Math! (The Backlog!)

 I love a good math joke.

I showed a lot more pictures my first year at Monticello. I'd throw up pictures of the horses after the warm-up or of some other odd happenings. I used to show pictures during Virtual School, too. It was one way I tried to connect with kids. 

Maybe I should up my picture game again. 

Shane told me that he's not good at math.....which is laughable. He's in a condensed math course that moves quickly. After not having to expend much effort at Scottsville, he's finding the new material and rate at which it's covered to be actual work. 

And based on his ability to sit still, I'm sure he's not an ideal student!

I told Shane that's he's great at math and that's why he's in the course he's in. They wouldn't have allowed him into the class if he was terrible at it! It'll take effort, but Shane's capable of it.

This year is a paradigm shift for Shane. He's incredibly bright, but not used to working. Lately, he's been talking about how he liked elementary school better, but that was NOT always the case while he was in it! Now that he's shifted schools, he's looking back through rose tinted glasses.

All of Shane's grades are great except for Math. There was a test while he was out of school for a week with Carrie (more on that soon!). He says he's made up the test, but the teacher hasn't graded it yet. I've seen him signing up for WIN time with her (basically a makeup period), so I've been letting him handle it. If his semester grades aren't up to par, I'll step in, but I wanted to give him the chance to handle it first. Frankly, a kid's grades in 6th grade don't mean much. 

I did step in after Shane got back from his break to help him catch up. He normally never asks me for help, but he needed motivation and structure to pace himself appropriately. I helped him a little bit with proportions.....and I could've stolen the worksheet to use with my students. There were similar triangles aplenty which we were set to learn a few weeks after I helped Shane with them!

I'm not 100% fond of the County's push to have students in Algebra in 7th grade. It's largely driven by college crazy parents, and I feel it'd be more beneficial to start Algebra in 8th grade. 

So why's Shane on track to take Algebra in 7th then? Shane's capable. Having a difficult class for once should be good for him. Our biggest reason for putting Shane on the fast track was we wanted to expose him to new social circles he might fit into better. He never found his group at Scottsville Elementary, and I'm sure saying things like "This is so easy!" while other kids struggled didn't help! 

The end of the semester is a week away as I write this. I'll post something about Shane's grades when I make it to January on the blog.