Coach Darak's Math Class

May 19, 2012: There are only 16 more school days until finals.  Most classes have their last exams before finals in the upcoming two weeks.  This may be your last chance to get the Exam and Content Quiz grade increased.  We will still have homework and notebook grades throughout the rest of the semester…. so keep up the work!

If you haven’t made up a quiz or test by now, you need to do so very soon or get a zero on the assessment.  If you haven’t handed in late or absent homework within one week of the assignment, you need to do so as well…or get a zero on that homework. 

Final exams are scheduled for June 13, 14, 15 and 18, with any makeups given on June 19, the last day of school.

May 12, 2012: There are only 21 more school days until finals.  In that time, we will be finishing up material that will be on the final exam.

As you know, we have already started reviewing for finals, through the Finals Review Sheet Project.  You were given another handout on Friday, due next Friday that asks you to go back and review your notes and write down the most important items from the assigned unit.  You can improve both your notebook and homework grade by turning in the work accurately and on time.

The final exam is worth 10% of your final grade. You should be reviewing your past quizzes and tests for all chapters that will be on your final exam.  You will be given a packet of review problems sometime in June that will also be helpful for the finals.

Final exams are scheduled for June 13, 14, 15 and 18, with any makeups given on June 19, the last day of school.

Progress Reports are being mailed this week to all students. My section of the notice will refer you to check their most current grade through this website.

Let’s hope we stay warm and dry this weekend…

Coach D.

May 4, 2012:  Progress Reports will be finalized next week and mailed soon thereafter.  As with my past progress reports, the comment will direct parents to get updates through this website. All students can check the website for their progress on a weekly basis.

Final exams are scheduled for June 13, 14, 15 and 18, with any makeups given on June 19, the last day of school.

PARENT’S NOTE:  Some students are in serious danger of failing their mathematics course for the entire 2011-12 academic year.  This means that they will receive no credit for math and that they will either have to take summer school or repeat the class during the next academic school year.

Students can fail the entire year for two reasons.  Their overall average, including the mid-term and final examination grade, is below 60.  The second reason is a departmental rule that states that any student who fails in BOTH the third and fourth marking periods cannot pass the course for the academic year.

Parents may want to be more diligent in checking their child’s grades this marking period to make sure they are on a course to pass for the entire year.

There are only 26 more school days until finals.  Students should begin reviewing their notes for topics we have covered since the end of January.

April 28, 2012:  April is over….only a month and a half until the school year ends.  This is not the time to get spring fever.  We still have several units to go before you can relax.  You need to keep reviewing your notes every night and use them to complete your homework.  And…we need to keep organized with our notebook; finals will cover all of the material we learned since midterms.

Since this is the beginning of the marking period, missed homework means a lot more to the final grade.  If you make it up, you will see a large jump in your grade.  There are only about 6 more teaching weeks in the year before finals. 

PARENT’S NOTE:  Some students are in serious danger of failing their mathematics course for the entire 2011-12 academic year.  This means that they will receive no credit for math and that they will either have to take summer school or repeat the class during the next academic school year.

Students can fail the entire year for two reasons.  Their overall average, including the mid-term and final examination grade, is below 60.  The second reason is a departmental rule that states that any student who fails in BOTH the third and fourth marking periods cannot pass the course for the academic year.

Parents may want to be more diligent in checking their child’s grades this marking period to make sure they are on a course to pass for the entire year.

Have a great week.

April 14, 2012:  I have posted the first set of grades for marking period number 4.  As in the past, there may not be grades in all the categories yet….still early in the marking period.  Mrs. Artese, our student teacher, had her last day with us on Friday.  Therefore, from here on out, I will be completing the academic year as the teacher.

Some students have homework very low because they did not do it.   They will need to pick up the effort after the break in order to bring their grade up.

Students, enjoy your week’s vacation and let’s hope the weather gets warmer.  When we get back, we will have another 37 school days until finals, which begin on June 13.  We still have a lot to accomplish.

