Recall that in this class, Unit 4 has been divided into two parts, divided by the semester break. Unit 4a covers Lessons 4.1.1 (solving linear equations) and 4.3.1 (solving square and cube equations), and Unit 4b will cover Lesson 4.2.1 (solving systems of equations). There was some discussion over how we would test the students, and we decided that we will give APEX Test 4.4.2 after all (with the systems questions thrown out). Presumably, a non-APEX test will be given for Unit 4b.
So far, most of the first period students seem to be doing well on the test, with several perfect scores. I wonder whether I helped them out too much by going over the Go Formative questions. Then again, the opposite will probably be true for the fourth period classes tomorrow -- for the special ed students, doing Go Formative won't be enough for some of these students to pass.
After the test, I tell the eighth graders about the Putnam exam. Indeed, today's a good day to do this -- after the students take a test that they think is "hard," I point out that this test is a cinch compared to the Putnam exam. It also fits with the UCLA song I sing for music break, since the Putnam is a test I took when I was a Bruin.
I tell them that after the 2019 Putnam, UCLA placed fourth in the country. Indeed, my own score was 22, which was good enough to place among the top four Bruins -- but this year, our school had five students scoring over 50 points each. The top five students earned $2500 each, while the prizes for the next two levels were $1000 and $500. I also mention Problem 2019 A2 -- while it started out as a problem about triangles, it ended up using slope, which they learned in Unit 3 (and is mentioned in my own parody of the UCLA fight song).
Then I pass out my prizes from the birthday Conjectures game -- some Skittles and Starburst. I know -- my prize is so puny compared to the Putnam prizes.
There is a fire drill today. Unlike the October earthquake drill (drop and cover only), this fire drill obviously requires an evacuation. It occurs during tutorial, which is attached to first period. I never enjoy fire drills as a sub -- and in this case, today's drill involved my largest class, 13 students in the Wednesday cohort under hybrid. A fire drill with fifth period would have been a piece of cake -- only four students are in the Wednesday/Friday cohort (not counting the online students, who can't participate in the drill). The third period class would have in between, with eight in-person students.
I continue to discuss the seventh grade class with the department head. We will try to get through the Inequalities activity tomorrow in second period -- it will have the advantage of being attached to the tutorial session tomorrow, so there's extra time.
I normally don't start thinking about next week's schedule this early, but it's going to affect my blogging schedule, so I'll say it now. Like many districts, my current district has a day off for students between the semesters. My old district in LA County, for example, is closed that Monday after the students return in January (so the first day of school is Tuesday), but my new district closes the Friday that students leave in December -- so the last day of school is Thursday.
This affects the block schedule. Just like Veteran's Day week, the Monday of the short week takes on the identity of the missing day, so Monday's schedule will be like Friday's. And so my blogging schedule should reflect this. I usually don't blog on the days my aide is there, and so there will be no blog entry on Monday. My next blogging day will be Tuesday. (This also means that Thursday of next week becomes a blogging day, for the special day "last day before winter break.")
It also means that tomorrow, Friday, and Monday are all tweeting days. Right now I'm in the middle of a new tweeting challenge, "The 12 Days of Twitter," with different prompts each day.
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