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NEWSFLASH #15 – June 9, 2008
* ReQuist. Just a reminder that the ReQuist on fractions and decimals is Day 2 this week. It’s required for any student who got a 75% or below,
and optional for anyone between 75% and 85%.
* Letter Home. I’m sending home a letter to you with students on my first meeting with them this week. It covers end of the year math topics
and my suggestions for what to do about math over the summer. They are supposed to put it in your hands right away. If they don’t give it to
you, please ask for it. Thanks.
* Textbooks. Textbooks are being collected this week. If they aren’t returned a fine notice will be sent home, and if the fine isn’t paid then
privileges at the end of the year (Field Day, etc.) will be revoked.
NEWSFLASH #14 – May 24, 2008
* Placement Tests. As you might know, after sixth grade MVMS has more than one level of math
available for its students. Placement in the right level is a decision that we spend a lot of time
thinking about, and there are many indicators that we factor in when making our recommendations.
Major factors include how students have done in sixth grade math, fifth grade standardized test
scores, a placement exam, and, of course, teacher observations and recommendations.
The vast majority of students will be placed in one of two seventh grade levels: Regular Seventh and
Advanced Seventh. Both classes use the second year text of the curriculum we used this year for
pre-algebra. The Advanced class tends to cover more, cover it more quickly, and in some cases,
cover the material in greater depth. A small number of seventh graders may skip the seventh grade
classes altogether to take Algebra, the class that many eighth graders take. It is generally
expected that these students will not only get by, they will truly excel at the eighth grade level.
In the seventh grade there are currently only about 8 students taking Algebra.
Last week all the sixth grade students took the placement exam to give us more information about
their capabilities. Based on the results of the exam and the other factors mentioned above, some
students have been asked to take an Algebra readiness test. It is one more piece of data to help us
collectively make the best recommendation for each child. Final placement results for next year
will be sent in the mail during the summer when all class information is sent to you.
When they took the exam I told the classes that everyone should want to be in the right class for
them: not too slow, not too fast, and appropriately challenging. There’s so much to be said for
targeting the right comfort zone, consolidating material knowledge, maintaining a positive feeling
for the subject, and not being overly stretched.
I hope you all are having a great holiday weekend.
NEWSFLASH #13 – May 9, 2008 (When it rains it pours -- two in one day...)
* Progress Reports. Midterm Progress Reports (borderline C/C- or below) have been filed and should
be in the mail today, as I understand it. Any student receiving one from me is also receiving a
summary of their scores so far, their homework, a letter about what this all means, and a key to the
codes I’ve been using for homework this term that everyone should already have a copy of. The
letter needs to be signed by you and returned to me.
I hope that if your child gets a progress report from me that you’ll put a positive spin on it, if
possible. I’m telling them that indeed it’s a drag to get one, but the upside is that’s it’s not
final, it’s a heads-up warning, points can be gotten back if work was missing or incomplete, and
that there are still plenty of points to earn between now and the end of the year. I’m confident
that everyone is capable of improving from where they are.
At the beginning of the term I let the students know very clearly that I was raising the bar on
homework because I wanted to make sure that they were truly ready for seventh grade, and we spent a
lot of time detailing what that meant. Some students are still adapting to this, and they
may be feeling the pinch. My hope is that they will make the necessary adjustments from this point on.
Thanks for your help and understanding.
NEWSFLASH #12 – May 9, 2008
* Upcoming Test. Hello! Loooong time no write. I wanted to let you know that we will be having a
chapter test on the MB (Millions and Billions)
chapter on Day 3 of next week. It will be very similar to a group quiz the students recently took
and on which they are finishing corrections. I
have also provided each student with a copy of ALL the answers to the entire chapter so that if they
want to practice concepts that are hard for
them they can do so and check their work.
* Michael Jordan’s Hands. Next week we hope to start a brand new project in sixth grade. Students
will be comparing their hand size to one of
Michael Jordan’s (yes, we have a Xerox copy of it) and then they will do proportional calculations
to see how a regulation ball would feel in their
hands if they were Michael Jordan. Finally, due to the generosity of Site Council, we also have a
variety of ball sizes and small hoops for the
kids to try it out the feel and see if they could dunk at a proportional height as well. It should
be a lot of fun.
NEWSFLASH #11 -- March 18, 2008
* End of Trimester . . . Missing Work. The official end of the trimester is this Friday. While
notices have been given to students periodically throughout the term when work is missing, any
student who is still missing work from this term will receive a notice of what’s missing on Friday.
Work must be turned in by the end of Monday at the latest.
* End of Trimester . . . Self Reflection. On Day 3 this week students are completing
self-assessments about their performance in Math during the second trimester.
* End of Trimester . . . Review of Work With You. As happened at the end of the fall trimester,
students will soon be bringing home a folder with their work from the trimester, a summary of most
of their scores, their self-assessment, and a sheet for you to sign confirming that you reviewed the
folder with your child. This will likely happen towards the end of next week.
