More INB updates

Where has the time gone? We are already in our 3rd week of school and progress reports go home on Friday! Oh my!

Tomorrow and Wednesday I will be checking notebooks for this six weeks. I will be looking for completeness, table of contents being up to date and your Unit 1 Title Page. More examples of what we have done in class are below. You should have through page 19 filled in.

Unit 1 Cover Sheet pg. 10

2nd Vocab Word (pg. 14) **Page 15 will also be vocabulary) 

Comparing and Ordering Notes (pg. 16)

Also, if you are absent, don't forget to check out the Class Handouts folder for the dates you are absent to get copies of what you missed. As soon as all the Graded Paper files have names on them, you will be able to track your grades by checking your file.

If you need to come to tutorials this week, remember that my times are as follows:

Tuesday 3:45-4:30 pm

Wednesday and Thursday: 8:00 am-8:25 am

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!

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.

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.

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. :)

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! :)

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.