MAT1L Review Sheets

I thought I'd share my Grade 9 locally developed math work sheets.
I reviewed for 2 days before they started their culminating activity in lieu of exam.

The first day looks at: ( Click here)
Money
Linear Measurements
Area and Volume

The second day reviews: ( Click here)
Fractions
Ratio, Rate & Proportion
Cooking

I forgot my pencil!

What do you do with the students who come to class without a pencil?

I cannot count the number of students that come to class without anything to write with.  There are lots excuses for this including:
1. They simply forget.
2. They don't want to complete any work.
3. They want an excuse to leave class and go back to their locker.
4. They can't afford to buy supplies or have no way to get to a store.

Whatever their excuse is, we as teachers need to do our best to make sure that the "I don't have a pencil" disruption does not occur in the middle of our lesson.

Here are a few things you may want to try:

1. If the student cannot borrow one from someone, then they will have to copy their note out at lunch of after school.

2. Buy pencils in bulk or ask parents to send in a package of 10 pencils with their child at the beginning of the year.

3. Have a can on your desk where students can deposit $0.25 to buy a pencil from you.

4. Allow students to borrow pencils, but they must loan you something of theirs to ensure you get your pencil back.  (a shoe, Ipod, backpack, etc)

5. Check with the school janitors and custodians.  Some have a stash of pencils they've collected off of the floor that you could loan to your students.

6. Buy a large box of golf pencils... you know the ones!  They are cheap and students usually don't walk away with them.  I found a teacher that recommended this site to buy golf pencils for only $0.01 each! 

I find different solutions work in different classrooms.  Try a few out and see what works best with yours  :)

What do you do in your class?  I'd love to hear from you!

Stumped Parents

I love this comic.  There are so many parents sitting with their child at the table this very minute who are shaking their heads at their child's homework.  As a parent, I know what it feels like to want your child to succeed and I can understand how frustrating it must be when they come to you with a math question that you don't know the answer to.


Don't feel bad parents!!!  There are many reasons why your head may be spinning at the site of something like parabolic transformations.  You may not be able to work out the solution with your child yourself, but here's what you CAN do:

1. If you just need to brush up on your math skills, take a look through the textbook, odds are there are some examples of the types of questions your child is working on and you may be able to learn together.  What a confidence builder for you both!

2. Hire a tutor or seek the help of a peer tutor.  A lot of students now need volunteer hours in order to graduate and this may be an opportunity students would love to take advantage of!

And here's my favourite 'goto' source.....
3. USE THE INTERNET  :)

Technology has come A LONG way since I went to school.  The amount of information out there is absolutely astonishing.  I got my first computer when I was in grade 12.  We had dial up internet and my computer had a 500 mb Hard Drive.  It is unbelievable how far we've come since then and it can be a savior for parents trying to help their children with their math homework.

Here are a few places you can check out on the world wide web

YOUTUBE and TEACHERTUBE- Youtube and teachertube math lessons/tutorials are become increasingly popular with teachers, parents, and students. 
As of today, the youtube channel kahnacademy has 2346 videos posted with over 55 million views while another channel yourteachermathhelp has 677 videos posted with over 16 million views.  I do not endorse one channel over another but these are excellent examples of the online tutorials out there that you and your child can view and learn from together.

If I simply do a search on youtube for '"parabolic transformations" math lesson',
you will find the following videos
Transformation of Parabola  
Graphing Transformations of parabolas/quadratics  
Review Part 3: Quadratic Function: Tranformations of Functions 
Graphing Quadratic Functions - YourTeacher.com - Algebra Help

WEBSITES
There are many websites where you can find math lessons and tutorials but here's a few links!
www.mathtv.com
www.math.com
www.webmath.com
www.hippocampus.org
www.mathatube.com
http://ca.ixl.com/


GOOGLE - Simply google the subject matter you are looking for help with.  If the question is about parabola transformations..... google "parabolic transformations help".  Yes, it's that easy!  If you aren't sure what to google, just take a look at the lesson title in their textbook or notes.


A final note to parents:
DO - Seek help whether it be from their teacher, a tutor, or online tutorial.

DON'T - Proclaim that your child's homework is 'stupid' and they will never have to use this in 'real' life.  You will only be increasing their math anxiety and creating a negative attitude about math in your child that they may in turn pass on to their children.

Leave a comment below if you have any links or resources you'd like to share about the topic and I'll add them into my post  :)


 
Here are a couple of Nintendo DS Games that can make learning fun for those avid video gamers.













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TIPS for Success

Below I've listed 14 TIPS for success in mathematics.  You do not have to follow all of these tips, they just seemed important in my success.  I love organization and I think my organization in math drove my desire to learn.  Do note that different strategies may work for different people.  We all learn in our own way.

In Your Notebook

1. Print neatly and legibly.

2. Underline titles and dates with a ruler.

3. Use a pen for notes and teacher given examples and pencil for your practice work.  It will make looking back for specific notes and examples much easier.

4. Use a different coloured pen or pencil for the question numbers so they don't get lost in your work.

For example:   

                                                                                    pg. 28 # 1, 2, 4 & 7

 

        Simple Addition and Subtraction                                  Oct 22, 2009

        1.a)  2+3=5                1.b)  6+6=12

        1.c)  9-7=2                 1.d)  4-1=3

5. Take your time and do not skip steps.

6. Keep a page in the back of your notebook for important formulas and things to remember.  This will come in handy when studying for tests and your final exam. 

Studying for a Test

7. Review your notes

8. Complete the review using your text and notes

9. If you are having any difficulties, discuss them with your teacher.  Contrary to popular belief, your teacher wants you to do well on the test!

10. Try to complete the chapter test without your text and notes.  If you're stumped, look back in your notes and do an extra few questions of this type.

Taking a Test

11. Be prepared  Make sure you have a pencil, eraser, ruler, calculator, etc.

12. Review the test before beginning.

13. Write down all steps for each question.  Even if your final answer is wrong, you may get part marks for the correct work you’ve done.

14. Review and double check each question before handing in your test.   There is no prize for the person who hands in his/her test first. 

Imaginary Friends

Your joke for the day  :)