Journal

10/11/10 Today we went over the distance formula the square root of (x2-x1)^2+(y2-y1)^2. Many of the kids in the class had trouble utilizing this formula and I was there to help. I also answered questions that the kids had about other general math equations and helped the students study for their quizzes.

10/12/10 Today the kids in the class took a quiz on the things we had learned the day before. While they were taking the quiz Mr. Westray and I both took the quiz as well and compared papers to make up an answer sheet. When they were done Mr. Westray let me, along with Mr. Doyle, grade the quizzes. While many students got good grades, many others did poorly. I went around during the class period looking to see what students got wrong and if I could help them resolve the problems that they had.

10/13/10 Today we studied for another quiz this time on interpreting graphs. Namely, distance over time graphs. We looked to see where the person whose speed we were graphing increased decreased or stayed the same. Additionally, we also worked on some general algebra equations to brush up for the quiz tomorrow.

10/14/10 The last couple days have been doing work sheets and studying for the quiz on distance over time graphs. I passed out the quizzes to the students and gave myself a copy, too. Once all the quizzes were passed out, I started working on my own quiz to help Mr. Westray make up the answer sheet. If students needed help sometimes Mr. Westray would let me be the one to aid them, but he told me to make sure I didn't //give// them the answer.

10/15/10 Today was the most relaxed day out of the week. We went over the quizzes the class had taken the day before and Mr. Westray took questions on some of the things the kids got wrong. While most students did well on the quiz it was a good learning experience. Mr. Westray uses the whiteboard effectively to cater to the visual learning style that is many of the kid's best learning style.

10/18/10 Today we went over some basic problems having to do with algebra. For example, Mr. Westray proved that root 3 multiplied by root 3 equalled 3. This formula works because the definition of the root of a number is a number that if multiplied by itself will equal the original number. For instance 3x3 equals 9 so, 3 must be the square root of 9. The class seemed to have a little trouble with this concept but through a few worksheets and the aid of Mr. Westray, Mr. Doyle, and myself, the students were able to understand it.

10/19/10 Today we went over some of the problems that Mr. Westray assigned the class for homework. After that, Mr. Westray reviewed what we had learned the day before and announced a test for Wednesday. Because of the test the next day Mr. Westray allowed the class to use most of the rest of the period to study. At the end of the period Mr. Westray answered some questions that were common among the kids and then class was dismissed.

10/20/10 Today was the day of the test that Mr. Westray announced yesterday. As always I took the test along with the rest of the kids and assisted Mr. Westray in making up an answer key. The class seemed to have a good grasp on the concept because I didn't get a lot of questions. Towards the end of class most of the students had handed in their tests and Mr. Doyle and I began grading some of the tests. It's hard to say how the rest of the class did but the few that I graded looked really good.

10/21/10 Today, Mr. Westray finished grading that tests at the beginning of class and handed the back to the students. Most of the kids did really well on the test and only a few got less than a B. Even with these good results Mr. Westray still went over the test with the students and took questions on problems that were frequently missed. After the test review, Mr. Westray worked one on one with some of the kids that still were having trouble with this concept.

10/22/10 Today, like most fridays was a relaxed day. We took a test Wednesday and had gone over it yesterday so Mr. Westray didn't want to stress the kids out too much so we just did a couple worksheets that I handed out. The worksheets were a compilation of different concepts that we had worked on this week and the week before that. Other than that the class just relaxed and did their work quietly.

10/25/10 Today Mr. Westray introduced box and whisker plots to the class. He had me show on the board how to get the 5 number from a set of data and how to use the 5 number summary from any set of data to form a box and whisker plot. After the demonstration Mr. Westray handed out a worksheet to everyone to review how to get the 5 number summary and use it to make a box and whisker plot.

10/26/10 Today, Mr. Westray went over the homework from the night before on box and whisker plots and answered any questions that the students had. After going over the homework, Mr. Westray announced a quiz for Wednesday on the 5 number summary and the box and whisker plots that go with them. Because of the quiz the next day, Mr. Westray took the rest of class to let the students study.

10/27/10 Today was the day of the quiz on the 5 number summary (min., inner quartile, median, outer quartile, max.) and box and whisker plots formed using this 5 number summary. Unlike the last test students seemed to struggle. Even with Mr. Westray and Mr. Doyle in the room I still had to answer questions because how many students had them. Even so, I finished the quiz and helped Mr. Westray and Mr. Doyle to make the answer key for the quiz.

10/28/10 Since the quiz yesterday took so long, none of the tests were graded in class. As such, I spent most of the day today just grading the quizzes and by the end of the class Mr. Doyle and I had them done. While we had enough time to pass the quizzes back, we did not have time to go over them and so the students passed the tests back at the end of class so we could go over them tomorrow

10/29/10 Today, Mr. Westray passed the tests back again at the beginning of class and we went over them. Unlike the last quiz students did not do so well and there were only a handful of people who got A's and B's. Because of the Mr. Westray spent the whole class reteaching how to get the 5 number summary and make a box and whisker plot and then to finish the class he handed out a worksheet.

11/1/10 Today we began a new unit having to do with stem leaf plots and using it to get the 5 number summary and the mode. Mr. Westray explained how to construct a stem and leaf plot using any set of data and then handed out a worksheet. The class seemed to understand this concept better than the box whisker plots partly because they had already learned about the 5 number summary.

11/2/10 Today Mr. Westray went over the homework he had handed out the day before on stem and leaf plots and finding the 5 number summary based on that. Most of the students did well on the homework and there were few questions, but even still Mr. Westray answered the questions that the students had. After that he announced another quiz for the next day and let the students study for the rest of the period.

11/3/10 Today the students took the quiz on stem and leaf plots and the 5 number summary that goes with it. Students reaction to the test were mixed. Some seemed to do well while others struggled, but everyone finished on time and I was able to start grading some of them. However, not all students were finished so I would have to wait until the next day to finish grading.

11/4/10 Today, Mr. Doyle and I finished grading the tests. We handed them back in the middle of the period and began to go over it. As I had predicted on the day of the test the results of the test were mixed. Many students got A's and B's while others got C's and D's. Because of this wide range of understanding, Mr. Westray took the rest of the class going over the test and what students got wrong.

11/5/10 Today was again a relaxing day. It was a long week for the kids and the constant introduction of new things to the students they were tired. Mr. Westray handed out a puzzle that had to do with math. It was a riddle that could only be answered by doing the problems on the page and matching up the answers to the corresponding letters to make a sentence that would answer the riddle.