NEWSFLASH #10 -- March 4, 2008
* GO Test Results. The tests are being handed back on Day 2 of this week. Parent signatures are
due back on the tests the next day. Corrections are to be made on lined paper and attached to the
tests, and they are all due on Day 1 of next week. It may be clear to some of you that your child
is still struggling with one or more concepts. While we try to re-teach some in class, a visit to
my office hours is strongly recommended for extra help and attention.
* Pi Day. March 14 (3/14) is celebrated at MVMS as a Pi (3.14) Day. This is also done across the
country in many math departments. We’ll do some Pi Math and also indulge in several pies per class.
Heads-up: Your child may be asking you to help out with a pi or plates or forks or napkins. We’ll
be sorting out who’s doing what early next week.
* New Texts. This week we’ve been checking in Volume 1 for home use and passing out Volume 2.
Fines will be assessed for lost books later this year.
NEWSFLASH #9 -- FEBRUARY 25, 2008
Welcome back from the break. I�m sorry it�s been so long since I last wrote. I�ll be trying to
pick up the pace of reminders and notes from here
on�
� GO Test. We are wrapping up the Giant One chapter with a test on Day 4 this week. The homework
assignments are chapter review
problems. Along the way, students are tracking their �comfort level� with the work they are doing.
The comfort level scores will then be used
to help them identify those areas that need the most attention during the week of preparation.
� Textbook Volume 2. Later next week I�ll be collecting the green first volume of the textbook
students have at home and checking out the
purple volume 2. Students are being directed to make sure the green ones are in as good a shape as
possible (erasing marks, etc.).
� Extra Credit. We�ve had a smattering of extra credit work available this term, and the next one
is due by next week with the TOC. It takes a
look at the number of school days in the rest of the year and applies what we know about ratio
tables to figure out various percents.
NEWSFLASH #8 -- JANUARY 10, 2008
Happy New Year to one and all!
� MP Chapter Quizzes. The MP (Mrs. Poppington) chapter is moving along and we�ll soon be done with
it. We are having a quiz at the end of
this week (sorry for the late notice) on areas of triangles and parallelograms and geometry
vocabulary, and soon we will likely have two more
quizzes before we move on to the next chapter.
� Trimester Tracking. If all work was turned in on time, your child should have four graded TOC
packets and two quizzes in their binders. You
can get a pretty good picture of how things are going if you look in there. Some work is still
missing from students and I�m passing out
missing work notices before the end of the week.
NEWSFLASH #7 -- DECEMBER 12, 2007
� First Trimester Review. The folder to review with parents/guardians went home last Thursday and
Friday. My instructions were very clear: put
the folders in your hands right away and set up a time when you could meet and discuss what you see.
Some students and parents have done
this already and they�ve been brought back. The absolute deadline for signatures and returned
folders is next Monday, December 17.
� New Chapter. We�ve been moving into a new chapter this week, Mrs. Poppington (MP). It focuses
primarily on geometry, and in particular,
area. We�ve already hit the area of rectangles, the area of all parallelograms comes before the
week is through, and shortly after that will be
triangles, trapezoids, and complex shapes.
It�s a good time to be doing some informal estimating of areas in different units (square inches,
square centimeters, square feet, etc.) at home,
especially if you have some useful ways to apply it. For example, if you are doing some painting,
you�ll need the square footage to buy the right
amount of paint.
� PR Quiz #2. Last week�s quizzes were handed back already. Several students were challenged by
turning subtraction problems into addition
problems and changing the signs of the second number to solve a problem (eg: 4 � (-5) = 4 + (+5) =
9. There is a review and practice sheet
for those who want to improve. If they do at least ten of those problems and then see me with the
results by the end of Day 1 next week, the
quiz score can improve in that area by 50%.
NEWSFLASH #6 -- DECEMBER 3, 2007
� This Week�s Quiz. There is a quiz on Day 4 again this week. (Day 4 is the fourth day I see your
child; for the Rubies this is Thursday, for the
rest it�s Friday.) The topics will be subtracting integers, fraction/decimal/percent equivalents,
guess and check tables, and order of operations
again.
� Last Week�s Quiz. Most students did very well on this quiz. Errors were common, especially on
multi-step problems, but most often much
credit could be given and the overall score was acceptable to terrific.
� Review of Math Work. By the end of the week your children will have a lot to share with you, but
you�ll have more than a week to sit down
with them to review it. (See below for details.) Please ask them about it if they don�t bring it up.
� Donuts. Did you know that there is a standing offer of donuts to any class that brings in all the
TOC packets signed and on time for the first
time? Some have come pretty close, but no class has grabbed the brass ring yet.
NEWSFLASH #5 -- NOVEMBER 28, 2007
� Quizzes This Week and Next. There is a quiz scheduled for the fourth meeting this week on some
concepts we�ve recently covered, and there
will be another at the end of next week. The biggest concepts covered this week will be order of
operations and multiplying of integers.
