What's Going On? November 27th through December 1st

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break and that we are ready to hit the ground running.

Unit 6: Polygons and Quadrilaterals

We have 3 weeks leading up to winter break and for the majority of the time, we will be tackling our sixth unit of the year.  We will spend this week talking about the interior and exterior angles of polygons and then we will switch our focus to different types of parallelograms.

Students should expect to see a formative assessment or two this week so we can make sure that everyone is on track.  This week will be a "JIT" week, so students are more than welcome to come in for some extra help any day this week from 7:00-7:30am.  I will be available from 7:00-8:00am on Wednesday and Thursday.

Interested in Computer Programming?

MSOE has invited students to a special event called "Computer Unknown" on December 8th and 9th.  This FREE event will include a coding competition, some info about MSOE, a Bucks game, Laser Tag, and pizza.  Check out the link for more info: http://www.msoe.edu/campus-life/event/computer-unknown-an-epic-event-in-computer-science/

What's Going On? November 20th and 21st

Thanksgiving Break This Week!

This is just a reminder that we will have Thanksgiving break this week, so we will only meet on Monday and Tuesday.  This means that we will run a Monday-style schedule both days, so be prepared to see all of your classes.  Over your break, I hope you find some time to rest and relax so you can come back refreshed and ready to work for three weeks before winter break.

Unit 5: Relationships in Triangles

Last week, we investigated relationships that exist in triangles.  We were able to construct our incenter, circumcenter, and orthocenter.  Students found the balance point of a triangle when we talked about finding the centroid. 

Before we leave for our break, students will wrap up our fifth unit of the year.  Monday we will spend some time reviewing and on Tuesday we will complete our summative.  Students can also join our ClassKick session on Monday night from 8:30-9:30pm to get some additional questions answered.  Please see me if you have any questions!

Can you crack the code?

I came across this puzzle earlier this week on Twitter.  Can you solve it?

What's Going On? November 13th through November 17th

Unit 5: Relationships in Triangles

This week, we will work on our fifth unit of the year and focus on relationships that exist within triangles.  For this unit, students will need to bring in a compass and ruler in order to perform some of our constructions.  Students will also need to download the app "Construction Tutor Lite" so that we can investigate how we can perform constructions using technology.

This is an extremely short unit.  Students should expect to see a summative assessment before Thanksgiving break.  If students take care of all of their responsibilities in the 7 school days leading up to Thanksgiving, they will have a Geometry-free holiday.

We will start the week by talking about angle bisectors.  After this, we will work with perpendicular bisectors and medians in triangles.  We will finish the week by exploring altitudes in triangles.  Students should expect to see a formative or two throughout the week so we can make sure that everyone is on the right track.

What's Going On? November 6th through November 10th

Wrapping Up Unit 4: Triangle Congruence

This week in Honors Geometry, we will be wrapping up our fourth unit.  On Monday, we will learn how to prove that parts of congruent triangles are congruent, using "CPCTC".  On Tuesday, we will make our figures a little more challenging and look at some overlapping triangles.  We will then apply our knowledge of proving triangle, and their parts, congruent to our overlapping figures.  During class on Wednesday, we will review for our summative assessment and complete the assessment on Thursday.  We will hold a "Class Kick" session as well, so stay tuned for our scheduled time!

If you need a little extra help, I am always available in the mornings!  Please ask questions!  I am here to help!

What's Going On? October 30th through November 3rd

Unit 4: Triangle Congruence

This week, we will continue our study of our fourth unit on triangle congruence.  We will focus on triangle congruence shortcuts.  In other words, how can we tell if two triangles are the exact same size and shape?  Once we have talked about the different shortcuts, we will apply our knowledge to form a two-column proof to prove that two triangles are congruent.  Students should expect to see a couple of formative assessments this week so that we can make sure that we are all on the right track.

What's Going On? October 23rd through October 25th

Short Week This Week!

This is just a reminder that we will run a Monday-style schedule on Monday and Tuesday.  On Wednesday, we have a shortened schedule with early release and students have the day off on Thursday and Friday.  Enjoy your time and find some time to regroup!



Unit 4: Triangle Congruence

During this short week, we will spend some time looking at our triangle congruence unit.  On Monday we will talk about the midsegments of triangles and on Tuesday we will talk about the triangle inequality theorem.  Before our long weekend, we will complete a short formative during class on Wednesday to make sure that everyone is on track with our new unit.




A Note About Grades

One of our math teachers, Ms. Vogg, recently created a blog post about the Waukesha North math department grading policies regarding the number of "IEs" a student can have and still be able to pass the course.  I think she did a really great job explaining the policy regarding passing grades in Geometry.  You can view the post here.  Please let me know if you have any questions.


College, Career and Community Resource Fair 

Monday, October 23rd, the school district of Waukesha will be hosting the 2nd annual College, Career and Community Resource Fair at Waukesha South High School.   The fair will take place from 4:30 to 7:30 PM  in the Fieldhouse and surrounding Classrooms. There are several new additions to the fair and some wonderful resources from last year will also be included.

Here is what the night will entail: 

* 50+ Colleges and Universities (public, private, in-state and out-of-state)

* Over 50 local Career Professionals ready to either share about their career or invite students to job shadow, join internships, or be hired on the spot

* 20+ Community representatives offering volunteer opportunities to students.

* Eight rotating workshop/presentations provided by the many transition services for all students with an IEP or 504 organized by many of our Special Ed. leaders.

* College Applications Assistance from High school counselors.

* Financial Aid Presentations in English and Spanish from financial aid professionals.

* Scholarship information and College Essay writing from Janet Baer and Erin Martin.

* NCAA Eligibility information provided by Paul Darling

* The list of resources go on! 

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

Last Day for Unit 2 Summative Retakes

This is just a reminder that the last day for unit 2 summative retakes is Monday.  I will not be available after school, so please make arrangements to complete your retake before school or during lunch.  If you choose to take this during lunch, please be sure to get a pass from me.  Also, be sure to bring your lunch with you so that you can eat while you work.

Finishing Up Unit 3: Parallel Lines

During class on Monday, we will be reviewing for our unit 3 summative assessment by playing a review game, Castle Attack!  For homework, students will have a review to complete.  I will also be hosting a ClassKick session from 8:00pm-9:00pm on Monday night.  If students have questions, please be sure to join this virtual session!  If you are not available during the session, simply log on to the app ahead of time and request that I check your work.  I am able to leave a note for you that you can check later.  Our summative will be during class on Tuesday and will cover two learning targets.

• 1d: I can prove theorems about lines and angles.
• 2a: I can write equations of lines.

Unit 4: Triangle Congruence

Once we finish up with unit 3, we will dive right into our fourth unit on triangle congruence.  We will spend one day talking about the properties of isosceles triangles and our last day of class for the week talking about the midsegments of triangles.  This will lay the groundwork for the following week when we learn how to prove that two triangles are congruent.