What's Going On? January 2nd through January 4th

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a relaxing winter break and had a chance to spend some time with family and friends.  We have a short time between now and the end of the semester, so I hope we are all refreshed and ready to finish the semester strong!

Math MAP Testing

All freshmen will participate in math MAP testing on Thursday, January 3rd.  Students should report to their designated locations first thing in the morning on this day.  Click here to see location assignments.

1st Semester Project

When we return, students will analyze their current grades for each of our learning targets and identified where they would like to improve.  Students will sign up to work in small groups to focus on their chosen learning target in preparation for our semester exam.  This small group will be responsible for helping the rest of the class prepare for that section of the semester exam.  The group will need to summarize all of the importation information for their topic, will need to write and solve 8 homework-style questions, as well as put together a review activity for the rest of the class to do.  In the past, students have created board games, stations, Castle Attack, Kahoots, and other games to help us review.  Once the groups have prepared their review, the rest of the class will participate in the review activity and complete the group-created homework questions.

January Exam Schedule

Here is our exam schedule for January.  We will talk in detail about the exam as we get closer to the end of the semester.

What's Going On? December 17th through December 21st

Finishing Up Unit 6: Polygons and Quadrilaterals

This week, we will finish up our unit on polygons and quadrilaterals.  Students should complete the
summative review by the start of Monday's class.  During class on Monday, we will play "Castle Attack" to review for our summative on Tuesday.  We will spend the rest of the week with some extension activities.












January Exam Schedule

For those of you who like to plan ahead, here is our exam schedule for January.  We will talk in detail about the exam as we get closer to the end of the semester.

What's Going On? December 10th through December 14th

Unit 6: Quadrilaterals

This week, we will work on a project titled "Quadrilaterals Detectives in Training".  For this in-class project, students will work in small groups to graph some of the different types of quadrilaterals we have discussed in class.  In order to successfully graph these figures, students will need to rely on their knowledge of the shapes, such as the lengths of sides and diagonals and parallel and perpendicular lines.  Once students have successfully graphed their figures, the groups will switch figures and will use their "detective skills" to classify the shapes. 

Once the project is complete, we will review for our summative assessment.  We will talk about the date for our summative during class on Tuesday.  Students should expect to complete their summative either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

What's Going On? December 3rd through December 7th

Unit 6: Polygons

This week, we will continue our study of polygons.  Specifically, we will focus in on quadrilaterals.  Last week, we talked about special types of parallelograms.  This week, we will start by talking about trapezoids and kites.  Students should expect to see a short formative assessment or two this week so we can check in on our basic level of understanding of characteristics of polygons.

Later in the week, we will talk about how we can classify polygons that have been graphed on the coordinate plane.  We will also talk about how we can write a formal two-column proof in order to justify our classification.

What's Going On? November 26th through November 30th

Unit 5: Triangle Relationships

On Monday we will get the results from our unit 5 summative assessment on triangle relationships.  Students who are not satisfied with the results of their summative may be eligible for a retake on one or more learning targets.  Students are eligible if they have completed all formative work prior to the summative assessment and...

• Have made corrections on their original assessment with Mrs. Kamenar
• Have completed extra practice problems 
• Please e-mail Mrs. Kamenar to request this
• Complete the summative retake prior to our next summative

Please note, the score earned on the retake will replace the score currently entered in Infinite Campus, even if the retake score is lower than the original.

Unit 6: Polygons

This week, we will focus on the general properties of polygons.  Once we have mastered this, we will focus on parallelograms and how we can prove that a shape is a specific type of parallelogram based on its properties.  Yes, this means that we will still be working with two-column proofs in this unit.  Students should expect to see a formative assessment or two this week so we can check our current level of understanding.



On an Unrelated Note...

There will be a Cyber Monday sale on yearbooks.  If you have not yet pre-ordered your yearbook, they will be offered for a discounted price on Monday through yearbookforever.com.  Order forms can also be turned in to Mrs. Torzala in room 910 or Mrs. Kamenar in room 300 on Monday to take advantage of the sale.

What's Going On? November 19th and 20th

It's a short week!

