What have you guys been up to?!

Whew! It has been an intense past two days for me! I'm not sure if I've explained how blogging works for me, but I wanted to just let you know what it looks like in terms of my reliability. My afternoon schedule allows me three chunks of time to work on planning/blogging/checking papers/etc. These are M-F at lunch (provided there are no meetings that I have to attend and that I am not on lunch duty), M/W/F during 6th period (again, barring meetings), and T/H 7th period. For emails to be sent out to you on time (they should arrive to your inbox between 3 and 5p) I have to blog what I'm going to blog for the day by 3p. So, in a case like yesterday and today when I'm on lunch duty and have afternoon meetings until 3p... sitting down to blog becomes incredibly difficult! But, I try my best to keep to a schedule, thus insuring you get your daily update as regularly as possible. :)

With that being said, we are back in the swing of things with Lesson 2 of Chapter 4... specifically?  Scientific notation.

Much of the first chapter we worked on, Chapter 2 Number Sequences, was review for your children.  In Pre-Algebra last year both my class and Christel's class worked through Chapters 1 and most of Chapter 2, in preparation for your children entering Jacobs this year.  Thus, Chapter 2 went pretty smoothly.

And we find ourselves in Chapter 4 and the game has stepped up a bit.  We had a conversation yesterday in class about what makes Jacobs so challenging.  First of all, its the first time your children have had a math text (if they've spent their MS years at CFS).  Second, Jacobs is very narrative based.  Third, you must be able to read carefully and critically to understand what the author is trying to convey and the skills he is trying to teach.  Finally, you must be able to problem solve when you have no idea what the book is talking about!

Jacobs is primarily a high school text.  The concepts that we learn in Jacobs (scientific notation, logarithms, probability, methods of counting, functions and graphing) are skills that are usually introduced and taught in higher level math courses beyond Algebra.  We believe that the Jacobs course has been placed in the perfect line up with our math curriculum -- and it challenges and stretches them appropriately. 

I say all this to point out that your kids, if they haven't already, are going to start hitting some walls with the text.  It is natural and it happens every year and right around this time.  Even when I give them a heads up, it still happens. :)  In some cases this is due to not reading carefully enough... and in others they just simply don't understand or can't see where the book is coming from and where it is leading them.  Since the work in class is usually self or small-group driven, this often means hitting these walls or roadblocks by themselves or with their peers... and this is where the magic happens!

I get to play this excruciatingly wonderful game with them where I have to watch them struggle and fight with their reasoning to figure things out... giving them the appropriate support when needed, and letting them squirm a bit when needed.  Sometimes I'm pretty good at finding this balance... other times, not so much.  I tell you this, just as a heads up for you!  You may find yourselves in this same position one evening while your child is completing their homework.

On the flip side, the past two days we've spent working through Set II together and we've had a marvelous time!  I really appreciate these days because I get hands on, face to face time with them that in a few short moments shows ME exactly where they're at and if they are getting it. :)

Anywho, no homework over the weekend.  We'll pick up where we left off on Monday!