Vocab

Vocab for the week:

Principal	The original amount of money being deposited or borrowed in an account.
Interest Rate	Interest is calculated based on a percent of the principal.  This is that Percentage.
Interest	The amount the bank pays you for the right to use your money.
Balance	The principal amount plus the interest earned will equal this.
Simple Interest	Interest paid only on an original deposit.

Student Teacher and Homework Reminder

It's been a great week!  I've been really impressed with how well we performed on the ER over scale drawings.  Don't forget to have Homework 2.4 and 2.5 done by Monday morning.  Problem number 15 on 2.5 is a tough one, so if you have trouble we are probably going to look at it on Monday. 

Ms.  Merrick was introduced this Friday and I know she is excited about getting to work with the class as my student teacher.  At some point maybe I will post a bio of her on the blog so you guys can get to know here a little bit better. 

Have a great weekend!!!

Vocab for Quiz on 11/30

New Vocab Words and HW 2.1 and 2.2 Assigned

The vocab words for this week are:

Proportional Relationship
Coordinate Plane
x-axis
y-axis
origin

 Later this week I will post the definitions. If you miss Monday because of the challenger field trip be sure to get the vocab words from this site or a friend in class.

 Homework 2.1 and 2.2 are now posted online and should be completed by next Monday December the 3rd.

Homework reminders

I'm making this post on Tuesday November 13th. At this point all students should have turned in or finished the homework online up to the 1.3 and 1.4 mark. We do NOT have any vocab for this week. As of right now I do not plan on assigning any more assignments online until after the Thanksgiving break. We are going to try and get those who are behind caught up and practice material we have already covered.

Vocab this week

Test corrections for Topic 6 have begun and we have a new set of vocabulary words for this week: Rate Ratio Terms of a Ratio Equivalent Ratios Unit Price Remember if you failed the Topic 6 exam you need to get a copy of the test and write your missed questions three times each and work out the problem with the correct answer.

Topic 6 Test Tomorrow

Topic 6 test is tomorrow.  Students should be bringing a study guide home tonight.  All homework from Topic 6 should be turned in at this point.  Lessons 6.1 through 6.6.  Good luck and study hard. 

Changes

Had fun finding percent error today by guessing how many m and ms or skittles are in a jar. The kids might have left with a bit of a sugar rush, but hopefully they saw why percents make ratios comparable across the board. Our vocabulary quiz scheduled for tomorrow will have to be postponed because of an assembly at the high school. We will have our Vocab Quiz on Monday October 22nd. Also, I posted HW 6.6 earlier this week, but I think it was the lesson for 6.6 and not the actual Homework assignment. As of Thursday afternoon I believe I have that fixed. It will be due by Wednesday of next week OCT 24th.

Vocab this week and HW update

Hey everyone, I know that the Digits website was down on Saturday and I apologize if that inconvenienced anyone over the weekend. Remember that online assignments never close so if you couldn't finish one before a due date, just get it done in a timely manner and ask me to update your grade when you have the desired outcome. The important thing is that you get them completed. Vocab for this week include: Percent Equation Percent Error Proportion Percent Proportion Cross multiply and Divide. I will post a picture of good notes later in the week. Have a great week!!!

Great Parent Night, No vocab this week

Tuesday night was a treat to meet some parents and I had a good turn out for those interested in learning about the digits program.  Just wanted to keep everyone up to date on the homework assignment due dates and the fact that there is no vocab quiz this week.  Instead we will have a content quiz that tests your ability to calculate or convert a percent. 

6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 lesson homework should have been completed and turned in by today.  Lessons 6.4 and 6.5 are available for online access and will be due this upcoming Monday October 15th. 

These need to be memorized and be put to use so you can do the percent problems we have been working on in class:

Percent equation

Part = Percent x Whole

Percent Proportion

Is/Of   =   %/100

Vocab

Topic 6 Launch and This week's vocab

Topic 6 is officially underway and their are some new online assignments for you all to start looking at. We've started the Topic labeled "Fractions, Decimals, and Percents" with conversions of fractions to decimals that repeat or terminate. Here is a list of this week's vocab words that we will have a quiz over this Friday: Repeating decimal Terminating decimal Percent Remainder Bar notation Be sure to have all your Topic 4 and Topic 5 homework finished before this Friday when grades are posted for the end of the 9 weeks.

