Last Day of August!

Another great day here at CMS!

STAAR Math- Make sure you finish your Operations Homework! Remember, we will be making our Duct Tape Note Wallets tomorrow in class. Make sure to have your Duct Tape so we can create these! :)

Newspaper- No homework tonight. Your final copy of your interview is due by Friday. We will start partners tomorrow for our first article hopefully.

Pre-Algebra- Remember that your Vocabulary is due tomorrow! Also, Basic Skills Integers is due on Friday! We have Friday Fun Day coming on Friday where we will be playing some educational games. These will be for a grade and I expect 100% active participation from each member of the class.

Newspaper Blog Post

“What new skills have you learned from having an interview and then writing about the interview?”

Please respond to this blog post in 3-5 sentences. You will receive a 100 as long as you respond with a thoughtful post and with the correct number of sentences.

Check back tomorrow to see what other students say they have learned.

When you have finished, please open Microsoft Word and begin typing your rough draft that is due today. Write your name at the top of the paper. Use a 12-14 point font, only using Tahoma or Times New Roman font. Make sure your spelling is correct, no red lines under misspelled words.

When you are finished, go ahead and print it out. Also save it to your H drive as Interview Rough Draft.

If you finish before the class period is over, please swap papers with another person in the class and read each others paper. Look over what you could possibly change and have a Peer Editing Conference. Discuss things and make changes in pencil on your typed copy.

Turn your typed rough draft in before you leave.

Odd Period Classes 8/30

Flipped Pre-Algebra:

Video for tonight: Properties of Whole Numbers

Do a 3-2-1 response for this. I want to know 3 things you learned, 2 things you want to know more about and 1 example.

Basic Skills Integers w/s will be due on Friday. Don't forget to get all of your work in so that you are able to play games this Friday.

STAAR:

Operations of Integers Practice Problems are due FRIDAY!

Also, check out the new button on the side that says Limeades for Learning. Click on it and it will take you to the site for you to vote for a project that I have created to be funded. I would appreciate any votes that you give. You can vote all the way through September 30th. Share it on your Facebook and have your friends and family vote as well! :) Thanks everyone!

Newspaper 8/29

Journal: Free Write on a topic of your choice in the first section of your spiral.

If you have supplies for me, please have them out on your desk and I will come around and get them.

-Post It Note Activity (Focus and Flow)

Independent Practice: Write a rough draft of your interview article. The rough draft needs to be written in the third section of your spiral. SKIP LINES! Your article should have a flow to it with at least 10 sentences since you asked ten questions. Break it up into paragraphs and group like things together.

Your rough draft is due on Wednesday when come to the Computer Lab.

Starting Strong!

Another great week is upon us and we are definitely starting strong! This week proves to be another busy one and hopefully we will make it through together.

Flipped Pre-Algebra:

Watch the following videos tonight- Adding Integers with Different Signs, Multiplying Negative Real Numbers, and Dividing Real Numbers with Different Signs (these are crucial because you will need these skills for the rest of your life). Notes tonight are simply 1-2 examples from EACH video! :)

Vocabulary Chapter 1 is due on Thursday!

Pre-Algebra:

Review the examples that we went over in class about Absolute Value. Use your graph spiral to help you with your vocabulary and your Vocabulary Chapter 1 is due on Thursday as well!

STAAR Math:

No homework tonight but remember that you need your Duct Tape by Thursday! We will be creating our note wallets on that day. If you don't have your Duct Tape, you will be creating your note cards and have to find a safe place to store them until you do.

Newspaper:

Check your assignment post for what you need to be doing today and for homework. It will be posted at 10 am.

Newspaper Assmt. 8/26

It's Friday! WOO HOO!

Journal (write this in your spiral): Look at the list of 10 topics that you wrote about the other

day. Choose from the top 3 topics to find a topic that you love the most! Create a KWL graphic organizer of everything that you know and want to know about the topic. You need to have at least three things in each of the K and W columns. You will not fill out the L column. It should look like this in your spiral.

When you finish your journal, go to this article on How To Write an Interview Article and read it. You have already completed steps 1 and 2. Today you are going to work on step 3 and 4.

What is your focus of your interview? What do you want others to know about this person? After you have found the important parts of your interview transcript, write in the third section of your spiral the following things:

Interview Date:

Person Interviewed:

Focus (main idea):

Key Points (should have 3-5):

**Your focus and Key Points should be written in a complete sentence.**

We made it!

I am so happy to say that we have made it through the first week of school without many hiccups! I am loving my classes more and more each day. Their attention to detail and getting their work done is amazing me more and more every day! You are already knocking my socks off and I hope that as the year continues it not only continues to gets even better!

Flipped Pre-Algebra (1st Period): Please go to Khan Academy and watch the "Absolute Value of Integers" video this weekend. Take notes in either KWL format or 3-2-1. We will talk about this on Monday.

Newspaper: You have done an amazing job in the computer lab this week and I couldn't be happier! Next week we will get our first article assignments for the upcoming publication of the first newspaper!

Pre-Algebra (8th Period): You are doing great and working hard in class. No homework this weekend unless you didn't finish some of your assignments this week. You may turn them in on Monday for a max of a 70.

Remember, you are SMART, you are IMPORTANT and I Love You! Have a great weekend!

