TA Break-Feast!

Wednesday, May 16

It's once again time to celebrate a great semester with our TA "breakfeast" on Wednesday, May 16.  Our menu includes:

Tasty treats:

Krispy Kreme donuts - Joseph F

Pancakes and Peanut Butter - Christina

Syrup - Anna

Pumpkin Muffins, Bagels* - Joe B

Eggs - Ashlynn

Bacon - Jimmy

Biscuits - Nick

Jelly and Butter - Kaleb

Banana Bread - Daniel

Bacon-wrapped mini hotdogs - Bailey

Twinkies - Ivy

Sweet drinks:

Apple and Orange juice - Lyam

Paper products:

Plates - Evelyn

Cups - Tatiana

Napkins - Keaton

Silverware - Ana

Welcome back!  It was great seeing everyone's smiling faces today after break.  I am looking forward to a productive, faith-filled semester of learning!

This semester, we will be getting ready for the state assessment.  In addition to our daily work, we will be taking formative assessments in class and continuing our BAIP tutorials.  BAIP assignments will be posted by Monday and will be due every Friday. The first tutorial is due January 12.  When students log in to BAIP, they will see a list of assignments that have not been completed.  The due date of the the assignment will be listed.  If the due date listed is March 5, then the assignment is late.  Students need to complete the tutorial as soon as possible to receive credit for completing the assignment.  A second tab gives a list of all the past assignments that have been finished.  This semester, BAIP assignments will be graded based on correctness.  Each assignment is worth 10 points.   Students will receive 6 points for completing the tutorials plus one additional point for each question answered correctly.

First semester, students set personal goals for the score they wanted to achieve on their math state assessment.  When taking the formative assessments in class, our goal will be to meet or exceed this personal score.

Finally we have our math blogs up and ready to go!  You can log into your blog by going to www.edublogs.org.  If you have forgotten your username and password, send me an e-mail or visit me before or after school.  I will be happy to look it up for you!

I have listed the requirements I have for your blogs at my own blog http://psilovemath.edublogs.org in the post entitled Expectations.  The post called Math and Babies is an example of what I expect your blog posts to look like.

Our first blog will be due on Monday, October 10, by 7:00 a.m.  Please do not wait until this time to try logging into your blog.  I have given everyone two weeks to complete their first blog so we can continue to troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

Please feel free to personalize your blog.  Each of you has your own blog so that you can have ownership in the blog.  You can choose your own background and design.  Edublogs also allows you to add pages to your blog.  If you choose to do so, please keep one page that is dedicated only to your posts about math.  The other pages can be used to share information with others about your own personal interests!

I'm excited to watch this project unfold!  I can't wait to see all the ways you find math in the world.

Wow!  Middle school students have been describing their feelings about mathematics using metaphors and illustrations.  I have been so impressed with how creative our Magdalen students are.  They all put a lot of thought into their metaphors!  But...

Several students have forgotten to put their names on their math metaphor assignments.  Students, if you have checked Power School and notice a missing assignment for the Math Metaphor Illustration assignment but you are certain it was turned in, please find it hanging in the hall or the math room and show it to me.  I want to be certain that everyone who worked hard on these projects receives the credit they deserve!

I am so excited to be joining such a wonderful school community. I'm looking forward to a fabulous year in middle school math.  During the first week of school, students will be communicating their feelings about mathematics to me using math metaphors.  I can't wait to see how many math lovers and math haters are in the ranks!