Ms. Bearse's Site

We’re working hard to master the “old school” skill of calculator-free multiplication. 
We’re working towards being able to complete 100 questions perfectly in 5 minutes.  Along the way we’re finding out that a little bit of daily practice can yield great improvements in timing and accuracy.

To celebrate that the class had marks all over 60% on the last test we had an ice cream party.  We did math about ice cream too, like the volume of the cone, and the surface area covered in sprinkles.  

The bar is raised now… The next festivities will be when the entire class has marks over 70% on a test.

We’ve got our class represented now by hexagons!  Not only did we practice creating regular shapes by using protractors and rulers, but we can see how special hexagons are.    
The interior angles in a regular hexagon are 120 degrees.  If we put 3 hexagons together, the sum of the angles makes 360 degrees, or a full circle.  This is why they fit together so well on our wall.

We’re looking for the steepest stairs around…   
We took advantage of a small class, and a lovely day, to go for a walk and measure the stairs around Queen’s.

 
We are looking for a way to quantify steepness.  We are comparing the amount each step goes up, and how wide it is.

  
We took time away from class to watch a presentation by Theatre Complete all about gender issues.  

  We had a guest today.  A former KC grade 9, back to impart some words of wisdom.

He is a math rapper. If you don’t understand “mx+b” or “SOH CAH TOA” yet, don’t worry…. You will soon.
  

   
   
We’re making tesselating hexagons to put on the wall.  Today we learned about regular shapes, and how to determine their angles.  We also learned that some shapes tesselatw well, and others do not.  We’re decorating our walls tomorrow with the hexagons.

we’re trying something new!  We’re going for a brief body break partway through class to refocus.  It takes 5 minutes, but wakes us up.  Today we saw a stop sign…and verified that it is an octagon. 

We’re exploring diagonals of quadrilaterals in grade 9 and 10 right now.  In grade 9 we use rulers and protractors to see if the diagonals are rhe same length, bisect each other, and are perpendicular.  In grade 10 we use coordinate points to do the same thing, calculating with the distance, midpoint and slope formulae.

   
 
(These two really wanted this picture online)

Sometimes tests don’t go so well….there are a few reasons for that in Grade 9 math.

1. Inadequate preparation
2. Anxiety about the first test in high school
3. Time management during the test
4. Not checking work

We reflected on the results of the first test, and came up with some things we can change before the next test, during the next test, and aftr we’re done (but before handing it in)

  
We’ve reviewed our errors to see what types we tend to make, so we can focus on that type next test.

We’re motivated to make a change!

  
Some are working in groups to finish questions accurately and quickly.  There’s something for each of us to improve.