This is a reminder that with the Thanksgiving holiday, students will only be in school on Monday and
Tuesday this week.  On Monday we will run our 8-period day schedule with AE (yellow day) and on Tuesday we will run our 8-period day schedule without AE (purple day).  Enjoy your Thanksgiving Break!


Finishing Up Unit 5: Triangle Relationships

During this short week, we will be wrapping up our fifth unit on triangle relationships.  Students will review the three different learning targets during class on Monday:

• 3c: I can solve for missing measurements
• 1c: I can perform geometric constructions
• 2a: I can write equations of lines

Students will complete their summative assessment during class on Tuesday.

January Exam Schedule

For those of you who like to plan ahead, here is our exam schedule for January.  We will talk in detail about the exam as we get closer to the end of the semester.

What's Going On? November 12th through November 16th

Unit 4 Review: Castle Attack!

During our review for our unit 4 summative assessment, we played a review game called "Castle Attack!"  It was great to hear so many fantastic conversations about proof!  Congratulations to our three groups who tied for first place.

Unit 5: Relationships in Triangles

This week we will begin our fifth unit where we will be investigating triangle relationships.  Throughout the unit, we will work with points of concurrency and figure out what special properties exist when we construct them.  This week, we will start by focusing the property that exists when we construct angle bisectors in triangles.  We will also investigate perpendicular bisectors, medians, and altitudes in triangles.  Students will be constructing some of these items by hand so each student will need to have a ruler and compass.

What's Going On? November 5th through November 9th

Need to Touch Base?  Sign Up for Parent-Teacher Conferences on Wednesday

This Wednesday, from 5:00-7:00pm, North will be hosting parent-teacher conference by appointment.  If you would like to talk about your student's progress, please sign up for a time through Sign-Up Genius:   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daba628a1fe3-math.  If you are not available this night, but would still like to touch base, please contact me.


Unit 4: Triangle Congruence

This week, we will continue our study of triangle congruence.  Students will check in with a multiple-attempt formative to check in on our understanding of triangle congruence shortcuts.  Students may use their notes and can complete this assessment up to three times.  We will spend the rest of Monday's class talking about proofs involving "CPCTC".  This is how we can prove that the corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent.  We will spend Tuesday's class looking at some more complex diagrams in order to prove that triangle and their parts are congruent.  We will spend Wednesday's class reviewing, which will put our unit 4 summative assessment on Thursday.

What's Going On? October 29th through November 2nd

Unit 4: Triangle Congruence

Before our long weekend, we spent some time investigating relationships that exist within triangles.  We talked about the properties of isosceles triangles, midsegments of triangles, the relationship between a triangle's angles and sides, and the triangle inequality theorem.

During this week, we will build on this knowledge in order to prove that two triangles are congruent.  This week, we will discover five triangle congruence shortcuts that we can use in order to prove that two triangles are the exact same size and shape. 

• SSS Congruence
• SAS Congruence
• ASA Congruence
• SAA/AAS Congruence
• HL Congruence

Students will be able to formalize this argument in a two-column proof.  Students should expect to see one or two formative assessment check-ins this week in order to check our current level of understanding.

What's Going On? October 22nd through October 24th

Modified Schedule October 22nd through October 24th

Since we have a shortened week next week (students do not have school on Thursday and Friday), school will start at 7:35 each day and students will see all eight classes each day.  Additionally, Wednesday is an early release day.  This is the schedule we will follow on Wednesday:

Unit 4: Triangles

During this short week, we will continue our study of triangles.  During class on Monday and 

Tuesday, we will talk about midsegments of triangles and the triangle inequality theorem.  We will take a short formative on Wednesday to check in before we start talking about how to prove that two triangles are congruent.

What's Going On? October 15th through October 19th

Parent-Teacher Conferences

This week, we will be holding parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday night in the Field House from 5:00-7:00pm.  Please stop by!




Unit 3: Parallel Lines

This week, we will be finishing up our third unit on parallel lines.  We will start off Monday's class
with a formative assessment on writing equations of parallel and perpendicular lines.  After this, we will spend the rest of the class period talking about spherical geometry.

