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Summer Entertainment and Learning.

Currently, there are so many opportunities for on-line learning!  Many teachers have loaded up their materials over the pandemic (it's a matter of finding the right place for yourself).  Sal Khan, of course, has whole courses loaded up for your entertainment -- courses that will move you from topic to topic and offer you sample problems so you can verify your understanding.  Some students have become quite proficient in on-line learning and have found they can move more swiftly and learn material in greater depth through the available on-line resources.  Some students find learning on-line a challenge and staying focused and learning well is still an emerging skill.  Looking ahead, this skill could be an important one to learn as more and more on-line resources become available.  At the end of this school year (Tuesday, May 25), canvas will be taken down for this course.  Students can re-use the ScreenCastOMatic videos by copying and keeping the links ...
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Spring Break, 2021. It's been a year.

Our country, our community, our friends, our neighbors and ourselves -- we are all noticing that it's been one year since we've locked down, stayed in, and changed our lives.  So what's the long-term consequences for us as a result? What's happened with our children?  We don't really know, and likely the unknowing is the hardest part. I believe it's important to simply keep doing our best and to behave so we will have no regrets or apologies after this experience is in our rear-view mirror. More immediately answer-able and perhaps interestingly for you and me:  How is this trimester's students' responses to learning different from last trimester's students' responses to learning?  I've noticed two significant differences.   The first is that students from this (the third trimester), in general, have lost more of their math skills when compared to the students from the second trimester. I'm needing to do (and am actively doing) more revie...
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A Couple Important Points from Parents' Night

 Thank you for coming to parent night!  If you were not able to be there, then let me know if you'd like to zoom sometime.  It's a joy to me to connect with families.   Before I "chat" with you in this post, I'd like to share a link with you; last trimester, parents loved the links in this particular post.  Some of you may be familiar with, "The Most Interesting Man in the World," of a beer ad who is the object of my post. The story of this actor is genuinely hilarious, but the idea for the students is important and is basically, "To be interesting, be interested."  One of my goals this trimester is to help students create new interests and this post explains part of why.  The link to my post for students : https://mmxxiga2tri3.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-most-interesting-person-in-world.html (and feel free to read other posts to which they have or will respond.) Today, I'd like to write to you about how the classes I have this trimester are d...
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Parent Night Information

Parent Night is Thursday night!  If you are unsure of how to Zoom, your sons/daughters have now become really good at it and are happy to assist you in making sure the sound is set right, your video is on , and you're ready to go!  I know we all will be better able to connect and have a conversation if you have your video on.     A Block parents , we will meet Thursday, March 4, 6:00-6:20 pm.    B Block parents , we will meet Thursday, March 4, 6:30 - 7:00 pm. (10 min for advisory) I sent you the zoom link via email.  I can't wait to meet you all.  It's been my pleasure to begin to get to know your sons/daughters. They have brightened my days and taught me so much about flexibility and positivity!  They give me so much hope for the future.  Your children have also been keeping a blog for this class. Their first post is on the importance of KINDNESS.  For at least the last 5 years, my students have been writing a blog postabout...
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Email Letter to Parents the Night Before Classes Start

 Greetings, Parents of Jean Mariner's GA2 math class, 3rd Trimester 2021! It's now Sunday evening, and I'm polishing up the next week's lessons for class.  I know we are all excited about returning to the classroom and seeing each other.  Some of us (students) will be learning from home and, indeed, I need to be home for two more weeks.  Currently, I have clearance to return to in-person classes March 8 (but not before then.) When you responded to my emails, I wrote you personal notes explaining this; I hope there's no surprises.   So you know, with some students at home and some students in the classroom, I have a variety of resources that I have constructed specifically for your children. The main tools are itemized below:  1. I have placed pdfs of the powerpoint lessons -- all lessons -- in canvas.  These are lessons I have written, rearranging the curriculum and organizing the material in a way that integrates -- rather than separates -- the a...
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General Information: The first post for Spring Trimester, 2021

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    Ms Jean Mariner (she/her/hers) Geo/Algebra 2, 2020-2021 school year For students; for parent reference.  CLASSTIME IN GENERAL Everything is on canvas!   Go to the main page or the ASSIGNMENT PAGE and not just the calendar.  Things you need for class:  Your computer AND EARBUDS, TI-graphing programmable calculator (TI-84 family), binder (or 7 folders with fobs) and paper, two textbooks (Precal Larson and Geometry Pearson), Geometer, pencils,  your sense of adventure, focus, and interest in doing well.  In addition, having a  printer  at home will be helpful so you can print out the powerpoints if you think they would be helpful.  I need to know if you are an on-line person and do not have printing abilities. In addition, students have used their cell phones to take pictures of their written homework, transfer it to pdf format, and submit their homework.  If you do not have the ability to create a pdf from your written work, ...
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Well, That Went Quickly!

 Now heading into the last weekend of the whirlwind of this trimester, I realize that keeping up this journal on a weekly basis was more than I could do!   It's been a great trimester.  As we got rolling, the ball simply caught momentum and went faster and faster.  Students picked up on the daily expectations and patterns, and didn't need instructions about what to do first, then second, then third... Each day, they dove in to the lessons that were next on the list.  Even though many students thrived, some students struggled.  Learning on-line requires an inflexible attention to detail -- no typos when navigating a URL or clicking a box in a multiple-choice question.  Learning on-line requires a maturity and self-motivation with the material, not something every 15-year-old naturally has for math.  At the end of the trimester, one student put his finger on it: "We are just doing the best we can in a difficult situation."  For those stude...
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