The
Mathematics Department (Link)
at Mt. Everest Academy (Link)
Frequently
Asked Questions
A.
MONTHLY MATH WORK (Back
to the top) .
A1. What work should I do?
There are two ways you can find out what work to do each month:
1. Get the monthly yellow paper
that lists the required work for that one
month. It is also the cover sheet for your math when you turn in
the
month's work.
2. Look at the semester syllabus
for the course. That's the paper that's two
sided, and says at the top, "Subsidiary Course Agreement / Syllabus"
and it lists the chapters for the entire semester. On the first
page
is "Detailed Goals, Objectives, Methods of Study, &
Expectations."
Go to number 3, "Do Required Work Every Month."
.
A2. When should I do the work?
EVERY DAY!
Do not skip school days. You can only get good at math, or stay
good
at math, but practicing it regularly--that means every day.
You should work on math every day for at least one hour. If
you're not
getting A's on the monthly tests, you should be working an hour and a
half, or even two hours. You should not work on math for more
than two
hours.
.
A3. How should I set up my work papers?
(What is the correct format?)
FIRST, use a new piece
of paper for each section. If you finish an entire section
on one
side of a piece of paper, you may start the next section on the back of
the piece of paper. NEVER start a new section on the same side of
a
piece of paper, even if there's a lot of space left.
SECOND, you must put the correct heading on the top of your
paper ONLY in the top right corner. Do not use the left, and do
not
use the center.
THIRD, you must put
the following thing in the header:
(1) your name, first and last.
(2) chapter
(3) section (chapter and
section may be together, such as 3-8, meaning chapter 3, section 8)
(4) textbook page numbers of
the problems that you are doing during this day's work.
(5) date. This is the
day
you're doing the work, and it must be during the official days of the
month. For example, for month 1, the pages of work should be
dated
between September 8 and October 2. You are supposed to be doing
your
math work between those dates, and not before September 8 or after
October 2.
.
A4.
What should I actually be doing each day?
1. Get all your things together: textbook, paper with heading,
pencils, solutions manual. Keep an extra piece of paper available
to
write notes as you are learning things.
2. Start with some review: pick one problem that you did
yesteraday,
and see if you can do it correctly today. Then pick a problem you
did
a couple of days ago, or last week, and see if you can do it
correctly. Then pick a different type of problem that you did a
few
days ago or last week, and see if you can do it correctly. Spend
10
minutes or so, total, doing this kind of review.
3. Now read the information or instruction in the section for the
day.
4. Write down on the notes page the things you're learning.
5. Analyze each example in the section for this day.
Analyze means to
study it carefully, figure out each little step, determine the reason
you're doing each step, see the order the steps are done, anything else
that helps you understand what is happening. Write down on the
notes
page the things you're learning.
6. Start doing the required work for the section. Check the
solution
manual after every few problems--never more than 5, sometimes after
every problem, if you're not sure about what you're doing.
7. Analyze your errors. Figure out what you're doing wrong,
and why
you're doing it wrong. Write down on the notes page the things
you're
learning.
.
A5.
Who can help me?
If you're a SEVENTH OR EIGHTH GRADER,
your parent
who stays home with you is your main teacher. That parent will
use the
textbook, especially the examples, to explain the lessons and show you
how to do the problems.
If you're a HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT,
you first have to use
the textbook yourself
to learn the lessons and do the problems. Your textbooks are good
enough in their explanations and examples to undertand almost
everything. If you have parent who understands the math well
enough to
help you, that parent can help you when you have need.
For ALL STUDENTS,
-----the solution
manual
should be a major part of your learning. When you're stuck, use
the
worked-out solution for a problem to help you understand how to do
another problem.
-----If you need more help, the math
teacher
is available at school at certain specific times to give math
help.
Those times are shown each week on the math website's weekly update
webpage. You should be looking at that webpage EVERY week anyway.
I have listed other ways to get help, at the following link: Extra
Math Support.
.
A6.
When, where, and how do I turn in the monthly work?
WHEN?
