Michael E. Smith Middle School

Attention students, 

 

A poll was sent out to all of you on google classroom to determine when you are available for virtual meetings in the coming weeks. I ask that you check it out and respond by this Sunday, 4/12, so I can post the times that work best for all of us the following day.

 

 

This website has a lot of fun math and logic games. I actually used to play a lot of games like these when I was growing up as computers were a lot less powerful back then. Have fun!

 

(4/6) ~ Updated 4/7

 

Hello All!

 

(3/30) Please see the email (below) that was sent to students and parents.

 

Dear students, parents, and guardians,

With our time away from school being extended to May 4th, I have created a Google Classroom to bring us back together as a community of math learners. I will be posting assignments throughout the week for students to complete, as well as videos to watch and interesting articles to read. Please understand that I am learning how to use google classroom, among other online learning technologies, as well. I ask for your patience as we move forward, and that you please notify me (by email) if anything is not working as it should. You should start seeing things posted started tomorrow.

To join the class, click the "+" in the upper right of the google classroom page, then when prompted, use your class code.  With this code, you will have online access to our classroom page which will include assignments, links and announcements. Be sure to 'submit' when you have completed it.  Adults can also choose to join the class to receive the updates, but we encourage students to become more independent. https://classroom.google.com/h

Class codes:

8th grade math (A and D block): 45neyh5

Algebra (B and C block): uxdupth

While none of these assignments will be graded, I will provide feedback to any assignment turned in through google classroom.

In addition to math learning activities, I also plan on posting extra-curricular tasks and links that might help alleviate some of the boredom that we are all facing at home. None of the math content on google classroom, with the exception of mathematical relationships related to the covid-19 virus, will be new. However, I hope you will find it interesting enough to view and discuss.

Some of you have seen on my website that I have created khan academy classes for both Algebra and 8th grade math. These classes were established only so that students may take it upon themselves to learn the remaining content from this school year. My attention is primarily going to be placed on the content posted on google classroom, and you should understand that any time spent in these classes is completely optional.

At the moment, I plan on holding daily weekday office hours from 10:30-11:00 am, though I will stay longer if students want. You can find me online via the zoom meeting link below:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/346553846

Office hours will serve multiple purposes. Obviously, I am available to discuss any math content you would like. However, I would also like to hear how you are all doing! It has been a long time since we have met and I am very interested in how you have been occupying your time. 

As always, if you have any questions please reach out via email.

Best,

Thomas Klansek

 

 

(3/27) I have created a khanacademy class for Algebra and 8th grade math students. To join the class, you need to create an account and use the correct number (see below). Please email me when you have created an account and I will admit you into the class.

 

 

https://www.khanacademy.org/join/4AQFBS4B

 

 

Governor Baker has closed all public schools in Massachusetts for the next three weeks. While we all hope to have everyone back in school as soon as possible, I feel it is important that you know what the plan is for the remainder of the school year. At this point in time, we are roughly three months away from the end of the 2019/2020 academic year.

 

The plan was to cover two additional units and a small section of another, spending the remainder of our time preparing for the Algebra proficiency exam. Since this virus has put us in uncharted territory, I do not know how things like MCAS and Algebra exams are going to be affected. However, as many of you were hoping to take Gonors geometry next year, I think it is safe to say that if you do not learn the course content of Algebra 1, there is a very good chance you will retake the course their freshman year. This is only because students who do not master the skills and knowledge they would normally learn in Algebra struggle significantly in Honors Geometry, regardless of how they learned that material.

 

To avoid this, I am suggesting that you take it upon yourself to start studying the remainder of the course material. Starting today, in the virtual tasks tab on the left, you will be able to find an outline of the remainder of the course content, where you can access the textbook online, and some other online resources to help you in their quest for knowledge. I will be available through email each day to answer questions or provide support when needed.

 

This work is not mandatory, but a suggestion. If we still have the same proficiency exam at the end of the year, your child will still need to know the material to do well, regardless of whether or not they were in school to learn it. Think of this as an introduction to college learning!

 

How we come back together when we return is an open question, but the more you all know when we return, the easier the transition will be and the quicker we will be able to move through the curriculum.

 

The plan was to cover three additional units and to tie in several other concepts as we went along. For most of you, the goal was for you to take algebra next year. It is important that you take the time to keep up with our coursework as best you can; how well algebra goes for you will be highly dependent on your skills and knowledge going in to it. Starting today, in the virtual tasks tab on the left, you will be able to find an outline of the remainder of the course content, where you can access the textbook online, and some other online resources to help you in their quest for knowledge. I will be available through email each day to answer questions or provide support when needed. None of this work is mandatory, but as this is your education we are talking about, this is your chance to prove to everyone (and yourself) that you are invested in your future and will do what it takes to make sure you are as successful as you can be. 

 

I hope everyone is doing well during this unprecented, difficult, and concerning time. It will be weeks before we are in school again, so until we return it is important that we maintain our normal routines to the fullest extent we can. I will be available by email, so please feel free to reach out with any questions that come up.

 

Obviously, there are limits to what can be expected of students both in terms of what they can do, and what they can access. So, to give you all something to think about while you are biding your time, I will be sharing with you a combination of review tasks (to keep up with our understanding) and real life problems (from my own experiences) that will refinforce the value of mathematical relationships. I encourage you to reach out to your classmates, parents, and the internet in general for support in confronting these tasks. Of course, this is all in addition to reaching out to your extended family to make sure they are doing ok and have the supplies they need.  

 

All of these tasks can be found under a new clickable subpage on the left, titled "Virtual Tasks."

 

 

 

Wishing you all the best,

 

Mr. Klansek