During class on Tuesday, we will review for our summative assessment.  We will have a Class Kick review session on Tuesday night from 8:00-9:00pm.  Students can log in during this time to get some extra help before our summative.  Our summative assessment is scheduled for Wednesday's class.  We will finish up the week by reviewing our summative assessment and beginning our fourth unit where we will focus on triangle proofs.

What's Going On? October 8th through October 12th

Unit 3: Parallel Lines

This week, we will focus on our third unit of the year.  Students will investigate relationships formed when parallel lines are cut by a transversal.  Students will then use this information in order to prove relationships between angle measures or to prove that two lines are parallel. 

This semester, we will focus a lot on Geometric proof.  This is typically a difficult skill for students to pick up on, and we will make sure that we get a lot of practice along the way.  Any students who feel like they are struggling are invited to see me for extra help.  During the month of October, I will be available in room 300 on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 7:35-8:05.  Please stop by if you have questions!

What's Going On? October 1st through October 5th

Unit 2: Reasoning and Proof

This week, we will finish up our second unit on Reasoning and Proof.  We will spend Monday's class period reviewing proof and taking a short formative assessment so that I can give specific feedback on proofs.  Students will be able to use their notes for this assessment. 

We will spend Tuesday's class reviewing for our summative assessment that will cover two learning targets:

• 1b: I can use the basic language of logic.
• 1d: I can prove theorems about lines and angles.

I will also hold a "Class Kick" session on Tuesday night from 8:00-9:00pm.  Students can log into the app during this time and receive real-time help from me.  I will also be available Wednesday morning before school in room 300 if students would like to check in before Wednesday's summative.  

I will be out of the building on Thursday to attend an AP conference, so students will go through their notes via a video that I provide for them.  We will talk about any questions during our next class on Monday.

What's Going On? September 24th through September 28th

Happy Homecoming Week!

If you didn't see the change, our spirit days have been modified for Homecoming week.  Here is the updated information:

Please be sure that you join in the fun of Homecoming.  Be safe and make good decisions!

Unit 2: Reasoning and Proof

This week, we will continue our study of reasoning and proof.  We will focus on the laws of deductive reasoning, how to use indirect reasoning, and how to justify each step when solving an Algebra problem.  Students should expect to see a formative assessment or two to check in on our progress this week.  I am available for extra help on Wednesday and Thursday morning this week from 7:35-8:05 in room 701 if anyone needs to check in!

What's Going On? September 17th through September 21st

Finishing Up Unit 1: The Basics of Geometry

This week, we will finish up our first unit of the year.  During class on Monday, we will learn about self service" on their iPads and use our class code to get into the assignment.  This is a great way for students to do a last-minute check-in before the test.  I will also be available before school on Wednesday from 7:35-8:05 in room 300.
our last concept of the unit: how to classify polygons.  On Tuesday, students will complete our first review assignment.  I will also offer a "Class Kick" session on Tuesday night from 7:30-8:30pm.  Students can log into their iPads and receive help virtually from me.  In order to do this, students will need to download "Class Kick" from "


Unit 2: Reasoning and Proof

Once we finish our introductory unit, we will move into reasoning and proof.  During this unit, students will be introduced to the skill of crafting a logical argument.  We will start by connecting this formal reasoning to Algebra.  Once we get the hang of it, we will work on crafting arguments for Geometry.

What's Going On? September 10th through September 14th

Unit 1: Basics of Geometry

This week in Honors Geometry we are going to focus on more geometric vocabulary, including
midpoints, angle bisectors, perpendicular bisectors, linear pairs, and vertical angles.  Once we have discussed the terminology, we will learn how to construct some of these items using a compass and ruler.  We will also spend some time this week talking about Geometry in relationship to the coordinate plane.  This will include focusing on the midpoint and distance formulas.

Formative Assessments

Last week students took our first online assessment through our BlackBoard class website.  Many of our BlackBoard formative assessments will be set up so that students can complete the assessment multiple times and clear up any misunderstandings before our summative assessment.  Students who were not pleased with last week's score can take the assessment again. 