Explore Testing and Wrapping up Topic 5

As you guys know we took Topic 5 test last week. With Explore testing taking up a chunk of this short week, there hasn't been any new homework posted online or vocab words for this week. We are going over most missed questions from the Topic 5 test and self-evaluating the quality of our open responses. Friday we may begin Topic 6 a little bit, but there is no homework from Topic 6 that has been given at this point.

Topic 5 Test

We have another test coming up at the end of this week.  No vocabulary for this week as we prepare for the Topic 5 Test.  There are also no online homework assignments for this week.  Our focus is strictly getting you ready for the test starting this Thursday.  The test will have 30 multiple choice questions and we will pass out a study guide Tuesday in class that will cover the concepts you will see.  Be sure to spend time out of class reviewing the concepts as I expect better results on this assessment compared to Topic 4.  Friday we will have a written assessment in the form of a extended response question. 

Mid-term woes

I know after mid-terms there have been some concerns involving grades so far this school year in Math.  I appreciate the emails and contacts, and I hope that I've answered any questions you as parents may have.  Please feel free to let me know if you have questions about your student's grade or performance.  It's my job to serve the students I have and help them be successful.  As our students mature and grow accustom to how things work at the middle school I know grades will improve.  Some are discovering that more effort is required to achieve on the more challenging content that we have to cover.  I think we have gotten off to a great start and I look forward to facing these math problems together. 

100 club August 31 Vocab Quiz

Vocab Quiz

Vocab and a new week

Hey guys, I apologize for not being in class today. I'd rather be with you guys rather than sit in these meetings, but I'm sure Mrs. Riley did a great job with you. There are two new homework assignments posted on Digits as of this morning. Make sure to have them finished before next Monday. Also, last week's assignments 5.1 through 5.3, I plan on going over some of the difficult problems from 5.3 tomorrow in class. So, if you didn't finish all of 5.3, I'll wait another day before I get online and check for grades.

This week's vocab words are:
Complex Fraction
Dividend
Divisor
Exponent
Order of Operations

 I will have your vocab quiz from last week graded and given back to you by Thursday. Sorry for the delay but I had a busy labor day weekend laying down hard wood flooring in my In-laws new home. Got to use a lot of math though!!! I'll post some good notes over the vocab tomorrow for you to study and prepare for.

This week's Vocab

There are some folks taking good notes in Mr. Catlin's class this year.  I've had some people request that I post the vocab on my blog, so here ya go!!

Test Results

I know that our Topic 4 Test results weren't as good as we would have hoped, but I think yesterday's test corrections will help boost your grades.  Hopefully after yesterday's session you guys have noticed the small mistakes you were making while adding and subtracting rational numbers.  READY QUESTIONS CAREFULLY!!!!!!  Today we will be moving on to multiplying rational numbers and believe it or not it's actually easier than adding and subtracting because you don't have to get like denominators. 

We have a vocabulary quiz this upcoming Friday.  The words to study for are as follows:

Common multiple
Common factor
Reciprocals
Mixed Number
Improper Fraction
Additive Inverses (again)

Good Luck!!!

TOPIC 4 TEST FRIDAY

Don't forget we have a topic 4 test this Friday that covers lessons 4.1 through 4.5.  Study hard and finish all the homework assignments.  Come tomorrow ready for a review.

Rational Number Personification

Hey guys,

I had several recommendations of writing pieces to post on the blog from our activity today.  So many good ones to choose from.  Considering it would take me forever to type them all out, I've decided to select just a few of the recommended writings.  Great job by everyone on this assignment though.

The class was asked to write a journal or diary entry through the perspective of a rational number.  

Alyssa Brookshire

Dear Journal,

It's me again, 6.  I've had a horrible day today.  :(  You know my BFF, 9?  Well he was subtracted from our equation this morning.  He and 7 got into a fight.  "Let's all just be rational number here!"  9 tried to tell her.  But then, guess what happened?!  7,8,9!!!! I felt so helpless seeing my friend being all gobbled up like that.  I'm so terrified of 7 now, but i still have to stand by him at school in the number line.  AHHH!!!!

