Welcome to Second Semester!

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone enjoyed their extended weekend after we wrapped up the first semester.  Now that you have had a little break, it's time to get back to work!  Since we are starting a new semester, everyone will be starting with a blank slate for our new grading period.  Since we have a short week, each day this week will be run as a "Monday-style" schedule.

Unit 7: Similarity

We will start out this unit talking about ratio and proportion.  We will revisit how to set up and solve a proportion.  This will lay an important foundation for our unit when we talk to talk about similar figures.  In order to say that two figures are similar, we must be able to say that all of their corresponding angles are congruent and that all of their corresponding sides are proportional.  Students will be able to use this knowledge to state whether or not two figures are similar.  We will also talk about some shortcuts to show that two triangles are similar and then will expand on this knowledge to talk about the similarity that exists in right triangles.

To make sure that we are starting the semester on the right foot, students should expect to see a couple of formatives before the end of the week.

What's Going On? January 15th through January 19th (EXAM WEEK)

Exam Week

It's exam week.  Please remember that we will follow a "Monday-style" schedule on Monday and Tuesday.  Our exam schedule will run Wednesday through Friday.  Please be sure to be ON TIME for all of your exams.  Students must attend exam periods for all class, including student aide classes.  Students are not required to attend the "Reviewing/Conferencing" times, but that would be a great time to get some extra help!  Additionally, students are not required to attend during the "Make-Up" exam time on Friday afternoon.



Plan for the Week

On Monday, our final three groups will present their review activities for the class.  Students will see "Semester Project" in Infinite Campus and will only receive one summative grade for the one target corresponding to their project.  The other targets might show up as "missing" in Infinite Campus, but don't worry about this.

On Tuesday, we will go over any last-minute questions regarding the exam.  Our exam will take place at 9:30 on Wednesday morning.  DO NOT BE LATE!!!!  I will be at school starting at 7am if students would like to come in to get some extra help before the exam.

Semester Exam
Students will complete somewhat of a "choose your own adventure" exam.  Students will be required to complete an exam of the following three learning targets:

• 1d: Proofs with lines and angles
• 1e: Proving triangles congruent.
• 2a: Writing equations of lines.

Additionally, students will choose at least two more targets for the exam.  The choices are:

• 1a: I can precisely define Geometric terms
• 1b: I can use the basic language of logic
• 1c: Constructions
• 2c: I can prove theorems about quadrilaterals
• 3a: I can use the segment and angle addition postulate
• 3c: Solving for missing measurements

Students may choose to take additional sections of the exam, but must finish within our given exam time.  

Materials Needed for the Exam

Students should bring a pencil, calculator, compass and a straight edge (if completing the constructions portion of the exam).  Additionally, students can create a "cheat sheet" to use during the exam.  This can be a computer-size sheet of paper (8 1/2" by 11"), front and back.  Students can choose to include definitions, formulas, sample problems, anything at all!  At the end of the exam period, students will turn in their cheat sheet.

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

MAP Testing

On Monday, freshmen students will be participating in the math MAP test.  Students should report immediately to their assigned testing location at the start of the day (7:35).  Students will remain in their testing location until the entire assessment is complete.  After that, students will return to their regularly scheduled classes.  Sophomores will need to report to the West Lecture Hall during our class period.


Semester Exam Projects
Once MAP testing concluded, students will be presenting their semester exam projects.  Last week, students broke up into small groups to create a review activity for their specified learning target.  This week, we will begin the activities in preparation for the exam.

During Thursday's class period, I will be taking a group of students on a field trip to WCTC.  During this class period, students will be taking a vocabulary assessment so we can see how much our knowledge of geometric vocabulary has grown since the beginning of the year.


Semester Exam
Our Honors Geometry semester exam will take place on Wednesday, January 17th from 9:30am-11:00am.  Students will complete somewhat of a "choose your own adventure" exam.  Students will be required to complete an exam of the following three learning targets:

• 1d: Proofs with lines and angles
• 1e: Proving triangles congruent.
• 2a: Writing equations of lines.