You must turn in the work on the turn-in day for each month. That
is
always the Tuesday after the official school month ends. Notice
that
for each month, the school work is supposed to be done by the Friday
that ends the month, and then you have the weekend to put the work
together in your binder to turn in on the next Tuesday. Here are
the
month dates and turn-in days:
Month
|
Dates
of the month (work must be
done and datedbetween these days)
|
Turn-in
day
(Must turn it in this day or earlier)
|
1
|
Sept 8
through Oct 2
|
October 6
|
2
|
Oct 5
through Oct 30
|
November 3
|
3
|
Nov 2
through Nov 20
|
December 1
|
4
|
Nov 30
through Jan 8
|
January 12
|
5
|
Jan 11
through Feb 5
|
February 9
|
6
|
Feb 8
through Feb 26
|
March 2
|
7
|
Mar 1
through Mar 26
|
April 6
|
8
|
Apr 5
through Apr 23
|
April 27
|
9
|
Apr 26
through May 21
|
May 25
|
10
|
May 24
through June 11
|
June 15
|
11
|
June
14 through June 21
|
June 21
|
WHERE?
To the supervising teacher ONLY. Do not turn in your work to the
math
teacher or anyone else. You must bring the monthly work for all
subjects to the supervising teacher. That teacher will evaluate
the
work for attendance credit, take one day's work from each subject for
the state-required audit file, and then distribute all the rest of the
work to the subject teachers--such as math.
HOW?
1. The yellow cover sheet (that
also lists the required work) must be
on top of the math work, and you should staple it all together.
If the
work is too much to staple, then use something to keep it
together.
Remember, just being in the binder which you turn in to the supervising
teacher isn't going to be enough; the supervising teacher will have to
take all the math work out to give to the math teacher. So help
your
supervising teacher by stapling all the work together--with the yellow
cover sheet on top.
2. Make sure you fill out the
cover sheet correctly. Do all the
things that are listed on the first page of the cover sheet, starting
with writing your name on top of the yellow paper. Make sure you
do all the
other things, such as checking the boxes, signing the paper and getting
your parent to sign it, and
3. At the end, put one paper that the supervising teacher can use
for the audit file. Make sure the paper has the correct date on
it, and all the rest of the heading. You may choose any paper
from the stack of work you've completed for the month.
4. My pet peeve is paper torn from spiral notebooks but with all
those
little edges still on the paper. Invariably many of those little
edges
come off in my room while I'm handling the monthly math work. So,
it's
a standing order than no one may use spiral notebook paper unless they
have cut off the edges. If the edges aren't cut off, it's an
automatic
5% off
A7. What if I don't have the yellow cover sheet?
A8. How do you grade the work?
A9. Why do I do all this work when it doesn't count for much?
..
B. MONTHLY
MATH TESTS (Back to the top)
.
B1. When do I take
the monthly test?
The week you take the monthly test is listed at this link,
in the second table, titled, "Testing Weeks throughout the '08-'09
School Year."
.
B2. What are the
times when I may take the monthly test?
During each math test week (once a month), you may take the test any of
the days from Tuesday through Friday, but only at certain times each
day. The times are listed by day at this link,
in the first table, titled, "Test Week Schedule (for each school
month)."
.
B3. May I use
notes or the textbook on the test?
No. You must know the information (concepts and procedural steps)
in your head. You must be able to do the problems that you will
see on the test without extra help. That's the only way to know
if you really do understand and are able to correctly do the problems.
.
B4. May I retake any math
test?
No. You may not retake the month 5 and month 10 tests, or any
tests that are take-home tests, or any district tests (such as the
end-of-course exams). Otherwise, every monthly test may be
retaken (months 1 through 4, and months 6 through 9).
.
B5. What if I'm not
ready on time for the monthly test?
You must take the monthly test on time. If you aren't ready,
you're going to do poorly on it. Hopefully, you will learn to
prepare sooner and better the next month.
.
B6. What if I
don't take the test on time?
The penalty for not taking a test on time is 15% off the grade, and
extra credit may not be used.
.
B7.
What if I'm not ready because of a legitimate reason?
If a parent (ONLY a parent may do this) contacts Mr. Greenwood wih a
legitimate reason (such as illness, or a family emergency), then you
may take the test later, with no penalty. Parents, you must
contact Mr. Greenwood by email by the end of the test week, NOT
AFTER. Email is the best method of communication for Mr.