April 6, 2012:  The grades posted today are the final official grades that will be on your report card.

The last marking period has started.  If you haven’t noticed, we are building on the math we learned earlier and it is getting harder.  You will need to go home and review the notes that you take during class, before you do your homework.  Skipping homework at this time of the year is ill advised.

PARENT’S NOTE:  Some students are in serious danger of failing their mathematics course for the entire 2011-12 academic year.  This means that they will receive no credit for math and that they will either have to take summer school or repeat the class during the next academic school year.

Students can fail the entire year for two reasons.  Their overall average, including the mid-term and final examination grade, is below 60.  The second reason is a departmental rule that states that any student who fails in BOTH the third and fourth marking periods cannot pass the course for the academic year.

Parents may want to be more diligent in checking their child’s grades this marking period to make sure they are on a course to pass for the entire year.

Coach D.

April 1, 2012:  The marking period is officially over on Tuesday.  Grades have to be submitted into the system by next weekend.  Students who have not made up any of their late tests or quizzes by that time will either get an Incomplete (if they had an extended illness) or a zero for that work.

The grades that are posted are close to being final, with several students who still owe me some outstanding work from LAST WEEK ONLY.

Change is coming!  We are changing how we will go about starting our class each day.  We will replace the picking of a stick with picking a card out of a deck of cards.  We will do that for the rest of the year.  We will also form new teams and have new seats starting on Tuesday.

Eight more school days until vacation (but who’s counting?).  Enjoy the weekend...

March 24, 2012:  In eight days it will be April Fools Day.  But no foolin’ here…there is only 10 DAYS LEFT in the marking period. There have been some students either ill or out of school this past week.  We have had several tests and assessments that have not been completed that also may be making their grades unusually low.

Also, I will accept late homework up until Friday March 30. 

Let’s hope the warm weather continues….

March 17, 2012: CAPT is finally over…hope everyone did well.  But March Madness has just begun…and I am not just talking basketball.

There is only 12 SCHOOL DAYS LEFT in the marking period.  For many of the students, it is time to increase your practice in order to get to your Final Four.  Updated grades have been posted.

1) If your homework grade is low, chances are you owe me some homework.  If you want to get any credit for that work that was due in the last week, you will need to do it and hand it to me.

2) If your notebook grade is low, I will giving a 10 in 10 Notebook Check at the end of each unit.  You can significantly increase your notebook grade if you are organized, if you are taking good notes and if your homework is ALL DONE.

3) If your test and quiz grade is low, many (but not all) classes will be having at least one more test or quiz in the next two weeks. 

4) Start reviewing your old quizzes and tests since the midterm….final exams will be upon us before you know it…

We don’t want to see any upsets (your parents), we need to see good practice habits and we need to get some Math PTPers (Prime Time Players) in front of the lights to get some victories.  For my diaper dandies (Freshman), now is not the time to slack…what you do in the last several weeks of school will be on the transcripts you send off to colleges during your senior year.  Let the Madness begin….

Coach Darak

March 10, 2012: One more week of CAPT testing.  This week, Math CAPT is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Progress Reports will be sent soon to all students.  As with the first two marking periods, notices will direct parents to check Teacherweb for the most up to date grades.

NOTES to Parents: 

a) If your child currently has a low grade due to the NOTEBOOK, they will have a chance to bring that grade up with the notebook checks at the end of each unit.  Many students are still not organized or they are skipping many homework assignments.  Either of these problems is lowering their notebook grade.

b) If your child currently has a low grade due to HOMEWORK, they have either NOT turned in the homework when they should have, they didn't complete their homework or they turned it in late and got 50% off their score for the day.  We take math homework very seriously.  We don’t give too many questions each night.  They need to keep up, or their grade will be in trouble.

c) If your child gets an F in marking periods 3 AND 4, they will FAIL FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR, regardless of how (well) they did in the first two marking periods.  They cannot slack off!

Coach Darak