This week, students will complete a more traditional formative assessment on paper.  Students will only receive one attempt on this formative.


Open House

This Friday, North will be hosting an open house from 5:00pm - 7:00pm.  All freshmen teachers will be available in the building from 5:00pm - 6:30pm.  If you would like a chance to connect with me, please see me in room 300.

Welcome Back, Honors Geometry Students!

Welcome back to school!  My name is Mrs. Kamenar and I will be working with you in your math class this year.  This will be my fourteenth year teaching at Waukesha North.  This year I will be teaching Honors Geometry, App Development 1 & 2, AP Computer Science A, Programming the Web 1 and Yearbook.  In addition to teaching at North, I am also an assistant women's cross country coach and the school's yearbook advisor.

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing summer.  This summer went by too fast, but I
guess it always seems that way.  This summer I got to spend a lot of time with my husband and my two kids, Jack and Laura.  We spent our time going to the zoo, cherry picking, going to the library and swimming.

My goal is to keep you up to date with what's going on in the classroom through this blog.  Between the blog and our class schedule of events that will be posted on our BlackBoard class website, it is my hope that all students and parents will be informed about what's going on in the classroom.  On Tuesday we will ease into the year by talking about inductive reasoning and patterns.  During Wednesday's class, we will talk about the "Basic Building Blocks of Geometry", and on Thursday we will talk about Segment and Angle addition.

I am really excited to get to work with you this year.  I hope we are all able to learn a lot and have some fun along the way!  If you have any questions as we move through the year, please don't hesitate to contact me.  If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me at kkamenar@waukesha.k12.wi.us.  You can also follow me on Twitter: @MrsKamenar.

What's Going On? June 4th through June 7th

Our Final Week of School

It's hard to believe that it's our last week of school!  With our last week of school brings a different schedule.  Monday will be a normal "Monday-style" schedule, followed by our exam week schedule.

Final Exam

Students are required to complete the following three sections for the exam:

• 3c: I can calculate the area of geometric figures (including area and surface area)
• 3d: I can solve right triangles
• 3g: I can calculate the volume of geometric solids.

Students must choose AT LEAST TWO additional sections on the exam:

• 1f: Similar Figures
• 1g: Similar Triangles
• 2d: Dilations
• 3h: Non-Right Triangles
• 2b: Writing equations of circles
• 3e: Solving for measurements in circles
• 3f: Circumference
• 2f: Transformations

For the exam, students are expected to bring in a calculator and a "cheat sheet".  The "cheat sheet" can contain definitions, formulas, and sample problems.  It will be turned in at the end of the exam.

In order to prepare for the exam, students should complete their selected exam sections from the study guide available on our BlackBoard class website.  To aid with studying, an answer key is also posted.

Need Extra Help?

I will be available starting at 7am each morning if you would like some help preparing for the exam.  Feel free to come in to get your questions answered!

What's Going On? May 21st through May 25th

Finishing Up Unit 12: Transformations

During class on Monday, we will spend the class period reviewing for our unit 12 summative.  On Tuesday, we will not have a regularly scheduled class due to MAP testing.  We will hold our usual "Class Kick" session as well for students to get some last-minute help before our summative.  Wednesday's class will bring our unit 12 summative.  Students who have our review assignment by the start of class will be eligible to use a formula card about transformation mapping.  On Thursday, we will start a few days of study with probability.

Final MAP Testing of the Year

On Tuesday, students will complete their final math MAP test for the year.  Students will report to their testing location at the start of the school day and remain in the testing session until it is complete.  All sophomores that are enrolled in our Honors Geometry class will report to the West Lecutre Hall for attendance.  During this time, students can work on reviewing for our summative or finishing up our "tessellation quilt".

Here is a list of room assignments:

Service Learning Day & Community Day

Friday will be our service learning day and community day.  On this day, students will not attend classes.  Instead, students will participate in a large-scale volunteer day and will contribute to more than 3000 hours of volunteering in one day!  Many students will be volunteering outside, so be sure to bring water!  Also, be sure to wear activity-appropriate clothes and bring work gloves along if you have them and it makes sense for your assigned activity.  You wouldn't want to wear your best clothes if you are assigned to be outside mulching!