Greenwood. You may use the phone, and leave a message on Mr.
Greenwood's
voice mail, but since he does not use that often, please use it only as
a back
up. Email also, when you have the time.
.
B8.
If I don't take the test on time, when can I take it?
Outside of the monthly math test week, the only times when students can
take math tests are Mondays at 1:00. Check the weekly website
update page each week to see if that Monday is available. There
are NO other days and times each week for making up a test (until the
next monthly math test week, but then you would have to take two math
tests during that time).
.
B9.
How do I know what is going to be on the monthly test?
The test questions are taken only from the monthly work that you're
doing (except, five questions on each monthly test come from past
tests, as a review to help you remember things you learned earlier in
the school year). Also, you will be given a practice test every
month, except for month 10 when the monthly test is a take-home test.
.
C. PRACTICE
TESTS (Back
to the top)
.
C1. Does every
course have a practice test?
Nine out of the ten courses in the math department have a practice test
each month. Check with the teacher to see if your course does or
not have a practice test.
.
C2. When can I get
the practice test?
--For Pre-Algebra, Algebra, and Geometry, the practice test is ready on
the Tuesday of the week before
the monthly test week.
--For Intermediate Algebra and Pre-Calculus (Regular and Honors), the
practice test is ready at the study group class on the Thursday of the week before the
monthly test week.
.
C3. Where
can I get the practice test?
You can get the practice test in three places:
- Room 3, in the hanging folders at the back of the room, to the
right of the door as you enter, beyond the wooden boxes where old
monthly work is kept.
- Front office, in folders at the top of the blue holder that is to
the left of the front door just as you enter the front office.
- At the study group for your course, during the week before the
monthly test week.
.
C4.
What's the best way to use the practice test?
First, read the
instructions on the cover page; that gives you a great deal of detail.
Second,
there's a extra method of using the practice test that's explained on
the cover page as "special notes," that can be especially
helpful. Here is more detail about how to do that:
- Take one side of a piece of paper for each problem.
- Work out the steps for the one problem, and
- for each step you need to write the reason you're doing that step
(in just a phrase or 1 sentence).
- After the problem, put (in bullet/list form) the particular
things you are doing
- that are new, or
- that have to be memorized,
or
- that have to be remembered
from past lessons, or
- that are different
from another problem in the chapter.
- In other words, what are you being tested on in this
problem? What are you going to have to show the teacher that you
know? What do you actually have to do, to get the problem correct?
- And, what are the 2 or 3, or maybe even 6 or 7, things from the past that you have
to also do correctly or else the new thing doesn't even show up, and
you get the problem wrong anyway? For instance, when you do
polynomial long division, you HAVE to subtract each time, and you'd
better get the negatives right--applying the negative to change both
signs, then carefully adding or subtracting. None of that was new
at all when you started doing polynomial long division, but many
students did not pay careful attention when doing those steps, and
therefore they got the problem wrong, even though they really
understood polynomial long division very well.
These "special notes" will be 30 pages if there are 30 problems, 35
pages if there are 35 problems, and so on. However, doing all
this work can really help to ensure that you understand the
details--the insides, the guts of a problem--so you aren't unsure or
confused or baffled by any of the month's concepts or procedures.
(NOTE: these special notes are not
for extra credit, but they can help you earn lots more points on the
test by helping you learn and remember much better, so they are really
worth doing.)
Third,
practice. And that means, a LOT of practice. Probably 2
hours a day of really serious, focused practice, for a week or more
before the test, is a good amount. Remember: Understanding
something is only half of math. The other half is to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND PRACTICE SOME MORE,
until doing the problem is easy, because if you can't actually get a
problem right, it doesn't matter how much you understand; it's still
wrong. And in math, the final bottom line is still to get the
correct answer.
.
C5. Where and
when do I turn in the practice test?
Do not turn the practice test in to the teacher. Do not put it
with the monthly work, do not turn it in as extra credit, do not try to
hand it to the teacher. The practice test is a resource for you,
even later in the year, when you need to practice review questions, or
remember what you've learned throughout the year.
.
D.
RETAKING TESTS (Back to the top)
See the guidebook or the Retaking
Math Tests webpage
for all the information about retaking tests.
.
D1. Can I retake a test?