Additionally, students will choose at least two more targets for the exam.  The choices are:

• 1a: I can precisely define Geometric terms
• 1b: I can use the basic language of logic
• 1c: Constructions
• 2c: I can prove theorems about quadrilaterals
• 3a: I can use the segment and angle addition postulate
• 3c: Solving for missing measurements

Students may choose to take additional sections of the exam, but must finish within our given exam time.  

Materials Needed for the Exam

Students should bring a pencil, calculator, compass and a straight edge (if completing the constructions portion of the exam).  Additionally, students can create a "cheat sheet" to use during the exam.  This can be a computer-size sheet of paper (8 1/2" by 11"), front and back.  Students can choose to include definitions, formulas, sample problems, anything at all!  At the end of the exam period, students will turn in their cheat sheet.

What's Going On? January 2nd through January 5th

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a restful winter break and had some time to relax before we head into our last push for the semester!  We have 9 class days before our semester exams, so let's make the most of it!

Math MAP Testing

All freshmen will participate in math MAP testing on Monday, January 8th.  Students should report to their designated locations first thing in the morning on this day.  Click here to see location assignments.


New FREE Graphing Calculator App for All Students!
ALL 6-12 Student now have access to the "GraphNCalc 83" App.  Please go to Self Service, search "GraphNCalc 83" App, and download the calculator.

1st Semester Project

Before winter break, students analyzed their current grades for each of our learning targets and identified where they would like to improve.  Students have been assigned to small groups to brush up on their identified area.  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.

Final Exam Week Schedule

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

Unit 6: Polygons and Quadrilaterals

This week, we will finish up our sixth unit on Polygons and Quadrilaterals.  On Monday, students will spend the class period working on our summative review.  During Tuesday's class, we will go over questions and students will do a review activity to get ready for the summative.  We will hold a Class Kick session on Tuesday night from 8:00pm-9:00pm for students to ask any last-minute questions.  During Wednesday's class, students will complete the summative assessment.  If any student is leaving for winter break early, please be sure to take the summative BEFORE you leave!  Students are more than welcome to take the summative during class on Tuesday if they will not be in class on Wednesday.

During Thursday's class, students will receive the results of their summative assessment and we will do a short activity.

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

Quadrilateral Detectives in Training

We will begin the week by working on a project: "Quadrilateral Detectives in Training".  For this project, students will partner up to graph four different quadrilaterals on a coordinate plane.  Of course, there are some rules for how the figures can be drawn.  For example, the figure cannot contain more than one horizontal or vertical line.  The students need to think about the properties associated with each type of quadrilateral we have studied during the unit in order to plot the points correctly.

Once this is complete, students will switch their projects with another pair.  Students will use their "detective skills" to determine the type of quadrilateral that has been plotted.  Students will use properties of geometry and algebra in order to support their findings.

After the project concludes, we will spend some time reviewing for our unit 6 summative assessment.  Details on the date of the summative and our Class Kick session will be announced during class on Tuesday.

Looking Ahead: Semester Exams

For those of you who like to plan ahead, here is our exam schedule for January.  We will talk about what our exam will look like when we get closer to this time.

What's Going On? December 4th through December 8th

Note: I will be out of the classroom on Monday morning due to Yearbook Club Picture day and on Tuesday and Wednesday due to a conference.  I will still be available to answer questions via e-mail.

Hour of Code

December 4th through December 8th is Computer Science Education Week.  This week, students from all over the world will participate in an activity to learn a little bit more about computer science.  North will hold our own activity after school on Thursday from 3:10-4:10pm in room 300.  During this session, we will work with a Google add-on called "Story Speaker".  In this session, each student will have a chance to write a "Choose your adventure"-style story.  Once the story is written, with all of the different options, students can have Google present the story.  This program can be run via a Chrome browser and also with a Google Home device.

Unit 6: Polygons and Quadrilaterals

This week, students will participate in a little self-directed learning.  I have posted videos of our lessons and students will watch the videos while completing our notes template.  During class on Tuesday, students will complete a short formative so that we can check our current level of understanding.  I will return to class on Thursday for face-to-face instruction to help clear up any questions that may have come up during the first three days of class.  During this time, I would like to remind students that I will be available via e-mail.  Some students may find learning via video to be a difficult experience.  I encourage students to try their best and work together.  Eventually, students will need to complete an online class as part of the school district's graduation requirement.  So, this exercise gives students a taste of what that might look like.