Mr. Whitney's Math Classes  |
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Mr. Whitney's Math Classes |
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If you wish to meet with me to discuss your child's performance in my classes, I would prefer times before or after school rather than during class times. Arrangements can best be facilitated by contacting your child's guidance counselor and the counselor will set up a meeting time for us.
Your child's success in high school (and beyond) will depend on many things, but in my opinion there are two keys that cannot be over-emphasized. They are:
If your child is going to be absent for any extended time, you should contact me through your child's counselor (or use my email) to arrange make up work.
In an effort to promote personal responsiblity, my policy is that it is always the student's responsibility to inquire about what assignments / tests were missed during absences. This should be done before or after school. Class time is for learning and instruction, not for obtaining make-up work assignments. Cooperation with this is expected and appreciated.
The number of days any child can miss from school should be kept to an absolute minimum. It is vital that your child be in attendance. Even if the work from days absent is made up, there are still many things that will be missed and experiences lost forever. As for classwork and homework, you should be sure that your child is keeping up with the course work (in all his or her classes). You can be assured that there will be some sort of assignment EVERY DAY in your child's math class. Occasionally we will have days were we fall behind and there will not be a "written" assignment due for the next session. However, there is always preparation for the next quiz or test or reading ahead to prepare for the next unit.
PLEASE ask your child how her or his day went. What happened in Math class? The answer should never be "nothing!" I love math far too much to let the time slip by idly.
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If you are curious about the mathematical content your child should be learning, may I refer you to the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Frameworks. This has the latest reports on how mathematics education is changing.
Another excellent source for the philosophy guiding mathematics education is the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' CURRICULUM AND EVALUATION STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL MATHEMATICS. This document has recently been published online in a very user friendly format and can be found at the following address:
I encourage you to make sure your child has, at least, a scientific calculator. By this I mean calculators that do more than just the four basic functions (add, subtract, multiply, divide) and take square roots. The calculator should have exponential and logarithmic functions as well as the basic trigonometry functions. These are relatively inexpensive, and are essential for your child's education. The price range is from $10 - $20, at the most.
The more expensive graphing calculators are a wonderful tool and I think mathematics can be much more exciting and engaging when these machines are used properly. However, these calculators are fairly expensive (from $75 for a basic machine up to $175 or more for the "state of the art"). At South Hadley HS, our "calculator of choice" is the TI-83 graphing calculator. Thus, for the sake of consistency, I do recommend either the TI-83 or TI-84.
It is VITAL that each student have at home a calculator of some sort (preferably a scientific or graphing capable type -- the "basic - add/subtract/multiply/divide" calculator is not sufficient for the HS level). It will be our goal here at SHHS to be sure your child is using the calculator in the appropriate manner.
Some parents may be concerned that the use of calculators is changing the way mathematics is presented in today's schools. If I may quote from the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Mathematics:
Guiding Principle VI
Technology is an essential tool for effective mathematics education.
All students should use computers and other technologies to obtain, organize and communicate information and to solve problems. -- Massachusetts Common Core of Learning
Students in all courses need access to tools for learning mathematics. These tools include measuring instruments, manipulatives, graphing calculators, and computers. The calculation powers of computers and calculators free students from the rote tasks of computation but do not replace the thinking that underlies mathematical operations. Computer software for modeling and visualization of mathematical ideas such as statistics and probability or fractals and chaos can open a whole new world to students and help them connect these mathematical ideas to their language and symbol systems.
"Students at one Massachusetts high school explore open-ended lab projects, using a geometry construction software program that enables them to collect data, make observations, and develop conjectures. They must support their findings by writing lab reports that summarize the exploratory process and conclusions they have drawn. This makes the transition to deductive proof a much more natural extension of the learning process. Students are encouraged to construct and justify their own understanding of the geometry explored when they participate in a follow-up discussion, facilitated by the teacher." 1
Technology tools, when integrated in a mathematics program, raise the level of mathematics to which students can be exposed, improve their self-confidence, and facilitate increased student-teacher interactions. The availability of calculators, computers, and other technology has changed forever the way that people are able to think about and do mathematics. New technologies have changed our culture into an "information society." These changes have "transformed both the aspects of mathematics that need to be transmitted to students and the concepts and procedures they must master if they are to be self-fulfilled, productive citizens." 2 Some mathematics becomes more important because technology requires it, some becomes less important because technology replaces it, and some becomes possible because technology allows it. This integration of technology in our global society today impacts the lives of our students tomorrow.
Source: http://www.doe.mass.edu/doedocs/frameworks/Mathguiding.html
Downloaded on July 23, 1999
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I have created an Internet page with many (hopefully) helpful links to college information web sites including:
- Financial Aid resources
- Preparation for college entrance exams
- College web page search engines
- Links to specific colleges that are popular choices among past HSC students and schools that have been highly recommended to me (as well as the schools I have attended)
I hope you will find this resource useful as you and child begin the important task of deciding on a course of future education.
Click here to
go to my
College Info Links Page[Go to top of Page]
Site Created & Maintained by:
Matthew C. Whitney
