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.

What's Going On? January 29th through February 2nd

Unit 7: Similarity

Last week we were able to start talking about the properties of similar figures and determine whether or not two figures were similar.  We also talked about some shortcuts that exist that would allow us to say whether or not two triangles are similar, including SSS similarity, SAS similarity, and AA similarity.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, we will focus in on similarity that exists within right triangles.  We will have a short paper and pencil formative (8 questions) at the beginning of class on Tuesday to make sure that we are on the right track with understanding similar figures. 

We will finish off the week by talking about proportionality in triangles and similarity transformations.  Students should expect to see a few check-in formatives throughout the week to make sure we have a strong start to the second semester. 

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.