Yes. But there are some rules you have to follow.
1. You must make corrections to every wrong question in the first
test.
2. You have to write error statements for every wrong question in
the
first test.
3. The corrections and error statements should be on the same
papers. Each error statement should be written underneath the
correction.
4. You must bring three things
with you in order to retake the test: 1)
the
first test, 2) the corrections, and 3) the error statements.
.
D2.
What if I forget to bring one of those three things?
You may not retake the test. You'll have to wait until the next
retake time--and then make sure you follow directions, and bring the
three things (the test, the corrections, and the error statements).
.
D3. WHEN may I retake a test? .
Any Monday at 1:00. ONLY on Mondays at 1:00. The math
schedule each week is too impacted with classes, math help, meetings,
and conferences to have other retake times. Exceptions: see the
next question and answer (A4).
.
D4. I
can't come on Mondays at 1:00. What can I do?
You have three choices.
1. You may retake tests during the monthly math test week (when
there's math testing at different times every day that week). You
also have to take that month's math test during that week, so you would
have to take two math tests in the space of four days. If you can
handle it, then you may do so.
2. Another Mt. Everest teacher may proctor a test for you.
It's your (student or parent) responsibility to arrange this with
another teacher at Mt. Everest. However, doing this is a big
inconvenience for the other teachers, so make sure you only ask when
it's really important or an emergency, and understand that the other
teachers do not have to do this.
3. Students, talk to your parents about possibly changing your
schedule for one week, so that you can take a retake test on a Monday
at 1:00.
.
D5. How is the retake
test graded?
Three things to know:
1. It's graded in the same manner as the first test, since it's
almost exactly like the first test.
2. HOWEVER, the two tests' scores will be averaged together so
that the final test score for the month is that average.
3. First tests that are below 60% will be considered to be 60%
for the purpose of averaging, so that a student can have a serious
opportunity to bring the overall score to at least a C. Example:
a student scores 41% on test A. Even earning 95% on test B will
only raise the score to 68% (D). However if test A is considered
to be 60%, then a 95% on test B will make the average 77.5, which will
be rounded to 78% (C+), a much better score.
.
E. EXTRA
CREDIT (Back
to the top)
.
E1. What can I do for
extra credit?
You may write notes. For more information, see the guidebook, and
this link.
.
E2. What are
the requirement for these notes?
Here are the basic requirements (see the guidebook or here for
more detail):
a. At least one page of notes for each section in the month's
work.
b. Each page must be full; no more than four lines at the bottom
may be blank, except for appropriate blanks separating paragraphs,
examples, problems, or whatever.
c. You must write anything that helps you learn what's in the
section. You may write examples, information that's hard to
remember, procedures for doing a problem, formulas that you have to
memorize, things that you tend to make errors on, or anything else that
will help you learn the material better. DO NOT JUST COPY THE
SENTENCES/PARAGRAPHS IN THE SECTION! Copying such things does you
no good except fills up the page, in which case you'll probably earn an
F on the test, because you won't know the math in the section well
enough to answer the test questions correctly.
d. Turn the notes in when you take the test.
.
E3. May I use the
notes on the test?
No.
.
E4. How do I turn in the
notes?
Bring them with you when you take the test. You may not use the
notes on the test, but you must staple the notes to the back of your
test when you finish the test. If you don't want to take a chance
on forgetting the notes, you may turn in the notes just before you take
the test, and then staple the notes to the test afterwards--but if you
forget, you'll still get credit because you did turn in the notes on
time.
.
E5.
What if I forget to turn in the notes after I take the test?
You don't get extra credit. You may not bring the notes later,
after after that testing day. (If you've taken about 3 steps out
the door, and suddenly remember the notes, and immediately turn back
and come in to bring them, I might allow you to then staple the notes
to the back of the test, and thus get the extra credit--but you can't
do this the next day!)
.
E6.
May I do something else for extra credit instead of notes?
No.
.
E7.
Why are notes the only thing allowed for extra credit?
First, be thankful that at least something is allowed for extra
credit. It's not a requirement for a teacher to allow extra
credit.
Notes are used for extra credit for two reasons:
1. This way the extra credit is something that can help students
learn the month's material a little better, so it's useful to you not
just for getting the extra points, but hopefully to help you also do
better on the monthly test even before getting the extra credit points.
