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

The End of Unit 2

Last week, we finished up unit 2.  Overall, it went really well and we added quite a few "All Stars" to our "Geo All-Stars" door. 

If the summative assessment didn't go as well as you had hoped, please make arrangements to complete a retake.  Please remember the steps that you need to take:

1. Make sure all formative work has been completed for the unit (homework and check-in "quizzes")
2. Make corrections on the original assessment.  You must make an appointment with Mrs. Kamenar to do this.
3. Request extra practice and complete it.
4. Complete the retake before our next summative.  (By Monday, October 16th)

Unit 3: Properties of Parallel Lines

With the excitement of Homecoming over, we will continue on with our study of the properties of parallel lines.  On Monday, we will review what we have learned so far about the angle relationships formed when two parallel lines are cut by a transversal.  We will also review how we can prove that lines are parallel based on angle relationships.  Students will have a quick check-in formative to gauge our level of understanding.

After that, we will focus on how we can write the equations for parallel and perpendicular lines.  This is something that students should have worked on during Algebra and we will spend two class periods reviewing these concepts.  We will end the week with a quick look at the properties of spherical geometry.  This is usually a highlight of the year, as students will be able to visualize the properties by drawing on a balloon.




Honors Geometry Gets Into the Homecoming Spirit

For each spirit day of the week, the Honors Geometry students took a group photo.  Here are the photos we took throughout the week:

Pajama Day:

Hawaiian Day:

Neon Day:

Class Color Day:

What's Going On? October 2nd through October 6th

ClassKick Session Sunday Night 8:00-9:00pm!!!

Need some extra help preparing for Tuesday's summative assessment?  Want some extra "proof" practice?  Join our ClassKick session on Sunday night!  I will be available for help through a virtual session from 8:00-9:00pm on Sunday night!  Can't make it?  Be sure to log into ClassKick before that time and leave some notes (with a hand raised) for me to check your work.  Be sure to log in with our class code.  If you need some help in the meantime, check out the summative review answer key and explanation videos on BlackBoard.


Finishing Up Unit 2: Reasoning and Proof

As you could probably tell from the first announcement in the post, we will wrap up unit 2 on Tuesday with our summative assessment.  Students received their reviews during class on Thursday.  Please be sure to have these completed by Monday so we can go through any questions that didn't get answered during our ClassKick session.  During Monday's class, we will also go over more proof examples.  Be sure to ask questions!



Unit 3: Parallel Lines

Once we make it through Unit 2, we will roll right into talking about parallel lines.  During this unit, we will talk about angle relationships that are formed when two parallel lines are cut by a transversal.  We will learn how to solve for angle measurements as well as how to prove that two lines are parallel based on angle relationships.

What's Going On? September 25th through September 29th

Unit 2: Reasoning and Proof

This week, we will continue our study of reasoning and proof.  We will start off the week by talking about indirect proof.  We will start off by applying our new knowledge of indirect proof to everyday situations.  Once we get the hang of this, we will then try to apply indirect proof to geometry.  By the end of Monday's class, students should be able to write an indirect proof showing that a triangle can have at most one right angle.

During Tuesday's class, we will check in with a short formative assessment to make sure that we are on the right track.  We will spend the rest of the week talking about Algebraic proof and then we will work our way up to Geometric proof. 




Unit 1 Retakes

Students received their tests back from our unit 1 summative last week.  If a student is unhappy with their summative score on one or both learning targets, a retake assessment is possible if the following steps are taken:

1. All formative work from unit 1 must be completed (homework and quizzes)
2. Corrections must be made on the original assessment. Contact me to make an appointment!
3. E-Mail me to request personalized extra practice for the section(s) you would like to retake.
4. Complete the retake by Monday, October 2nd.

Please keep in mind that the retake score will be entered into Infinite Campus, even if the retake score is lower! 


Need Extra Help?

I will be available on Wednesday and Thursday morning before school from 7:00am-8:00am if you would like to come in for help or to make corrections on your unit 1 summative.

What's Going On? September 18th through September 22nd

Finishing Up Unit 1: The Basics of Geometry

During Monday's class, students will be reviewing for our first summative assessment.  In order to prepare for this assignment, students will be given a practice test and an answer key.  Students are encouraged to carefully check their work against the answer key. 

Additionally, students may choose to use the app "Class Kick" in order to prepare for the assignment.  I will be available through the app from 8pm-9pm on Monday night in order to help students with any last minute questions they might have before we take our summative assessment.  In order to take advantage of this extra help session, students can login into ClassKick with our class code.  When a student has a question, they can "raise their hand" virtually through the app.  I am then able to write on that student's iPad in order to check work or to give hints for how to correctly solve the problem.  During class on Tuesday, students will complete the Unit 1 Summative assessment.

Unit 2: Reasoning and Proof

Once the summative assessment wraps up, we will spend our class time on Wednesday and Thursday starting our next unit.  We will focus on deductive reasoning on Wednesday and on logic statements on Thursday.  This will serve as the basis for our unit, when we start to form logical arguments.  Students will learn about how to create a two-column proof.  This style of proof allows students to form an argument stating "what they know" in one column and "how they know it" in the second column.

What's Going On? September 11th through September 15th

Unit 1: Basics of Geometry


This week, we will continue our study of the basics of Geometry.  We will start Monday's class with a quick formative check to make sure that we are all on the right track.  After our short formative, we will start our study of constructions.  For this day, students will need to have a compass and a straight edge.  We are going to accurately construct six basic items, including angle bisectors and perpendicular bisectors.

After constructions, we will talk about deductive reasoning, polygons and how geometry connects with the coordinate plane.  I would expect to see another quick formative assessment or two throughout the week so that I can give students feedback on their mathematical understanding.

Need Extra Help?

This week, I will be available from 7:00-8:00 on Wednesday and Thursday morning for any students who need some extra help.  Students are welcome to drop in at any time and can stay for a few minutes or the entire hour.  Please don't be afraid to ask questions!

What's Going On? September 5th through September 8th

Unit 1: The Basics of Geometry

This week in Honors Geometry, we will start to talk about the basic building blocks that will serve as the foundation for the rest of the course.  We will talk about the three "undefined" terms in Geometry: point, line, and plane.  Though these terms are technically undefined, we will come up with a student-friendly definition that we can all agree upon.

We will also talk about additional terms such as parallel lines, perpendicular lines, and perpendicular bisectors.  Many students may already be familiar with these terms, but we will focus on how to appropriately use naming and labeling conventions along with these terms.

Additionally this week, we will talk about the segment and angle addition postulates.  Basically, these postulates say that the segment (or angle) is equal to the sum of its part.

Welcome to the 2017-2018 School Year, Honors Geometry Students!

Welcome back to school!  My name is Mrs. Kamenar and I will be working with you in your computer science class this year.  This will be my thirteenth year teaching at Waukesha North.  This year I will be teaching Honors Geometry, App Development 1 & 2, AP Computer Science Principles, Programming the Web 1 & 2 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, the children's museum, going to the library and swimming.  My family and I took a few days to drive down the coast in California and see a few of the sites.  We were able to visit Disneyland, the LaBrea Tar Pits, and see a few beaches.

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 Friday we will ease into the year by talking about inductive reasoning and patterns.

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.