letting them know how much we appreciate them at CMS. The goal behind this is to not only show how CKH is working in our students but also to help show appreciation for our local businesses.

New Unit- Unit Rate and Proportions

In Pre-Algebra, we just started discovering proportions. We will be studying proportions through next week. This Friday we are doing a project called "How Big is Barbie?" Each group of 4 people will need to bring in a Barbie (or other female figure) and a male action figure (Spiderman, Superman, The HULK, GIJoe, etc.). We will be measuring the various areas of their bodies and then determining if they are proportionate to a human being.

This proves to be a very interesting assignment. I have asked all of the students to put on their "mature hats" while we do this assignment. We have discussed that any inappropriate actions will result in an automatic office referral.

Now that we are in a new Six Weeks, I hope that all students will stay on top of their grades. Report Cards are going home today and I am very pleased. My failure rate is lower and my overall averages in each class are higher than last year. I hope this continues and that each of my students continue to show the effort that it takes to do well in Pre-Algebra.

If you didn't know my goal for this year already, It is my goal to not only make sure all of my students succeed in knowing the core curriculum for Pre-Algebra but that they are able to relate this core curriculum to the real world and also apply it to the end of the year assessment (TAKS). My goal for TAKS is that no child is left behind and that we have 100% mastery in my class. Each student has their own mastery level and I know that it is possible for them to do well. :)

Quiz, Benchmarks and More

On Monday, the MMQ (Monday Memory Quiz) will be over Scientific Notation. Make sure you understand what you need to so that you will excel and have a great first quiz grade! :)

Last week's benchmarks went well. The students worked hard and many were VERY proud of their scores. I will be contacting parents of those students who made a 50 or below on the test as I want to STRONGLY URGE that these students start attending tutorials on a regular basis. It is crucial that we cover these things now and are not kicking ourselves in March as we bare down and prepare for the TAKS test.

On October 8th, we have a Pirate Pride Assembly during Homeroom. Students will be receiving awards for grades and attendance. Congratulate your students if they receive one because of their continued hard work at CMS.

Don't forget our next Student Council Meeting is October 11th at 3:15 pm in Room 316. We will be talking about committees, Red Ribbon Week, our upcoming service project for the community, our fundraiser and District Fundraising Week.

Binder Grade Tomorrow

Tuesday and Wednesday we will be taking our first Benchmark of the year. I have stressed the importance of these benchmarks and how they will affect them over the course of the year. Please make sure that your student gets a good night sleep and eats well before school tomorrow and Wednesday.

Tomorrow I will be looking at binders and taking a grade on them. What I am looking for is all 6 practice sheets. If a student is missing them then their grades will be reflected as so. I am hoping that all students will make a 100 on this Binder grade and that all of the binder grades that I give will help teach responsibility for the future.

Homecoming Weekend

I hope that everyone has a wonderful, and safe, Homecoming weekend in Crandall. I launched all of my students today with "Have a great weekends; Stay safe; Make good decisions and see you on Monday!"

Don't forget: Benchmark #1 on Tuesday/Wednesday
NO QUIZ next week! :)
Practice Sheet #6 will be given on Monday and due on Friday as usual.
Grade cut off is Wednesday for my class. I will have all tutorial sign ups on Tuesday and Thursday put up first thing Monday morning. I will hold you responsible for showing up! :) Don't make me call you! :)

Tutoring, Benchmarks and More

Yesterday afternoon was an amazing (but wild) afternoon in tutoring. We had over 30 students sign in and come to make up grades before the end of the Six Weeks. Remember that this week I will not be having tutoring on Thursday afternoon due to Homecoming festivities. Next week we will be back on track for Tuesday and Thursday tutoring.

If your student has low grades in my class, I URGE them to come to tutoring on these days (and ask about others) because I am here to give them help.

Our first benchmark is next Tuesday and Thursday. This is a district benchmark over what has been taught so far in Eighth Grade. It don't want it to be stressful for the students but I want them to understand that the Benchmarks that we give are very important because they will determine many things for our future (TAKS Tutoring, Flex Year attendance, etc.). Please make sure that you (or your student) gets a good night sleep the night before and is well nourished the morning of the benchmark.

