Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.

1. When is extra help available?
2. How much homework should I expect to do in math each night?
3. What is the make-up policy for improving test and quiz grades?
4. What type of calculator do I need?
5. Is extra credit offered?
6. What if I get stuck or frustrated on homework problems?
7. What if I do not complete my homework?
8. Can my parents help me with homework?

When is extra help available?

I will be here for help Monday-Thursday until 3:30.  Please be aware that
there is no extra help on half days or on certain Mondays (staff meetings).  I
will advise students to any changes.

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How much homework should I expect to do in math each night?

Expect homework every night.  Exceptions to this are usually quiz or test
days.  You should expect about 1/2 of an hour of homework each night,
depending on the speed at which you work.  

If you are in a situation where you have spent 30 - 45 minutes on homework and
you are stuck and frustrated, please follow the procedure below:
1. Stop.  Take a breath.  Put the pencil down.  Its okay.
2. Inform your parents that you are struggling with an assignment and ask them
to write a short note about the situation.  This informs me that you are
communicating with your parents about your struggles.
3. Come into the next class and ask to see the problem done as an example for
correction.
4. If, after we go over the problem, you still are confused, or you had issues
with more problems, set up a time to seek extra help.

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What is the make-up policy for improving test and quiz grades?

All quizzes and tests can be made up for half of the points that you lost. 
For example, if you scored 14 out of 20 possible points, you lost 6 points. 
You can earn half of the 6 points (3) back on your retake.  Any quiz or test
can be made up, no matter how high or low the grade.  There may be special
circumstances where this policy is changed for a single assessment.

To make up a quiz or test, fix your mistakes on the quiz by following the
procedure below:
1.On a separate piece of paper, write the full question from the assessment
that you are going to correct.
2. Give a descriptive explanation of your mistake.  Here, I am looking for you
to reflect on where you went wrong so that you can learn from your mistakes.
3. Fix the mistake, showing all work.

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What type of calculator do I need?

A scientific calculator is what you should have with you in class every day. 
If we are going to use graphing calculators, we have class sets of them in the
room already.  Though the graphing calculators will not be leaving the
classroom, students have graphing software on the laptops that will suffice.

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Is extra credit offered?

Since I allow students to make up all tests and quizzes as many times as
needed to be successful, I do not offer extra credit.  Students who are
looking for extra credit as a way to challenge themselves should know that
there are multiple opportunities in each learning experience for that challenge.

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What if I get stuck or frustrated on homework problems?

See question 2.

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What if I do not complete my homework?

If you do not complete your homework because you struggled, see question 2.

If you do not complete your homework because you chose not to do it, or you
forgot, you will be required to stay after school to complete the assignment.
 If you complete the assignment before your scheduled after-school
appointment, you are to stay after, and review the homework with Mr. Driscoll
to check for understanding.

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Can my parents help me with homework?

At the beginning of each unit, a parent letter is sent home giving homework
help hints for parents.  There is a link for this letter on the handouts page
of my site (actually, it is a link to Mr. Hogan's handout page).  Students and
parents, please understand that the methods students use to solve problems in
our math program are different than the methods that we (adults) were taught.
 This is not "New" Math, it is just a different way based on recent research
of how students learn math.  Students, please know that if your parents are
showing you a way to solve a problem that is different from what we did in
class, THEY ARE NOT WRONG, they just have a different method.  For extra help,
there is also a link to the Connected Mathematics Program 2 website (link from
my site to Mr. Hogan's site). 
For Math A parents there is a similar website on the Links page for the
Prentice-Hall Algebra text.

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