Starting the Second Semester

Today, students at Ypsilanti High started their second semester. There were a few changes in who was in various classes; one of the physics students in Mr. Ambrose's class is gone (part of the Early College program), and there's a new student in that class. In Ms. Colwell's advanced algebra class, there was at least one new face and a few students were either absent or in another class.

In physics, one of the students was excited to tell us that she had gotten into Yale. She isn't sure if that's where she'll go or not, until she hears from other schools, so a few people were teasing her about Yale being her "safety school". In terms of material, they had a simple introduction (via a worksheet) to the concept of momentum. After class, Mr. Ambrose and I talked about what kind of a lab would be useful for momentum. There are a lot of cool things that could be done, but many of them take expensive equipment that he just doesn't have.

In advanced algebra, they learned how to find the equation of a quadratic equation that fits data. Ms. Colwell showed them how to do it by hand with three data points, and also how to enter it into the graphing calculator and let it do the work. She does that a lot - shows them both how to do it on paper, and also how to use the tools they have. Personally, I think that's a good approach; sometimes, doing it by hand is actually faster, or it gives more insight into the process - but it's also important to be able to use the available tools to be more efficient when using it as a means to an end.

Review time

The semester is almost over at Ypsilanti High School. They have regular classes this week, then next week Monday's a holiday (King Day) and then they have exams on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Some classes also have a test coming up this week, so the students have a lot of review to do. In Mr. Ambrose's physics class, he gave answers to one worksheet, answered questions, and gave out a quiz review worksheet. While they worked on it, I helped some of the students who were having trouble. I think most of them are going to do well, but there are a few who still need some work to get up to speed. In Ms. Colwell's advanced algebra class, they were working with quadratic equations and completing the square - taking a standard-form parabola and using the completing the square technique to put it into the form y - h = a(x - k)^2. Then, after their lesson, they had a quiz. During the lesson, Ms. Colwell gave them one or two problems to work out, and I helped a few students. Some of them don't even try when a problem is put up on the overhead for them to work, unless someone comes over and works with them - it isn't that they don't know how, because they do the problem correctly, but they just don't seem to want to bother.

Friday I'll be there, helping students as they review in class for their final exams, then next week I'll be off - as I said, Monday's a holiday, then they have three days of exams, then Friday is a day off for them. Since the new matches haven't been made yet, after the exams I'll return to the same classes, and keep working with them until the new TA/teacher matches are made. After that, I don't know if I'll be working with the same teachers or with different ones - we'll see how that works out.

Starting a new year

Today was the first day for the students after their winter break, and I was back at Ypsilanti High. The students were having a hard time settling down to work, for the most part. Most of them wanted to catch up with friends, and a lot of them were tired - like me, when they don't have to get up at 6 a.m., they generally don't, so getting up early again will take some getting used to.

In Mr. Ambrose's physics class, he started out with a worksheet that they did together, to get their memories refreshed. They're currently working with the concepts of work and energy, and tomorrow they'll be doing a lab - it's a pity I'll be missing that, labs are fun.

In Ms. Colwell's class, they're getting into quadratic equations. They've seen parabolas before, and have had some exposure to quadratics, but now they're getting into them in more depth, including the ubiquitous quadratic formula we all know and love. They had a short lesson, then time for homework. Some of them needed to be kind of coaxed into at least doing a few problems, since they just didn't feel like working. I helped out several of them get started - once the work gets started, it doesn't look quite so intimidating.