Have a wonderful day!

Oh, and if you didn't see on the previous post (POP QUIZ is Thursday this week!)

Upcoming Assessments!

Tomorrow, Friday, September 17, we will be having a POP QUIZ over using formulas to solve problems (what we have been doing Wednesday and Thursday).
Monday, September 20th: Unit 2 Assessment (Different Representations of Rational Numbers)
Thursday, September 23rd: Rational and Irrational Number Quiz

Remember that Unit 1 Test Make Up is on Monday, 9/20 or Tuesday, 9/21 ONLY!

4 weeks ago...

- I was getting ready to head back to school.
- I was excited about meeting all my new students, teaching in a new classroom, starting a fresh year.
- I was planning like crazy to make everything just right.
- I was staying late to get all the finishing touches on the classroom.
- I was making lesson plans to WOW my class.
- I was running copies for the first week of school.

4 days ago...
- I was wrapping up a weekend with my husband.
- I was preparing to start a new week with my new students.
- I was updating the blog to make sure that my parents were updated on what is going on in our classroom.
- I was pulling new materials for our classroom lessons that are coming up.

4 hours ago...
- I was getting off from a day at work with my wonderful 8th graders.
- I was still smiling at getting a compliment today in the lunchroom about my 4th period class! (Keep it up!)
- I was reflecting on what else to bring into my classroom to help my students not only learn Pre-Algebra skills but also Social Skills and Real-Life skills.
- I was thinking about all those Good Notes that I need to write. We will be writing affirmations tomorrow for a Bellringer, so think of who you want to affirm for doing something great in your life at school.

Homework, Homework, Homework

We have been having some trouble getting our homework in and I wanted to make sure that you know how important doing your homework is. Homework is practice of previously learned things and is vital for success in the school year.

Eighth Grade policy is to NOT accept late work. Therefore any assignment that is NOT turned in on it's due date is given a 0! The first time that this happens, parent contact occurs (via email or phone call). The second time it is an after school detention. The third time is an office referral. If a detention is skipped, it is also an office referral.

Practice Sheets are given at the beginning of the week and due on Friday. We rarely have other homework during the week and normally it is classwork that is not completed. Please make sure to be checking over homework with your student weekly.

Thank You from the Bottom of My Heart!

I want to thank you all so much for the support and concern that was poured out from students, family members, staff and other people at CMS and CISD. I am truly humbled by the generosity and sense of family that Crandall provides. I know I am in the right place because my heart tells me so!

Don't forget, StuCo Meeting on Monday afternoon from 3:30-4:15pm. We will be choosing our 8 officers for this school year! Anyone who attends has a vote so be there if you want to help choose our leaders for this school year.

Progress is being made!

We have been so busy at school and are already on the down hill slide of our third week. OH MY HECK where has the time gone? Progress Reports will be going home on Friday so make sure that you ask you child for their report. Also, don't forget that you can check VSI at all times to see your student's grades as well.

I will be having tutorials Thursday afternoon and staying as long as needed so feel free to have your student stay. I apologize for not being there today as I had a fall while walking into work and had to be taken to the Urgent Care center in Garland to get it checked out. It turns out to only be a strain on my joints (thankfully).

We have our first Unit test on Thursday (tomorrow) and I am sure that everyone will do great. I am also doing a binder check and looking for the 3 handouts that have been given so far (multiplication chart, operation rules and coordinate graph foldable). If your student has all 3 it is an EASY 100! 2/3= 67 1/3= 34 and 0/3= 0. I take two binder grades a 6 weeks so these are easy for your student to be able to keep up with.

Also I am taking a composition notebook grade. These grades are for extra credit on their test. I will take them up EVERY time we have a test and put the grade in the comp book. If you haven't seen your students grade sheet in their binder yet, take a look at it as it is where all their grades are kept (followed by their graded papers). They should always be in there.

I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff graded this weekend and back to you so that we can start doing corrections and have even more updated grades. Remember that my tutorial times are Tuesday and Thursday after school. I am there until 4:30 pm on those two days.

Student Council Announcement: Our first meeting is September 13th from 3:30-4:15 pm. We will meet in room 316 and be voting that day for our officers. We have a big leadership conference coming up that ALL officers will be attending on October 2nd in Corinth, TX. More details to come on that after officers are elected.