Emily Goddard

Dear Diary,

Something weird is happening at school!  These "negatives" moved in , and my BFF's (and not so BFFs) are shrinking!  My friend, 16 shrunk when she was added to negative 8!  Now, instead of 16, she's only 8.  I'm 14, and I love being 14, so I hope I never EVER meet a negative.  Well, they may not be so bad.... 21 got bigger when he met -18!  Now, he's 39.  He said something about subtracting negatives, and hey, I just might give it a try!
-from, 14

James Carter

Well, today is the day I'm going to get subtracted.  I admit I'm a little nervous.  I mean I've been added, multiplied, and even divided by, but never subtracted.  Some of the guys have been subtracted.  They say it doesn't hurt.  While I'm wondering HOW!?  They are taking something away from you!!  Right now I'm so nervous I wish I was born a zero, I'd already be nothing, but be worth more in the long run.  Oh no it's time.  Here it comes..... Hey, that didn't hurt.  Oh well. 

1st 100 club members

Digits HW tutorial Online and CD

8-20 through 8-24

No Vocab quiz this week.  We will be replacing the Vocab quiz with a test over Topic 4.  Topic 4 covers adding and subtracting rational numbers.  Last week we focused on adding rational numbers.  We will conclude the topic by learning how to subtract all types of rational numbers this week and have a test to follow it up on this Friday.  Be preparing yourself for that test as Friday approaches.  There are only two homework assignments posted for his week's assignment.  Be sure to have it completed by next Monday at 8 AM.

In-Class Practice

Today in class we practiced adding integers.  Don't forget to complete the online assignments or the paper copies that are provided.  Also, remember that this Friday we have our first vocab quiz.  The 6 words are listed on the blog and we've defined them all in our math journal "notes" section. 

Homework and Vocab 8-13 through 8-17

Homework
H.W. 4.1 , 4.2, and 4.3 are posted in your "to do" list on digits.  Paper copies are in my room.  CDs will be distributed during class Tuesday for those without internet access.

Vocab
Rational Number
Absolute Value
Additive Inverse
Whole Number
Integer
Opposite

Quiz this Friday over these vocab words!!!!

Hope to have a great week.

We used this map of Kentucky today using only a pencil to estimate the square mileage of our state. Several classes came close to the actual square mileage which is 40,411 square miles. The closest class today was estimating it to be 40,625 square miles. Pretty impressive for some seventh graders with a map and some pencils!!!!

Browser for Digits

Be sure to use Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox web browser when accessing digits.  Here are some links to get the free downloads:

Internet Explorer

Mozilla Firefox

You can access Digits by going to:

www.successnetplus.com

Your username will be:  gcms.firstname.lastname

Password will be: gcms2012

We are learning how to log in today in the computer lab. 

You will need to allow pop-ups while working in Digits.

Getting to Know You

Here's a list of a few things I learned today:

2nd period

All of Jake Mills answers in his interview dealt with Symsonia.  I'm guessing that he's proud to come from that school.

3rd period

Dylan Knight LOVES basketball!!!.  Seriously.  No joke.  It's all he can talk about.

4th period

Christian Robinson enjoys some old school rock and roll and likes playing his xbox.

5th period

I've got like 1 million Paiton's (all spelled differently) Payton's.............Peyton's.......I'm so confused.  I also have two Landon's.....or is it Landann?  I'm even more confused. 

7th period

Keisha has a super strength ninja fish that can jump out of the fish bowl.  It's quite amazing to hear her tell the tale.  I also learned not to allow Mckayla Dotson handle your finances......she'll just spend it all!!!

First Day

Yesterday was our first day back after a nice summer break.  It's exciting to see so many new faces in the building filled with excitement, nerves, joy, and some straight up fear.  It's only natural to feel some of these things as you enter such a large and new place.  After speaking for about 8 hours straight yesterday my voice is in recovery mode and hopefully the students can do a little more of the teaching today as we get to know each other a little better.  I look forward to the new year with all my students.  I hope they can match my enthusiasm as we begin to learn math together.

My Interview With Yoda

Combining Like Terms

We are working a very difficult concept this week. Combining like terms is a topic that was not taught in 7th grade last year. Be sure to pay attention closely in class this week and ask questions if you ever get lost during a problem.

More practice with order of operations and rational numbers

We did a work sheet in class today in our table groups working on the same concepts that were on last Friday's quiz. There are 10 problems. Show your work and have it completed by tomorrow.