New Chromebooks and the TLP Grant

Well, our class received some great news this last week.  Our class, and about 10 other classrooms in the district, were chosen to participate in the Technology Lending Program, a TEA grant that HISD is participating in.  This means we received 22 new Dell 11 Chromebooks to our classroom.

With the 5 we already had this gives us 27 Chromebooks to use in our classroom.  The program, not only allows for us to use the Chromebooks in the classroom, it allows us to check the Chromebooks out overnight or over the weekend to some students if they need a device to complete school work at home.  We also received 5 wifi hot spots for the Chromebooks so, if a student doesn't not have internet access at home, the student can connect the Chromebook to the internet to complete their work.  I am very excited about what this program could mean for our class.

Happy New Year

Well, 2015 has begun!  Some of you may think that you are not ready to come back to school yet.  My philosophy, if we don't come back from Christmas, we can't get to Spring Break and then ultimately, to Summer.

This week we will begin a new unit over probability.  We will begin with the basics, move on to experimental and theoretical probability, sample spaces and the fundamental counting principle, and independent and dependent events.  As we progress through this unit we will be maintaining a Vocabulary page to keep all the definitions straight.

Bonus Question of the Week

What is the probability of being dealt a Royal Flush in the game of poker?

In order to receive credit you must copy the question, show the work required to solve the problem, and provide the correct answer.  The question must be turned in by Friday, January 16th.

Week of Dec. 15th

The week before Christmas Break, it is hard to believe one semester is almost over.  This week we will continue discussing the four parts of algebra that we have been learning about:  model, expression, t-chart, and graph.  What we know so far is, if given the model or the expression, we can evaluate a t-chart and graph the coordinates that the t-chart gives us.  This week we go the other way.  I will give the students the graph or the t-chart and they are to find the other missing parts.  We will do this lesson on Tuesday.  Monday we will be taking a Common Assessment over the Algebra that we have been studying

Here is a example of BBOA or the Building Blocks of Algebra.

Wednesday we will begin looking at the parts of BBOA using the Graphing Calculator.

Thursday and Friday we will be making icosahedrons as a Christmas Ornament project.  An icosahedron is a 20 faced polyhedron where each face is an equilateral triangle.

Students can bring Christmas cards if they would like to make their icosahedron or they will use the card stock they I have.

Friday, the students will be released at 1:00.  We will have a modified schedule that day.

December 19th – Early Release Bell Schedule

1st pd -- 7:45-8:15

2nd pd -- 8:19-8:49

3rd pd – 8:53-9:23

5th pd – 9:27-9:57

6th pd – 10:01-10:31

7th pd – 10:34-11:04

4th pd – 11:08-1:00

**Lunch Schedules**

A lunch – 11:08-11:38

B lunch – 11:44-12:14

C lunch – 12:20-12:50

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Bonus Question of the week:

Braden is downloading a file. The size of the file is 3,200 KB. It takes 3 minutes to download the first 1,200 KB of the file. If the file continues downloading at the same rate, how many more minutes will it take to finish downloading?

Copy the question, work and answer it with its correct label, and turn it in by Thursday, Dec. 18th for 10 Bonus points.

Week of Dec. 8th

Monday, we will again be looking at patterns, but they will be patterns found within a T-Chart.  The patterns will help us find the expression that created the T-Chart.  Linear expressions come in the form or y=mx + b where m refers to the slope and b refers to the y-intercept.  Slope is where determines the steepness of the graph.  The y-intercept is the point where the graph crosses the y-axis.  We will learn how to find these values in the T-Chart.

To review this lesson you can watch the video at http://goo.gl/ufVTt6.

Tuesday, I will be out so the students will complete the assignment over Monday's lesson.

Wednesday, we will be finding the expression from a graph.  The students will learn the proper order to write the points in a T-Chart and then find the expression.  They will also learn how to find the slope and y-intercept straight from the graph.

Thursday and Friday we will be reviewing for a our test on Friday.  I will post the review on my website.

Week of Dec. 1st

This week we have begun a new unit on Algebraic thinking.  There are connections that have to be made when beginning Algebra.  There is a connection between a physical model, an algebraic expressions, a t-chart, and a graph.

We started Monday by learning how to translate Language Arts sentences in to algebraic expressions and algebraic expressions back to LA sentences.

Examples:

5 more than t                           t + 5

6 less than 5 times g                5g - 6

y minus 8, times 4                   4(y - 8)

Also on Monday we evaluated expressions for a given value.

Examples:

Evaluate 4x + 3y for x = 3 and y = -2

4x + 3y
4(3) + 3(-2)
12 + -6
     6

Tuesday, we looked at numerical patterns.  Students were to use inductive reasoning to determine the next three values in a pattern.

Examples:

Pattern:  1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, ...  _____, ______, ______

Students were to determine from the list how to go from one number to the next.  In this pattern you add 2 add 1.  So the next three numbers are 12, 13, 15.

Wednesday, we evaluated expressions using T-Charts.  Each expression we work with in the 7th grade is linear.  So when we evaluate the expression using a T-Chart they are able to make the connection with patterns.  Each expression has a consistent way to find the next number in the sequence.

Example:

Thursday, the students found out that the T-Chart actually created a set of coordinates for a coordinate plane or graph.  So we reviewed the parts of a graph and then graphed our T-Charts.

Example:

Friday, we put it all together by discussing the 4 parts of algebra that need to be connected.  We called it BBOA or the Building Blocks of Algebra which are the physical model, the expression, the T-Chart, and the graph.

Example:

Turkey Math

The Friday before Thanksgiving break we did a reflective activity called "Turkey Math."  Yes, in 7th grade students still like to cut and color.  I had the students write 7 math problems over topics that we have covered this year and put them on the feathers of the turkey.  The students then colored their turkeys and cut them out and put them together.  Here are some pictures.

Week of Nov. 17th

It is hard to believe we are one week away from Thanksgiving Break.  This year is going by so fast.  This week we will finish up our lessons on proportions by discussing Similar Figures.  This does not mean we will no longer use proportions, we will use them all year.  We will have that lesson on Similar Figures Monday.

Similar Figures are figures that meet the following conditions:
- The figures are the same shape but not the same size,
- Corresponding angles must be equal, and
- Most importantly, corresponding sides must be proportional.

Tuesday and Wednesday we will be working through pathways it Think Through Math.

Think Through Math is computer program (website) that personalizes learning for each student.

Thursday and Friday we will be working on some holiday related activities.

Bonus Question of the Week

Evaluate the following expression:

Copy the problem on your paper and solve.  Turn it in by Friday, Nov. 21st for 10 Bonus points.