MATH 7 - CHRISS - 1

Miss Chriss

jchriss@hse.k12.in.us

(317) 915-4280 ext. 6202

HI! I'm Miss Chriss!
This is my second year at Riverside Junior High School.  This is actually my second time living in Indiana since I was three years old.  I moved around a lot being an "Army Brat" and eventually ended up in Colorado.  I graduated from the University of Northern Colorado (GO BEARS!) in the Spring of 2014 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with an emphasis in secondary education.  At least that is the technical wording of it all, and I just tell people I am a Math Teacher!  This is my sixth year teaching.  For my first four years as a teacher, I had the privilege to teach at Windsor Middle School teaching 6th and 7th Graders math!

I moved to Indiana to be closer to my family.  Once my father retired from the military, he started his second career in Indiana, so that's where my parents relocated.  My twin sister, Makayla, my little sister, Katie, and my niece, Trinity, followed my parents when they moved.  Since I was alone in Colorado, I decided to also move here, and that's how I got to be your math teacher!

Whenever I am not teaching, I enjoy listening to music, hanging out with my family and friends, and watching MUSICALS!  I thoroughly enjoy going to see productions on the stage whether they be musicals, plays, or any type of production.  With that being said, at my last school, I had the privilege to co-direct Windsor Middle School's spring musicals: School House Rocks LIVE!; Dear Edwina Jr.; and The Wizard of Oz.

Class Mission: This course is dedicated to developing students’ ability to use intellectual reasoning in solving problems, inspiring critical thinking, and making connections between mathematics and students’ lives. This will be accomplished through discovery and cooperative learning, with the expectation of mastery over time. The class goal is for all students to show proficiency and growth on the Indiana Academic Standards for Mathematics.

Curriculum & Resources: BIG Ideas Math is our curriculum at Riverside Junior High.  The textbook will soon be available through our Clever website (clever.com).  Students will also find resources on their class Canvas page (https://hse.instructure.com/).

Course Outline

Unit 1 - Chapter 1 Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers

Unit 2 - Chapter 2 Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers

Unit 3 - Chapter 3 Expressions

Unit 4 - Chapter 4 Equations and Inequalities

Unit 5A - Chapter 5 Ratios and Proportions

Unit 5B - Chapter 5 Graphing Proportional Relationships

Unit 6 - Chapter 6 Percents

Unit 7 - Chapter 9 Geometric Shapes and Angles

Unit 8 - Chapter 10 Surface Area and Volume

Unit 9 - Chapter 7 Probability

Unit 10 - Chapter 8 Statistics

Tests, Projects & Quizzes 85%: All tests and quizzes will be announced at least two classes prior to being administered. Tests, quizzes, and projects will assess students on their ability to show proficiency on standards. Students will be given the opportunity to complete corrections on all quizzes to improve their proficiency. In order to receive credit on corrections, the correct answer must be given, work for the answer must be shown, and the reason behind missing the question along with an explanation of how to correct the question must be explained in detail. Students may correct quizzes and tests as many times as they would like up until the grades are finalized (quarter ends).  The assessment corrections will allow students to learn from their mistakes and the test will show their overall mastery of a concept.  Students will be given ample time to complete projects during class and will only have to take project work home if class time is not used wisely.Classwork & Practice 15%: Most daily work will not be given a grade, but completion of some assignments will be tracked in the gradebook.  Practice Sets (homework) will be given an accuracy grade.  That means the score the student receives in Canvas will be the grade in Skyward.  Practice Sets will be given at the beginning of the week and will be due at the end of the week unless otherwise stated.  Practice sets, for the most part, will be on Canvas our learning management system.  All students have access to this through a computer or their assigned school iPad.  Practice sets are also available to correct as many times as a student wishes up until the unit or chapter assessment.

Although grades are not given for all assignments, completing the assignments is beneficial because “practice makes perfect” ☺ and these assignments prepare students for assessments (quizzes, tests, projects). Students are expected to use the class time allotted to work on daily assignments and may be required to finish the assignment for homework if it is incomplete when class is over. Students should not have more than 30 minutes of math homework each night (usually much less). If they do have more, they are not working during the class time given or they are not asking for help. Students need to record their assignments in their planner. If absent, students are expected to look at the class calendar, get the notes from a classmate, and collect the assignments from me as soon as they come back to school.

Grading: Students will be evaluated based on their mastery of the Indiana Academic Standards for 7^th grade math. This will most likely be done differently than most students have experienced in previous years and classes. A student’s grade for this class will represent how well they have mastered the various topics and have retained the knowledge. It is possible for their grade to increase throughout the quarter as they redo/correct work to demonstrate mastery. Additionally, it can also decrease if they do not retain mastery of an objective. Mastery of the objectives will be determined in various ways such as tests, projects, presentations, cooperative group work, etc. Grades in this class will not be based on the traditional method of having all assignments turned in. This method will make students more accountable for their learning and how they chose to learn the material. If a student completes and turns in all homework assignments, their grade will not be impacted. Incomplete or missing assignments will negatively impact student’s grades until they are completed and turned in.

An “A” (90-100%) will represent advanced exploration of the evidence outcome beyond mastery. At times students will be required to further explore topics beyond the typical mastery level.

A “B” (80-89%) will represent basic mastery of the evidence outcome without further exploration. This means that the student has met the requirements set forth by the Colorado Academic Standards for 7^th grade math.

A “C” (70-79%) will represent partially proficient mastery of the evidence outcome. This means that more work needs to be done to show complete mastery of the objective at an 7^th grade level.

A “D” (60-69%) will represent unsatisfactory mastery and shows that a student has mastered some of the content, but well below an 7^th grade level.

An “F”(below 60%) will show that mastery has not been demonstrated. This typically means that the assignment covering the objective was not completed or not turned in.

Below are quicklinks to take you to the unit modules!