2. Writing notes is an important study skill, and it can really
help students when they get to some of the high school and college
courses where the information or procedures can be very complicated and
confusing. Students who learn to take notes in ways that help
them learn will thus have a skill to help them when they get to those
more difficult courses.
.
F. MATH HELP / TUTORING
(Back
to the top)
.
F1. When can I
get math help at school?
The schedule is shown in many places, but the most up-to-date schedule
is always the one that's on the weekly
website update page. NOTE: these times are exact; you can not
come earlier, and you can not come later.
.
F2.
Are there any other times I can get math help at school?
No. Times are limited because of the different study groups, test
times, preparation time, meetings, and conferences each week.
.
F3. What if I need more
help?
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS:
1. Parents can help you with understanding the information better.
2. Ask friends who are in the class with you. If you make a
little at-home study group with another student or two, it might help
all of you.
3. You might need an outside tutor. Parents, there are a
few places you can look at for outside tutors. I have listed some
ideas on a wepage: click here.
4. If you really don't understand most of the work even with all
the help possible, then perhaps independent studies isn't the best
thing for you. Independent studies requires that high schools
student learn most of the material on their own. If you need
daily, or almost-daily, instruction, you may need to go to a
traditional school, because this school does not offer daily
instruction.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS (7th and
8th
GRADE):
Parents are supposed to be teaching 7th and 8th graders at home every
day. If the parents aren't doing this, or aren't able to help
enough
for a student to learn the material well, then home study might not be
the best place. Some 7th and 8th graders can learn on their own
("independently") but some cannot. Students who cannot learn the
math on their own, and whose parents cannot help enough, should not be
in a home study or independent study program; they need to move to a
school which provides daily instruction.
.
F4.
What happens at the math help times at Mt. Everest?
The teacher or tutors who are available will move around the room
helping each student who is there. Students are supposed to come
with specific questions, and they ask their questions when the teacher
comes to them, or calls them to the teacher's desk. If a lot of
students are present, the teacher is limited on how much time with each
student, but will move around as much as possible.
REMEMBER: the help times are NOT for teaching the material from the
beginning. Students are expected to understand most of the
material already, and then come when they have a question about
something that doesn't make sense despite using the textbook examples
and the solution manual step-by-step answers.
.
F5. Do
I have to be there at the beginning and stay for the entire help time?
No; this is a drop-in system. Show up when you want, leave when
you have what you need--as long as you are within the times that are
scheduled for math help. If you don't get enough help in the time
you are there, because there are too many students, then hopefully you
can come another time when there's scheduled math help.
.
G. STUDY GROUPS ("WEEKLY
CLASSES") (Back
to the top)
.
G1. What's
the difference between "study group" and "class?"
Not much, really. When Mt. Everest Academy was just starting, the
"study groups" were less formal. These days, more and more
students are coming from traditional schools, not having been home
schooled since 1st grade. Therefore, "class" is a term they are
more familiar with. However, I use study group primarily in order
to emphasize the difference between our school and more traditional
schools.
.
G2. When and
where are the study groups?
See the guidebook, or click here.
.
G3. Aren't these
study groups optional?
Yes, the math study groups are optional, but they can be very helpful
to you. The study groups are like any resource; if it can help
you, then it doesn't make sense to ignore it. If you can earn A's
in math without coming to the study group, that's wonderful, and I'm
not going to try to force you to come. However, if you are
earning low grades (D or F), then I can make attendance at the study
group mandatory.
.
G4.
Why aren't there math study groups held during the math test week each
month?
I figure that students need the time to study. They should
already have completed the monthly work, and should have been studying
for the test. It's too late to teach anything new; students need
to learn the new things much earlier, so that they can have time to
practice and master those things.
.
H. H (Back
to the top)
H1.
Generic
A
H2.
Generic
S
H3.
Generic
Y
.
J. J (Back
to the top)
J1.
Generic
A
J2.
Generic
S
J3.
Generic
Y
.
P. FOR PARENTS (Back
to the top)
P1.
FOR ALL PARENTS
A
P2. For parents of 7th and 8th grade students
S
P3.
For parents of high school students
Y
