PowerPoint Help

Hi Ellie,

I found two PowerPoint presenations on Problem solving using algebra and drawing a diagram that might be helpful getting ready for your test and exam. Open them in PowerPoint and start the show by going to the [View]menu > [Slideshow]. The lesson will run all by itself.

Problem Solving I
Problem Solving II

Let me know if these help. Keep taking those quizzes and you'll keep getting better ... Learn Hard! ;-)

Learn Hard!

Hi Ellie,

Everything you need to know for your test this week can be found in Algebra and Popcorn ;-), 3 posts back. Review all the material you feel you need to but spend most of your time taking the quizzes at the bottom of the post; those are the types of questions you're likely to get on your quiz. You get good at running by doing lots of running -- you get good at taking quizzes by taking lots of quizzes. ;-)

Also, starting this week, I'd like you to write at least one post a week. Your post should answer one or all of the following:

• Tell me about a particular class that you had. The good, the bad, the ugly. ;-)


• Describe how you feel about your progress in math. What's going well? What's getting better? What do you feel you still need to work on? Be sure to mention any "old" material that you may have "left behind" in class.


• Tell me something that you've learned that you thought was "cool".


• Tell me about something that you found very hard to understand but now you get it! Describe what sparked that "moment of clarity." What did it feel like?


• Tell me about something the you found very hard and still don't understand. Be very specific about what part of it you do and don't understand. (The do part is just as important as the don't part.) Give me examples. Take good notes in class so you can copy them exactly on to the blog.


• Have you come across something we learned together, or that you've discussed in class, out there in the "real world" or another class? Describe the connection you made.

You don't have to answer all of them, but try to answer at least one of them once each week. I don't want this to seem like "work" but it will really help me help you; especially if you include LOTS of details. ;-)

Learn hard for your test. Maybe your first post can be about how the test went -- the good, the bad and the ugly. ;-)

Mathematics is the Science of Patterns ...

Hi Ellie,

I keep telling all my students this over and over again: Mathematics is the science of patterns!

I keep saying it because it's true. Not only that, but everything, and I mean everything is math. ;-) Everything that you learn or even the stuff that happens in your life over the course of a day has patterns to it. Good math isn't knowing the answer to a problem, good math is knowing what to do when you don't know the answer. Good math is looking for patterns. In all the games below you'll be looking for a pattern. Keep your eyes open and your thinking hat on. When you get stuck (and you will get stuck) don't give up. Go get a snack, come back and try again. You will figure it out if you keep trying. But then, you already knew that. ;-)

Here we go ...

• Spy Guys Interactive - Summarizing/Extending Patterns - Click Skip Intro, then select Lessons, and then click on Lesson 8 (Although it says it's grade 6 stuff, we do it in grade 7 too.)


• Mystery Operations - In this activity the computer makes up a mystery operation, and you have to figure out what the operation is. You give the computer two numbers to calculate, and it tells you the answer.


• Number Cracker - Help Mr. Cracker obtain the secret code before the insidious Prof. Soup catches him by guessing what number comes next in a series of numbers. Start with the easy level and work your way up. The Super Brain level is really hard!

Let me know what page of your textbook your on and whether or not these activities are helpful for what you're learning. Also, remember that I've asked you to write something on the blog that describes what you're learning at least once each week. I'll write a blog post about it tomorrow to help you figure out what you're supposed to write.

Love ya!