info for honors math students

Welcome Math Honor Students!

Hope you enjoy the class, the class meets your expectations and that you are more confident to sign up for a AP math course like Stats or Calculus.

Here are things to expect.

1.    I try to keep both lectures and class question time to a minimum.

2.    We will do most of the work in class a `la “flipped classroom.”  That does not mean you do not have any responsibilities outside of class.  It is quite contrary.

a.    If you don’t finish the work in class, you should do so at home.

b.    If you are not sure you totally absorbed the new concepts, you should go over it on your own, with someone else or watch a video on Youtube.com.

c.     If you feel like you did absorb the concept, you should go over it one more time and explain it out loud to yourself in the mirror or another person.

d.    If there is a test that week, you should start preparing several days in advance.  That way you can ask questions in class about ideas/ problems that feel challenging.

There are other things that can help you succeed:  good attendance, good attitude, good collaboration with others during class, deliberate and concerted focus and being personally accountable.

I wish you all good luck and look forward to helping you become better and more confident mathematicians!

Parent Letter for Alg I parents

Hi parents of Algebra I students!

We are honored to help your students become better mathematicians and successful high school students.  However, we realize it will not be possible if we try to do it alone.

We need your help.  Please!

There are many things you can do to help your child.  I don’t know all of them but I will suggest a few.

1.   Make sure you give your child a space to work.  Someplace well-lit and quiet would be best.

2.   Ask your student about what they are learning in class and when assignments and tests are coming up.  If they tell you there is nothing to do, THAT IS RARELY TRUE.  They can always review for the upcoming test or make up an assignment they recently missed.

3.   If there is a test, make sure your child is preparing for it.  The best way to study for math is to re-do the problems they did in class.  There are also practice tests in the textbook.  If they are struggling, the can ask questions the next day in class

4.   Another great idea is for your child to learn to study with another student in class.  Having to explain their ideas and listen to others is the best way to learn and reinforce learning.  Encourage study dates!

Please contact me if you have any questions or other ideas to help young students.

I thank you for reading this and discussing it with your child.

Sincerely,

Trevor Parker and Arthur Russell

SAMOHI math

tparker@smmusd.org                                    arussell@smmusd.org

last post

Hopefully you are reading this before your final...
Keep studying.  this final matters.  For the record, everyday matters but this one will determine your grade more than any other day so work as hard as you can.   The benefits come later but they will come.  The inverse is also true.  Those who don't hard, the costs will eventually come.

Tuesday 5/26

alg II P - study for test; review guide on blog


alg II Hp - study for test;l review guide on blog

alg I P - start preparing for final; check review guide on the blog.

final review guide for alg II P- period 2 only

2 parts to the test:  multiple choice and free response.  MC is has 2 concepts:  rational functions and exponents/ logs.  Be able to solve word problems that involve d=rt.

Be able to solve both types of equations.  See p. 605 in the text to get an idea of the rational functions on the test.  Include the word problems from that page.  For the log problems, see pgs. 526-527.  Those pages cover the mult choice which I think is 10 problems.

For the second part, it is all trigonometry from chs. 13.  From the first chapter, you need to know all the values on the unit circle and the radian amounts, too.  You will need to be able to use both the law of sines and law of cosines, especially in the word problems.  Pgs. 964 and 971 have great examples.  SOh CAH TOA will be integrated into some of these problems so make sure you know how to use right triangle trigonometry.  There will also be 3 problems that are very similar to the ones on pg. 947 (asking for the sin of 300) or pg. 953 (at what angle does tan equal 1?).

I think it has been a great year, with the exception of “you-kow-who,”  and I hope you all can find the energy to focus and finish strong!

friday 5/22

alg II { - you have a perf task and a test when we get back then the final.  try to spend a little time doing math this week end to prepare


alg II HP - you have a test and final in the next few classes.  Try to spend some time doing math this weekend.

alg I P - no hw.

thursday 5/21

alg II P - study for test and performance task!!

alg II HP - study for your ch 14 or final.


alg I P - handout on the mile run record.