Mr. Gamble's Math
Easy As Pi
Edition 5.01.20 [V2.14]
Week in Review
Today is our final day for work from Quarter 3 to be resubmitted or retaken. This is going to be your Semester 2 grade. You will have until 11:30 PM to submit this work. At this point your current grade will be entered as your end-of-year grade.
We are in uncharted territory here as we work from home for the immediate future. Despite this difference, rest assured I am here to support you in any way I can. Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions or needs. I am more than willing to step forward and help all learners and learning coaches.
See below for some resources that can be used for both instruction and problem checking. These have instructional videos, steps, practice problems, and explanations of work.
Looking Ahead
Our school year will end on May 15, per the district decision last week. Continue working through your course work until then to learn as much of the content as possible. I appreciate all who are working so diligently this quarter.
I have made the personal choice to make myself available to all learners each day from 9:00 - 4:00 online. This is by appointment only so I know when I need to be in the session. Please reach out for anything you may need and I will support you.
Re-registration: 2020-2021
Please take a moment to sign into the parent portal, find your students name, and click re-register for next year. The options are registering, not registering, and undecided. If you are undecided, please choose that and let us know.
You will need to be the legal guardian of the learner to re-register this year. If you have any issues, please contact Brooke. Here is a video to help you through the process.
8th Grade Registration
8th grade families,
This is a reminder to please be sure to complete the next steps in ensuring that your learner has a spot reserved for them in the fall!! Enrollment for new families opened up last week and we have a lot of interest in the high school!!
Next steps:
1. Re-register for OVS: (or indicate if you are not returning) Follow the steps below:
1 .Sign into the parent portal: Link to K12 Parent Portal
2. Find your student's name,
3. Select: registering, not registering, and undecided.
2. Registration forms: Complete your learner's elective choices by completing this form: CLICK HERE!
3. Our counselor, Ms. Barnes will email to confirm registrations.
Our goal is for all current OVS students to be registered by the end of April to ensure we have saved a spot for them!!
Please don't hesitate to reach out to our counselor, Ms. Barnes or myself with any questions or concerns.
Robotics
Math Brainteaser
Each week I will offer a mathematical brainteaser. They are rated out of 4.0 points, with 4.0 being most difficult. I will include the difficulty with the title. Think you know the answer??? Send your response to me and I will respond accordingly. Good luck!
The Troll Bridge [2.25/4.00]
A judge named Oscar came across the bridge. The troll said, "You may only cross my bridge if you know the password." He then wrote 26 equations on a rock: A=1, B=2, and so on until Z=26.
"Today's password is the name of a woman," said the troll. "The woman's name has the same 'product' as the word JUDGE, that is, 10*21*4*7*5. It also has the same number of letters as JUDGE. However it has no letters in common with JUDGE."
"When the first and second letters in the woman's name are switched around, the letters are in alphabetical order."
"Finally," said the troll, "the woman's name does not contain the letter C because I despise the number 3."
So, what is the password? And why couldn't the troll use similar rules to create a password using the name OSCAR rather than the word JUDGE?
Online Lessons
Due to no High School attendance of live online sessions and no viewing of recorded sessions, I have made the choice to remove these High School sessions from the schedule for the remainder of the year.
- Math 6: Mondays @ 9:00 - 9:30
- Math 7: Mondays @ 10:00 - 10:30
- Math 8: Fridays @ 9:00 - 9:30
Please join me for lessons, assistance, and connections.
Kahn Academy
Khan Academy is a website including step-by-step instructions and graphs. The free version provides many of these steps. It is not limited to any one area of math. This is a valuable tool for learning coaches to help verify instruction and solutions to their learner's work.
All content areas in math are represented with equation solvers, graphing, roots, and much more. These videos can be a valuable tool to see how to solve a problem first-hand for learners to see the process of a problem. Practice problems are also included.
Math is Fun
This website contains instruction on countless topics with easy-to-follow steps and visual models. The site is appropriately named as they make math easy and fun to follow. Step-by-step instructions are joined by practice problems that learners can complete.
There are also games, math dictionary, and activities to participate in. The site is "searchable" making it easier to find help on specific topics. The Index breaks the site down into grade levels and content areas.
Symbolab
This site has been beneficial to all Learning Coaches seeking guidance in solving problems that are difficult. This free site provides step-by-step instruction for a variety of topic areas. These steps of instruction show the formulas used and how to apply them as well.
I encourage Learning Coaches to use these without the learners due to the answers being provided. They can be used as a support for learners once they make an attempt. The site is free, though paid subscriptions are available for more in-depth instruction and explanations.
IXL
This site addresses multiple subject areas including math. This is a free-to-use site, though some of the resources are limited on the free version.
This site provides instructions, steps, visuals, and practice problem for a variety of topics. Learners can choose their grade area, select their skills, and work on hundreds of topics and problems. The number of problems will be limited in the free version.
Desmos
This online graphing calculator is INVALUABLE! It allows learners to graph any equation, inequality, point, and more. This is vital to SEE what the expression looks like and identify movements and solution sets.
There are countless tutorials online for any type of problem you may want to do with Desmos. Google things such as step function, inequality, systems, etc. and you will find help in using this tool.
Be Safe Online
With the various sites we can use in math at home, I wanted to touch base on some Family Tips from Common Sense Media to help protect our learners as they navigate the internet.
Common Sense Media Family Tips
Use these tips to help make your learners aware of ads, privacy requests, and other pitfalls that need to be avoided. The internet is a pool of resources, but we must be vigilant in protecting our information.
Contact Info
Email: thomas.gamble@ops.org
Website: https://ovs.k12.com/
Phone: (531)299-9447
Twitter: @gambletg