Wednesday, August 29, 2018

grade 9 Algebra I

Course Name: Algebra I (revised course)
Grade/Year Taken: 9th 2018-19
Graduation Credit: MTH (1.0)
Teacher of Record: Misty L. Brown
Prerequisite: Pre Algebra Grade 8
Text(s) and Materials Used: Khan Academy Algebra Course, Painless Algebra Lynette Long PHD, Everything You Need To Ace MATH in One Big Fat Notebook Workman Publishing, ACT Prep, SAT Prep.
Curriculum Provider: Misty L. Brown
Course Description: This course is designed to satisfy the Algebra I requirement, teach the student advanced integrated mathematics concepts, and help to prepare the student for the Mathematics Sections of the ACT and SAT exams.

Course Content: (Quarter 1) Unit 1: An overview of fundamental tools and concepts of algebra. Unit 2: Solving Equations Unit 3: Solving Inequalities (Quarter 2) Unit 4: Working With Units Unit 5: Linear Equations and Graphs Unit 6: Functions Unit 7: Linear Word Problems Unit 8: Sequences (Quarter 3) Unit 9: Systems of Equations Unit 10: Inequalities, Systems and Graphs Unit 11: Absolute Value and Piecewise Functions Unit 12: Rational Exponents and Radicals Unit 13: Exponential, Growth and Decay (Quater 4) Unit 14: Polynomials Unit 15: Factorization Unit 16: Quadratics Unit 17: Irrational Numbers

Types of Assessments Used: Homework Unit Quizzes Chapter Tests

Assessments Designed By: Misty L. Brown
Assessments Graded By: Misty L. Brown

Grade Based On: TBA
Grade Achieved: TBA



Monday, August 27, 2018

grade 9 Biology

Course Name: Biology
Grade/Year Taken: 9th 2018-19
Graduation Credit: Science (1.0)
Teacher of Record: Misty L. Brown
Prerequisite: None
Text(s) and Materials Used: Cells INB Bundle, Frog Dissection Lab, Classification INB Bundle, TBA internet resources.
Curriculum Provider: Misty L. Brown

Course Description: This course is designed for the student to explore biology with an emphasis on basic cell structure and function, metabolism and energy transformation, genetics, evolution, and classification.   Weekly Biology lessons will be presented on Mondays.  Reading and assignments are to be done independently by the student.  Quizzes and finished work will be due on the Friday of the week it was assigned unless otherwise arranged.

Course Content: Cellular Biology, Classifications.

Types of Assessments Used:
Quizzes and Exams Aug 22-June 5
Cells, Interactive Notebook 1st Quarter
Frog Dissection Lab 2nd Quarter (Oct 29)
Classifications, Interactive Notebook 2nd-4th Quarters Oct 27-June 5
Mixed Medium Projects 1st Quarter Oct 22; 2nd Quarter Jan 18

Assessments Designed By: Misty L. Brown
Assessments Graded By: Misty L. Brown

Grade Based On: A. 500-450 B. 449-400 C. 399-350 D. 349-300 F. 299-0

10 weekly Cell Unit quizzes worth 5 points each = 50 points
Cells, Interactive Notebook = 100 points
Cell Unit Exam = 50 points
Frog Dissection = 50 points
Classifications, Interactive Notebook = 100 points
2 Mixed Medium Projects (2 for Classifications) worth 75 each = 150 points  

Grade Achieved: TBD

Monday, August 20, 2018

what you see



The mom turns her face down as she talks.  Her words slip and trip like children in skates across ice.  We sit together two-thousand miles apart.  Before us the blue landscape of the gym with it's square peaks and valleys.  The triangles of the bars rising like ghost sails from metal ships.  The tumble track pinging like a dock in winter.


As she speaks I can see her words, still wobbling on their blades, falling to the floor through the thinness of the ice she is creating.  She doesn't believe what she is saying anymore than I do.  But she keeps talking because she wants to believe.

I shouldn't be offended by her but I am.  It is often forgotten that beneath all I do for them and their children in my position that I am a mom too.  My daughter is out there swimming in that cold, open ocean.


Dear Mother Next To Me:

For years we have come this way.  Long before you and long after.  We wade in.  We have been where you are- staring out at the waves.  Beyond the breakers of money and time is the wide open blue water of what is possible for them.


You afford what you want.  You build what you believe in.  You erode what you hate.

I am not going to argue that this sport is for everyone.  I am not going to say a parent throwing in the towel for their child is wrong to do so.  Many have come this way.  Many have come back in. Eventually they all come ashore.  Where they make their landfall is determined by how far and long they swim.  

What I would want to argue is for those of us already out in the waves we deserve some respect from those parents still in the shallows.  Don't act as if we don't know.  Don't pretend we are any different than you.


I get the shock of seeing the size of it for the first time.  The ocean of competitive gymnastics is huge.  I get the gathering of lifejackets.  I can even forgive someone's need for throwing up shade.

What I don't get is the 2 years of built-up to that moment.  The beach lined with parents in folding chairs. They judge and coach and gossip.  They fork out money for private lessons and swear they aren't pushing they child towards the open sea.  But they are.


Their words create eddies against their actions.  Leaving the rest of us to swim through the undercurrent they spill.

Dear Mother Next To Me:

Now you are here. You are up to your neck in the cold water and the waves are coming.


If you never wanted this for your child, if you are like me, this moment will be easy.  I let my child swim into the breakers because it was what I knew she wanted.


I saw the same horizon you saw.  I saw the waves threatening the sky and I thought, how do I do this for her?


We tread water to watch them swim.  We throw the dinner dishes into the sea.  We pack bags, big and little and everything between.  We cut holes in the nets the world sets up to stop them. We follow the moods of the moon.


If you have come out this way even the tiniest bit for yourself you will all have a much harder time.  You will hang on through the waves, and they will roll you. Your wieght will weigh your child down.  She will have to work harder to stay afloat just because of you.


If this has been about you. The vastness of the water ahead will insult you.  You will say, it's not worth it.  And you will be right. It's not worth it for you.


Dear Mother Next To Me:

This sport is not played on the beach it is out there in that ocean.  You cannot learn to sail while sitting in the tidal pools.  You cannot swim in the sand.


What I love and hate about this sport are the same thing; that it is not easy.  It's not even possible and yet it happens.  I hate/love the travel and the life lessons.  I hate/love the commitment, the judging, the bling, and the bruises. I hate watching my child fall.  I love watching her get up again.  I hate watching her struggle through fear and doubt.  I love seeing her overcome and succeed.


I used to wish I never took her here.  Wished and wondered what if she had never seen this ocean.  I don't wonder about that any more, at least not in the same way.  Today I stand in the water, just about knee deep.  The waves crest and break in sets by the time they reach me I am mostly ready.


The child I let slip out into that blue ocean is becoming so strong, so powerful, and so deep.  I could not have given this to her by keeping her.  I gave this to her by letting go.


Dear Mothers Next To Me:

Your words can ice over a little pond but you can't freeze the sea.