Here is the schedule for the day:

Textbook Return

We will be returning our textbooks to the Media Center on Wednesday, May 30th.  Please be sure to bring your textbook to class this day to avoid any fines related to the book.

What's Going On? May 14th through May 18th

Unit 12: Transformations

This week, we will continue our study of different types of transformations.  During class on Thursday, students investigated line and rotational symmetry.  We were also introduced to the term "isometry", which is a transformation that results in the same sized and shaped figure.

This week, we will talk more about different isometries.  We will focus in on translations, rotations, and reflections.  We will work on the properties of each of these transformations and we will apply our knowledge to transformations on the coordinate plane.  Students should expect to see a worksheet for homework each day of the unit in order to practice our skills.  This is a pretty short unit, so students should expect to see a summative assessment during the early part of the week of May 21st.  Before we get to that point, students will see a formative assessment or two so we can make sure we are on the right track.

What's Going On? May 7th through May 11th

Finishing Up Unit 11: Volume

At the beginning of this week, students will wrap up our 11th unit on surface area and volume.  Students who complete the review assignment will be eligible to use a formula sheet for the Tuesday's summative assessment.

In preparation for the summative, we will hold a Class Kick session on Monday night.  During this session, I will be available to go over any last minute questions related to the summative review and the "Tiny House" project.  We will spend Monday's class reviewing and will have our summative assessment on Tuesday.  Students will also be turning in their summative "Tiny House" projects on this day.

Please Note: The math department policy states that a student must attempt each summative in order to receive a grade for the course.  This means that the Tiny House project must be completed to receive a passing grade for the class!

Unit 12: Transformations

Once our summative is complete, students will start our transformation unit.  We will start off Wednesday's class by talking about the different symmetries that exist and students will go on a "Geometry Symmetry Scavenger Hunt".  This will take place outside, weather permitting.  Thursday's class will focus in on translations and vectors.

What's Going On? April 30th through May 4th

Unit 11: Surface Area and Volume


We ended up with a strange week last week due to our freshmen taking the Aspire Test.  This week should get us back on track.  During class on Monday, students will have class time to work on the "Tiny House" project.  For this project, students will design their own tiny house layout, determine the area of the different places and surfaces within the tiny house, and calculate the cost of some basic home improvements.  This project is designed to give students a look at some real-world application of Geometry, measurement, and surface area.  This project will be due on the day of our Unit 11 summative assessment.

During class on Tuesday, students will start off with a short BlackBoard formative assessment on surface area.  Once we complete this, we will dive into "volume".  Throughout the week, we will talk about how to calculate the volume of prisms, pyramids, and spheres.

What's Going On? April 23rd through April 27th

Unit 11: Volume

This week we will continue our study of 3D shapes.  We will spend the first part of the week talking more about surface area.  We will also get started on our "Tiny House" project, where students will get to design the layout for their own tiny house.  Students will calculate area, surface area, and the cost of doing some basic home improvements within their own "tiny house".  At the end of the week, students will start to investigate the volume of prisms and pyramids.  Students should expect to see a couple of formative assessments throughout the week so we can make sure we are on the right track.

What's Going On? April 16th through April 20th

Finishing Up Unit 10: Area

We will spend the first part of this week getting ready for our unit 10 summative assessment on area.  Students will work on our summative review during class on Monday.  Due to a Biology fieldtrip, many of our students will be missing class on Tuesday.  Therefore, we will have our unit 10 summative on Wednesday.  We will arrange a time and day for our "Class Kick" session so that students can get any last minute questions answered.  We will spend our last class period of the week kicking off unit 11 on volume.

What's Going On? April 9th through April 13th

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a restful spring break and we are rested up.  It is time to hit the ground running!  We have nine weeks until the end of the school year.  What does that mean?  If you are not happy with your current standing in the class, NOW is the time to act!  I would be more than happy to work with you and answer questions so you can end the year satisfied with your end results!