Students have been given the topics at the beginning of the week so they can focus their study
appropriately.
� Report Cards. During the next week all teachers are submitting first trimester grades for the
report cards. Report cards are scheduled to be
mailed home at the end of next week.
� How�s It Gone in Math? Later next week your child will bring home a folder of math work and their
binders to review with you. Among other
things, inside the folder will be a self-evaluation, a summary of all grades received this term, and
TOC packets from the fall trimester. You and
your child will have a week to look over the material and then send the file back for storage and
reference at school. It�s a form of a student-
led conference, but done in the comfort of home.
� New Trimester: Fresh Start. I�ve told the kids that starting this week all new work builds
towards the winter term report card. Everyone starts
at 0 again, just like in August. For those who did a great job, their goal is to keep it up! For
those with more room to improve, experiences
from the fall are the building blocks for doing better from this point on. The winter term is a
chance to take a deep breath and start fresh. By
the way, each of the three terms is graded independently and there is no end of year cumulative
grade for the courses at MVMS.
� Survey Results. The survey projects from earlier in the year are up in the room and in the pod.
If you are around, please stop by to have a
look at the great work and intriguing results. I�ll be publishing the results soon from here on my
website.
NEWSFLASH #4 -- OCTOBER 23, 2007
� The Game Show (GS) chapter test will be next week, either on Day 2 or 3 when I see them, depending
on the vagaries of the schedule this
week and next. We are just now starting a review process. This will include a group quiz this week
which will be very like the actual test.
� What's a group quiz? I'm glad you asked. This is a quiz that is given to everyone, but a table
group, usually 4 or 5 kids together, are
responsible for working together to check for understanding to make sure that everyone has the same
answers. I then randomly grade just one
of the quizzes and everyone in the group receives the same score. The encourages teamwork and
attention to detail, as well as a quick
turnaround on the grading process.
� Halloween is next week . . . oh, you already knew that. But did you know that your kids can
indeed come to school dressed up? It's even
encouraged, as long as a) the get-up isn't restrictive, and b) they still know that they need to
be getting things done in classes.
NEWSFLASH #3 -- OCTOBER 9, 2007
� The Algebra Rocks chapter test is being returned today and tomorrow. I'm asking the kids tonight
to get a parent signature on it and to NOT
touch it yet, just look it over. We'll be doing corrections in class in red pen, leaving all
original work on the page. In some cases students will
be able to gain back some points based on a discussion we will have. On the whole I was quite
pleased with the results.
� TOC UPDATE!!! Based on parent feedback and over a year of needlessly banging my head against the
wall, I have CHANGED THE DAY THAT
TOC PACKETS ARE DUE. They are now due at the first Math meeting of the week. This should simplify
binder organization and keep things
simpler at home (no more "But it's not really due until the end of the week" delays). To help with
the transition, I'm having each student write in
reminders in their Panther Planners on both Mondays and the end of the week so they will get in the
new habit.
NEWSFLASH #2 -- SEPTEMBER 30, 2007
� The Algebra Rocks chapter test is Day 2 (of the four I meet with them) for you child this week,
although because of the canoe trip and other
issues from last week the Sapphires will take it on Day 1 for them, which is Tuesday. As a final
prep we are playing a version of Jeopardy with
questions that students from a couple of sections wrote.
� Students are getting back more graded work the first meeting this week and we'll therefore soon be
clearing out binders of unnecessary
papers. Graded work that is taken out will be kept on file in the classroom, so you are welcome to
review it with your child at any time.
� After most chapters we move seats around, and this week we'll do that. It's a good chance to
freshen things up.
� I'm toying with the idea of having all TOC packages be due on Day 1 of every week rather than by
Friday. As a parent in the house having to
look these over, if you have any opinions on this pro or con and want to share them with me, please
feel free to email me
(jschulman@mvschools.org). Thanks.
NEWSFLASH #1 -- SEPTEMBER 23, 2007
Welcome to your first official NewsFlash Math memo. Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far.
I'll try to keep these notes short and to the
point.
1. There is an AR (Algebra Rocks, Chapter 1 of the text) test set for the second meeting of next
week (Oct. 2 and 3 -- Earlier I had published a
first meeting test date...ALSO, now the Sapphires will take it their FIRST meeting of the week
because of canoe schedules). At the end of last
week each class shared test preparation strategies and they are each receiving a copy of what we
came up with. They also did a little self-
evaluation in a new math journal about how well they thought they'd fare on selected topics if given
the test at that moment. As you may have
noticed, this weekend they were to get a start on their studying.
2. This week students take the second of eight multiplication facts trials and we'll continue to
graph the results. Again, I'm looking for
improvement over time. If anyone wants new strategies for how to master new facts, let me know and
I can either post them on this site or
send them to you.
3. The "so bright it hurts to look at it" pink flyer confirming that parents and children have a)
received and b) read the syllabus is due back to
class no later than this Friday, September 28.
Happy Fall, Everybody
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