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.

Summer Time

I do hope that all of my students are enjoying their summer. I have enjoyed having each and every one of you in many ways this past year. I will always remember the many things that we have been through and know that it can only get better.

I do hope to see each of you graduate from high school in four years and will be there to cheer you on!

As far as it goes for next year, I will be teaching three Pre-Algebra classes, three STAAR Math classes and 7th grade Newspaper. I will also still be the Student Council sponsor and we have even built a Facebook Group if you are interested in being a part of Student Council. You have to be approved so please just request a membership.

At least one of my classes will be piloting a new program next year called a "Flipped Classroom". If you are interested in learning a bit more about this, spend some time in Google and you will learn a ton! I know I am so excited about this.

As a part of this, I have added a new email that my students can reach me at, 4mulafun@gmail.com. I am also on Twitter and can be found @4mulafun.

I hope you are all doing great and I will see you in August! I am already busy working on all the great stuff that we will be doing in the Fall and I can't wait to spend time with all of you.

Almost There!

As the year dies down, we are coming up on a lot of fast paced days. Here is a run down of what is to come.

May 16th-20th
Mon- Review for test
Tues- TAKS Retest/Algebra Readiness Test
Wed- Check Test
Thurs- Exam Study Guide
Fri- Exam Study Guide

May 23rd-27th
Mon- Check Exam Study Guide
Tues- Final Exam
Wed- Final Exam (if you finish on Tuesday, this time will be used for studying for another test)
Thurs- 8th Grade Field Day (students may leave at 10 am and still be counted present for the day)
Fri- Awards Ceremony (students may leave from the awards ceremony)

TAKS Has Come...

and we are getting ready for Algebra! This week and next week we are doing two projects. I apologize for not getting out the information to you sooner but most items are not needed until Tuesday so getting them over the weekend helps.

Our Country Project is due on Tuesday and the Geometric Town is due on Friday. The Country is an independent project and each person must create their own. I have extra copies of the requirements if needed in the classroom.

I will pass out the Geometric Town requirements on Friday so that my students may start working on gathering supplies over the weekend. They are also attached to my daily email from Thursday, April 7th, 2011.

Just a heads up, I will be out on April 12th and 13th for a training once again. My students will continue with their projects and that is part of the reason I am giving them their requirements early.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jsmith@crandall-isd.net and I will answer them as soon as I can. I will be taking my laptop with me on Tuesday and Wednesday and checking in as needed.