Unit 10: Area

This week we will continue our study of "Area".  We will spend Monday's class reviewing the work we did before spring break.  We will spend Tuesday and Wednesday working with the area and circumference of circles.  Thursday's class will be spent investigating the relationship between the perimeter and the area of figures.  We will also be talking about our project that ties in with our area unit this week.

What's Going On? March 26th through March 29th

It's a Short Week!
This is just a reminder that this week is a shortened week where we will not have school on Friday and students have an early release day on Thursday.  This means that Monday will have a "Tuesday-style" schedule, Tuesday, will have a "Wednesday-style" schedule, Wednesday will have a "Thursday-style" schedule, and Thursday will have a modified "Friday-style" schedule.  Our third quarter grades will also be posted on Thursday afternoon.

Unit 10: Area
This week, students will start our study on "Area".  This unit will contain the most practical knowledge that students may need to use in day-to-day life.  Our work on "Area" is especially helpful when it comes to home remodeling and DIY projects.  During this unit, we will focus on practical applications such as calculating the surface area of a room and calculating the cost of paint. 

On Monday of this week, we will focus in on calculating the area of rectangles, triangles and parallelograms.  On Tuesday, we will focus on calculating the area of kites, rhombuses and trapezoids, and on Wednesday we will focus on calculating the area of regular polygons.  We will also have a design project to work on throughout this unit.  We will talk about the details of this project later this week.

What's Going On? March 19th through March 23rd

Unit 9: Circles

This week, we will be finishing up our ninth unit on circles.  We will spend Monday's class learning how to construct a line that is tangent to a circle.  For this, students will need to use a compass and a straight edge.

During class on Tuesday, we will start our review of the unit.  Students will participate in an "Escape Room" and will need to follow a bunch of clues and solve some problems in order to "break out".  During class on Wednesday, we will complete our unit 9 summative review and we will hold a "Class Kick" session on Wednesday night to prepare for our summative assessment during class on Thursday.  For this summative assessment, students will be tested on two learning targets:

• 2b: I can write the equation for a circle.
• 3e: I can describe, solve and analyze relationships between parts of circles.

Interested in a Summative Retake for Unit 8 Summative Assessment?

Students who are interested in retaking one or both sections of the unit 8 summative assessment on triangles will have until Wednesday, March 22 to complete the retake.  Students must complete corrections on the original summative assessment, complete the requested extra practice, and complete the retake by Wednesday.  Just a reminder that the score of the retake will be entered into Infinite Campus, even if that score is lower than the original.  Please see me if you have any questions.  I am here to help!

What's Going On? March 12th through March 16th

Unit 9: Circles

This week, we will continue our study of circles.  On Monday, we will focus in on properties of chords and arcs, Tuesday' class will focus in on inscribed angles, Wednesday's class will focus in on angle relationships that are formed within circles and Thursday's class will focus in on segment length relationships that are formed within circles.  Throughout the week, students should expect to see a few formative assessments so we can gauge our current level of understanding.

Extra Help

Need extra help?  Not scoring as well as you would like on your formative assessments?  Come see me!  I am available every day between 7:00 and 7:30am and on Wednesdays and Thursday from 7:00-8:00pm.

What's Going On? March 5th through March 9th

Finishing Up Unit 8: Triangles

During class on Monday, students will continue our preparation for our unit 8 summative.  Students will review by playing "Castle Attack", a team-based competition that will feature several review problems from our unit.  On Tuesday, students will complete the unit 8 summative.  This assessment will include two learning targets:

• 3d: I can solve for missing measures in right triangles
• 3h: I can solve for missing measures in non-right triangles

Students will need to demonstrate their knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem, special right triangles, and right triangle trigonometry for our first portion of the test.  For the second part of the test, students will show how to use the Law of Sines, Law of Cosines, and how to find the area of a non-right triangle.  Any students who need a little extra review are invited to attend our Class Kick session on Monday night from 8:30-9:30pm.

Unit 9: Circles

Once we finish up our eighth unit about triangles, we will dive into circles.  We will spend Wednesday's class talking about circle terminology as well as how to write the equation of a circle.  During our last class of the week, we will talk about lines tangent to a circle and the types of relationships that are formed.