LM MATH

The end of year is here! Reflect on your progress throughout this year as you respond to the following guiding questions to post a summary of your year in this class. This is not a question and answer but post a paragraph summary using some of the following questions as a guide.

How would you rate your progress this year?
Were you happy with your progress?
What things deterred you from doing as well as you could?
How could you have done better (if you think that you could have)?
What will you do better next year?
What did you think you gained from this course?
What did you learn about yourself?
What projects or activities did you like or dislike?

For the remaining weeks leading up to June, You will be assigned a summary blog of what was learned in class for your week. Be sure to include the specific topics, how to solve the problems, what was difficult, and what you found easy. Thus, it is a summary of the week and what you learned. Find links that will help to review your topic. Title the post with the topic.

If you can find a connection to the real world, include this as well. This assignment is worth 25 points. See the eboard for your week! Note: more than 1 person might have the same week. Both people must make an individual post. Your post is due by the following Monday night at midnight.

When it is not YOUR week, comment every other week on the post of the week. That is, every other week, you must read & comment on the summary, either adding details, asking a question, or making a correction. A "good job Bernie" comment is not sufficient.

Example: Week of February 18, Algebra 2
TITLE: POLYNOMIAL DIVISION
This week we learned long division and synthetic division for polynomials. Synthetic division is best to use when you are dividing by a binomial with a leading coefficient of 1. You place the opposite of the # with the binomial in a box, and line up the coefficients from highest exponent to lowest, putting in zeros for missing powers. Carry down the first one, then multiply by "the box", placing the product under the next column. Add down, and then multiply your result by the box, and so on until your columns are completed. The last column is your remainder. To write your answer, start with one less degree (exponent) than the original problem, and work your way down. I found this method easy, but you do have to be careful of your signs!
Look here for some examples.


Polynomial division is a little bit more tricky, but follows the same pattern as normal long division. What I thought was hard was remembering what step was next. I kept forgetting once I initially divided, to divide into the first term after I subtracted. See here for some examples.

Both ways of dividing help you to divide polynomials by binomials & trinomials when you cannot factor and cancel.

When you do synthetic division, it enables you to find another factor of the equation. Thus, synthetic division in the end can help you to factor, solve quadratics, and solve application problems such as tunnels, throwing objects in the air (parabolas) and other quadratic shaped functions.

We have reached the half way point in this academic year.
In regards to this math course:
Is your progress what you expected it to be?
How is your progress different than your expectations?
What are you doing in preparation for this class that you are proud of?
What are you doing that you could do better?
What is preventing you from doing as well as you could possibly do?


Make a personal growth plan that includes specific goals for the final semester and actions of how you will achieve your goals. Use the guiding questions above for assistance. Title this post "Personal Growth."
This is due 2/5/08 and is worth 10 points.

Choose one topic that we have studied in the first 2 quarters. Write a brief summary of the topic - how to solve the problems, what to look for, etc, and give an application (real-world problem) relating to that topic.

Respond to one of the following:

What connections can you make between what you are learning in class and the real world? That is, can you think of any applications besides those that we may have done in class or you have seen in the textbook? Explain the connections.

What do you foresee yourself studying in college or when you graduate high school? How do you think math is related? Find information online to back up your thoughts.

How is the math that we are doing in class related to your interests outside of class? Find information online to back up your thoughts.


Be sure to spell check and proofread your work.

GUIDELINES FOR SELF EVALUATION

Thinking about how well you learned the material is not as easy as it sounds. It is a skill that has to be learned. It is one of the most important skills you can develop. Being able to think about how well you understand the mathematics you have been exposed to will help you study mathematics successfully.

The first step is to think about the material you were responsible for.
Respond to each category below by writing either
1) I did all of the work required,
2) I did most of the work required
3) I didn't do much
4) I didn't do any.

Write the category and then the comment (i.e. Assignments - I didn't do much...with all categories). Then answer the 2 questions below.

Assignments
Classwork
Homework
Studying for quizzes
Studying for tests
Reworking problems that you misunderstood
Making up work & checking the eboard when absent.

Question 1: What have you done WELL in this class? Write a brief statement.
Question 2: Think about what you can do to improve your ability to be successful in this course. Write a brief statement about your strategy for success.

Choose something to write about;

1 Write about the most significant thing that you have learned in math in the past 2 weeks.
2 Write about what questions you still have or something that you are not sure about.
3 Write about what is working for you in this class.
4 Write about what is not working for you in this class.
5 How do you like blogging so far?

Choose 2 classmates' blogs to comment on and check your own blog for comments occasionally.