Tallest Tower Team Building

Last week we worked in groups to create the "Tallest Tower". Each class did this leading up to creating their Social Contracts so that they would see some of the skills necessary for working in groups. Each student worked really hard in this activity and we even had our very own Special Guest "Steve Urkel" from the 1990's hit show Family Matters. Hope he stops by again really soon! We might just have some cheese for him! :)

Second Week has Begun!

We have begun our second week at CMS and students are doing great. Make sure that you are in dress code each day as it is crucial to not miss out in the classroom.

Student Council Representative Forms can be picked up in the office and are due back to Mrs. Smith-Sloane (room 316) by Friday, September 3rd. Our first meeting will be Monday, September 13th from 3:15-4:15 pm in Mrs. Smith-Sloane's class. Mrs. Willis (7th grade science) will be helping us this year. We can't wait to get some ideas rolling of what the students want to see here at the school.

This week we will start our first unit on Rational Numbers and Coordinate Pairs. Our Unit Test will be next Thursday, September 9th. Remember all of our tests begin with a blank multiplication chart that students must be filled in. This is to help practice our multiplication skills and a valuable tool to be able to be used on the test as well.

Remember as always, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you! :) Have a great day and I hope to upload some photos from last week tomorrow.

Crazy Busy First Week

We have had an amazingly, crazy first week. Monday started off with a bang. Tuesday followed suit and we ended the night with Meet The Teacher. I was so proud to see all of your bright and smiling faces and get to meet parents. Although it was a brief second, I still love meeting the families of my students so I know who I will be talking to over the course of the year. Wednesday we played a fun team-building game in class on the Tallest Building and had a great time with it (pictures will be coming soon). Today, each class created their Social Contract for the year. The video below explains a bit more about the system that we use for this.



Each class will be getting a copy of their Social Contract to keep in their binders (in the handouts section). I am hoping the binders that each student is keeping is going to help keep them organized in Math this year and will save on a lot of the "I lost it." or "Can I get a new copy?" Taking a few minutes now may make the difference for the future.

I have received a few emails about how to remain updated when new blog posts arise. You can become a "Follower" of this blog. By doing so you are showing me that you are a reader of the blog. If you are a Google user, you can use Google Reader and our blog will show up in that feed. Also, I have added a "Subscribe To" feature where you can get the blog posts in other online readers. If you use Outlook, some servers will also allow you to add it to your RSS feeds. Hope this helps.

Check back often and don't forget to leave comments! :) Don't forget that TOMORROW (Friday, August 27th) is our Beginning of the Year Diagnostic Test and you have a Practice Sheet due. Next week I will be going over the First Six Weeks project that is a Test Grade! :)

What A Great First Day!

Today was an amazing start to the 2010-2011 school year at Crandall Middle School. Loved the new school clothes, supplies and smiles on the students faces. If your student did not bring their supplies today, make sure that they bring them to class tomorrow. I will continue to collect them as the come in and store them in the classroom.

Today, your student received a class syllabus (can be found on our Website here). They were urged to have their binder, dividers and composition notebooks starting tomorrow! We want to have organized students in Mrs. Smith-Sloane's class year and we can't do it without these three items.

I did receive some Kleenex (13 boxes) and expect this to last until about October at best. Please send Kleenex as you can to our classroom so we can combat sneezes and runny noses with comfort. :)

Thank you for all that you have done to support your student's education so far.

Homework for August 23:
1. Parent Email (read directions at the bottom of the course syllabus)
2. Get all Math Supplies (check course syllabus)
3. Bring magazines for Thursday (appropriate material please)
4. Practice Sheet #1 (1-5 ONLY)

Don't forget to remember: Pirates SHINE!

Welcome Back!

I am so excited to be back at Crandall Middle School for another year of Eighth Grade Pre-Algebra. I am also taking on the responsibility of Middle School Student Council Sponsor and am very excited about that as well.

This blog is a place to keep up with when things are due, upcoming school events, Student Council meetings, etc. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog posts (make sure to have your name) to ask questions or just respond. Who knows I might put some Extra Credit on the blog sometime!