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Introduction
Today we live in a society that is largely
shaped by mathematics -- though by one of life's paradoxes,
the more important mathematics has become in our lives,
the more it has disappeared into the background. You would
not know it unless you looked closely, but large parts of
modern communications, transport, medicine, entertainment,
sport, financial trading, and even law enforcement, all
make heavy use of, often sophisticated mathematics. In the
industrial age, we burned fossil fuels to drive the engines
of society. In the information age, the fuel we burn is
mathematics. The mathematics involved is so specialized
that we cannot hope to teach it in our schools. What we
can -- and should -- do is make sure our children are prepared
to acquire, quickly and efficiently, what particular math
skills they require when the time comes.
The bulk of that basic skill set on which
each individual can build in later life has little to do
with numbers or arithmetic. The industrial age was an age
of number and arithmetic. The information age is quite different.
The mathematics used today is the mathematics of abstract
patterns, relationships, and structures. As we continue
to revise our curriculum for the high school math class
of the next millennium, we have to accept the fact that
the mathematics we teach today's students will not be (at
least, should not be) the same as their parents learned.
But that does not make it easier or less rigorous. Quite
the opposite.
The need for accurate, rigorous, precise
logical thinking is more important to more people today
than at any time in history. To try to achieve that ability
by harking back to the mathematics taught a half century
ago, as continues to happen in states across the nation,
will surely fail with today's students. They -- and we --
deserve better.
Keith Devlin; Devlin's
Angle, MAA
Expectations
| Expectations |
Consequences |
- Follow all RRISD Handbook Rules
- Be Seated when bell rings ready to begin
- Follow directions the first time they are given
- Do not disturb while teacher is speaking
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- Warning
- Parent Contact
- D-Hall
- Office Referrall
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No Food or Drink is allowed in the classroom!
Students are expected to stay in class until the bell rings !
Supplies
- Pencil
- Spiral
- Folder with pockets and brads
- Individual class has individual requirements
Late Work Policies
- No Late Work Accepted
- Failed Quizzes and Tests and Projects: Student will get tutoring and make up failed test/quiz
- Missed Quizzes or Tests are expected to be made up within ONE WEEK of absence
Grading Policies
| Type |
Weight |
Quantity |
Daily |
20% |
10-12 per six weeks |
Quizzes |
20% |
4-5 per six weeks |
Tests |
60% |
2-3 per six weeks |
Projects |
Test Grade |
1 per six weeks |
Exemption Policies
- Have to have a grade of 85% or higher
- Can have no more than 2 absences
- Must complete at least 1/2 of the semester exam review
"Geometry
is perhaps the most elementary of the sciences that enable
man, by purely intellectual processes, to make predictions
(based on observation) about physical world. The power of
geometry, in the sense of accuracy and utility of these
deductions, is impressive, and has been a powerful motivation
for the study of logic in geometry.
H. M. S. Coxeter (1907-2003)
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