Where has the week gone?

I'm sure that a lot of us are feeling that way today! It's been a busy week and we are almost done with the first week of school! It has been awesome for sure!

As the week comes to an end, there are several assignments that are due tomorrow.

1st Period: Fractions 1 and Translating Words are both due tomorrow. Don't forget to go to www.khanacademy.org and watch 1. Variables and Expression 1 2. Greatest Common Divisor and 3. Least Common Multiple. These will all help you on your diagnostic test tomorrow.

2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th: Make sure you are staying up on your other math work! I will be checking to make sure you don't have any zeroes each week.

8th Period: Fractions 1 and Translating Words are both due tomorrow. Don't forge to have your graph spiral each day in class. This is 100% for our notes and it is why we ask for a spiral.

If you have any questions (or comments), leave them on the blog and I will make sure to answer them!

Newspaper Activity 8/25

Go to the 7th Grade Newspaper Survey and answer the questions on the survey. When you are finished, open Microsoft Word and begin typing your Interview questions and answers that are due today.

Make sure you put your name at the top of your document in Microsoft Word so that when you print it out I will know who it belongs to.

Wonderful Wednesday

Another great day has come and gone and we are ready for another one!

STAAR Math: Remember that you will need to have your supplies by tomorrow! We will be using the duct tape in class next week! Rational Number Practice worksheet is due tomorrow as well. :) Most of you finished this in class.

8th Period Pre-Algebra: Check Your Readiness is due tomorrow! You should have your graph spiral by now as we will be keeping all of our notes in this spiral. It is a mandatory supply.

Also, the Basic Skills Fractions is due on Friday. Don't forget to head on over to http://tinyurl.com/4mulafun to finish the survey for your EASY 100!

Student Council: We will have our first meeting on September 8th after school until 4:15 pm. Make sure to pick up a sign-up sheet in my room (room 316) or from Mrs. Good at the front desk. I need these filled out with all the information so that I will be able to contact you throughout the course of the year.

Also, search for CMS Stu Co on Facebook and request to join! We are open to all Student Council officers, members and parents.

We are off to a great start!

Yesterday proved to be a great day! The students showed how excited they were to see their friends and start a new school year. I heard a great buzz all day long! I am so excited to be back here and teaching at Crandall Middle School.

Don't forget to answer the survey (Pre-Algebra and STAAR Math) by Sunday, August 28th by 11:59 pm. This is an EASY 100 that you should all be able to get! The labs are open in the morning and available for you to use if you do not have a computer at home.

Tonight's Assignments:

1st Period: Go to www.khanacademy.org and sign up for a free account. This will be where our videos come from this school year. Once you have signed up, click on "Coach" and you will add me as your coach by typing in my email 4mulafun@gmail.com.

You can also download the Khan Academy app on your iPhone, iTouch, iPad or Droid device.

Tonight, you will need to watch the videos: Converting Fractions to Decimals and Variables and Expressions 1. You will take your notes on page 12 in your composition book using the 3-2-1 method (3 things you learned from the video, 2 things you want to know more about, and 1 question you have or example from the videos). This will be used in our class discussion on Thursday so make sure it is complete.

Also your Basic Skills Fractions is due on Friday. Don't forget that Check Your Readiness is due on Thursday as well.

STAAR Math: You will need to complete the Rational Number Practice assignment that will be due on Thursday. They were given time in class to work on it and were able to turn it in if they finished.

Welcome Back!

Today we are starting our very first day of school and I couldn't be happier! There are so many great things planned for you this year and I am excited to hit the ground running with them! :)

Just a few reminders for today:

1. 1st Period- Have your Composition Book by Tuesday! Check Your Readiness is due on Thursday!

2. 8th Period- Have your Graph Spiral by Wednesday! Check Your Readiness is due on Thursday!

3. ALL MATH CLASSES- Please visit http://tinyurl.com/4mulafun to complete the Student Survey. All information is confidential and will only be seen by myself. This will count as your student’s first participation grade in my class. EASY 100! J The survey is due by August 28th at 11:59 pm.

4. Newspaper- Have your 3-subject spiral by Wednesday.

I do hope that you all had a wonderful day. Please feel free to leave a comment on this blog post for an extra 5 points on this Friday's test! :) Make sure you leave your first name and last initial.

Upcoming School Year...

Well, today I got my first glimpse of my schedule for the upcoming school year. To start off, I must let you know about the changes in our schedule. We will be on a modified block schedule. This means that on Monday, Thursday and Friday we will see all of our classes for 45 minutes. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will only see half of our students (one day for EVEN periods, one day for ODD periods). This will definitely take some getting used to but I am excited about the adventure.

My schedule is as follows:

1st Period: Pre-Algebra

2nd Period: STAAR Math

3rd Period: STAAR Math

4th Period: Newspaper

5th Period: Conference

6th Period: STAAR Math

7th Period: STAAR Math

8th Period: Pre-Algebra

As I stated in my previous entry about doing a Flipped Classroom this upcoming year, I will be doing that during 1st period. I am so very excited about this upcoming year and know that we will get through it together and do great!

P.S. I will be passign out my school supply requests on the first day of class. Please come with something to write with that day. That is ALL that you will need to start with me. I will also post my lists here on the blog during the week before school starts.