What's Going On? February 26th through March 2nd

ACT On Tuesday, Work Keys on Wednesday

On Tuesday of this week, juniors and some select sophomores will be taking the ACT.  We want to promote a serious testing environment, so the rest of the students who are not testing will not be in school on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, Juniors will have the ACT Work Keys but the rest of the students will be in school.

Unit 8: Triangles

This week, we will continue our study of triangles.  Specifically, we will be talking about how to solve non-right triangles using the Law of Sines and Law of Cosines. We will practice solving non-right triangles during class on Monday and Wednesday.  We will begin reviewing for our summative assessment during class on Thursday.

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

Shortened Week: Modified Schedule
This week, we will run a different schedule.  Monday will be a "Tuesday-style" schedule, Tuesday will be a "Wednesday-style" schedule, Wednesday will be a "Thursday-style" schedule and Thursday will be a modified "Friday-style" schedule.  On Thursday, buses will depart after 8th period.  We will not have school.

Thursday Early Release Schedule

Continuing with Unit 8: Trigonometry

This week, we will continue on with our study of triangles and trigonometry.  We will spend Monday learning how to solve for angle measurements in right triangles.  We will then apply our knowledge of right triangle trigonometry with word problems!  On Thursday, we will look at how we can use the Law of Sines to solve for missing measurements in non-right triangles.  Students should expect to see a few BlackBoard formatives throughout the week so we can check our progress.  As always, students are welcome to come in for extra help in the morning to get questions answered.  I am here to help!

Supporting Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida use the same yearbook publishing company as we use at North, Walsworth Publishing.  Walsworth has asked our yearbook staff members to send notes to the yearbook staff and students in Florida to express our sympathy and give some possible words of encouragement.  If any students would like to join in and send a card to the students in Florida, please turn them into me by Wednesday.

Also, any students who are interested in sending a video message to the students in Florida are invited to come to the fieldhouse on Tuesday morning at 7:50.  We will organize a group video message from North to the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.  Please see Mrs. Kamenar if you have any questions. 

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

Unit 7 Summative: Similarity

During class on Thursday, students finished up our unit 7 summative on similarity.  Students should be receiving the results of this summative during class on Monday.  Please remember that if you are not satisfied with your score on one or more learning targets, you have the ability to complete a test retake.  Here are the steps:

1. Make sure all formative work has been completed for the unit (homework, quizzes, etc)
2. Make an appointment with Mrs. Kamenar to make corrections on your original summative.
3. E-Mail Mrs. Kamenar to request extra practice for the sections you would like to retake.
4. Complete the retake before our next summative (unit 8).  Please be aware that the score earned on the retake will be entered into Infinite Campus, even if the retake score is lower than the original score.

Math Department Policy on Successfully Passing the Course

As we start a new semester, I would like to remind you that in order to successfully complete the course, a student cannot have more than two "IE"s in a learning target.  A student with more than two IEs in a learning target will earn a failing grade for a course.  This means that if a student earned an IE on a learning target, they should be following the steps for a retake listed above.  

Unit 8: Triangles

This unit will focus on triangles.  We will start off the unit with a bit of review.  Most students worked with the Pythagorean Theorem in middle school and used it to find the length of a missing side in a right triangle.

We will then dive deeper into right triangles for the next few lessons.  We will talk about special right triangles (30-60-90 and isosceles right triangles) and then we will dive into trigonometry.  We will finish the week talking about how to set up a trigonometric ratio and how we can use it to solve for missing sides and angles.  Throughout this unit, students can again expect to see a variety of formative assessments to make sure that we are on the right track.

In order to be able to perform the necessary calculations, students will need to have access to a scientific calculator.  There is a calculator available in self-service on our iPads, but keep in mind that this calculator CANNOT be used on a standardized test such as an ACT.

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

Finishing Up Unit 7: Similarity

This week, we will finish up our first unit of the semester.  We will talk about self-similarity and fractals during class on Monday.  During class on Tuesday, we will review and students will be invited to participate in a "Class Kick" session on Tuesday night to go over any last minute questions for our summative assessment.  We have had a bunch of formatives to check for understanding throughout the unit so students should know exactly what to focus on before the test.  Please remember that most of our formatives for the unit were on BlackBoard and can be taken multiple times.  The goal of this is to keep at it until you get it!  Please see me if you need some help.  Additionally, I sent out a missing assignment messenger on Thursday so students should know what needs to be completed prior to our summative assessment on Wednesday.

Need Extra Help?

Please see me if you need extra help.  I am available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 7:00-7:30am and on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7:00-8:00am.  I would be happy to work with you!



Unit 8: Trigonometry

Once we finish our similarity unit, we will move into trigonometry.  Students MUST have a scientific calculator (with sine, cosine and tangent buttons) in order to complete this unit.  We will end our week with talking about how to set up a trigonometric ratio.