Memo_102

I went to a great exhibit at the Met today--Andy Warhol and 60 other artists.  I don't get a lot of modern art, no matter how much I read and listen to docents. (I still enjoy looking at it.)   I feel the don't get these memos.  Thank goodness I don't have to worry about them anymore as they bring no one pleasure.  (picture not from that exhibit as no photography was permitted)

These keep getting better and better.

 

If a student has not shown up in your class at all, you must put an “I” under the exam column - they certainly intervention right now! In other words, any students who would have received a failing grade should get an “I” in the exam column.

 I have not met with everyone regarding the exam average of your classes even though I asked to meet with everyone. Please do so no later than Friday, October 12, 2012.  When you come to see me, please bring your grade book and know the passing percentage and the exam average of your students by class, etc.

Please inform your students of the tutoring opportunities during periods 2 – 8. Some students have come in to inquire about tutoring and I checked their attendance in your class. They have not been absent at all. So, either you did not make the announcement about tutoring or they did not hear you when you made the announcement.

Active participation everyday is the key to our success and it can no longer be generated by using such comments as “Let’s …” or “Why don’t we …”, etc.  It is nice that you tried to get everyone’s attention by involving them verbally in the lesson but you must find a way to evaluate constantly whether your students are following you on.  If you know your students do not understand what you are teaching, let’s say you wait until after an exam (bad idea), what are you doing about it?  We all must work on finding ways for students to participate covertly and overtly.

 We discussed the following point during the last department meeting as well. I asked everyone to teach equation solving using transposing terms. There are still teachers who do not bother doing it. You can expect to have the lowest passing percentage on the Regents exam. Furthermore, can you at least pretend that you are using transposing when I am in your classroom?  No one will argue with me that I can get the students who are not willing or capable of doing math to pass the Regents exam. The reason is very simple – I find a way to get through to them and teach them a skill that is technique based. If I share with you effective ways to get students to be able to solve problems, why are you not willing to try? Why do students take math? They have to learn how to think from their math teacher. Most of them will never use the quadratic formula, the law of Sines or Cosines once they pass the Regents exam. But they will have to think for the rest of their lives. Are you teaching your students how to think?

 

Please continue to monitor the hallway during period change and get your students into your classroom before the late bell while encouraging the others to move along.

 

Have a great Friday and weekend.

 

 

Memo_102