Welcome to Pre-Calculus! Welcome to Solon High School and to your son or daughter’s year in Pre-Calculus. I appreciate and welcome your participation and involvement in your child’s education. Mrs. Speelman Room 225

Mrs. Michelle Speelman Education Miami University – BS in Marketing Kent State University- MAT in Education with a specialization in High School Math Experience (17 years) Solon High School 1998 – 2009 ECOT 2009 – 2016 Solon High School 2016 - Present

My Family

Course Objectives To make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. To reason abstractly and quantitatively. To construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. To model real world situations with mathematics. To use appropriate tools strategically. To attend to precision. To look for and make use of structure. To look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Structure of the class Study Teams During this course your child will collaborate with other students as a member of a study team. Together, each team will complete problems and activities that will help them discover new mathematical ideas and methods. This is a very student-centered class. I will support your children as they work, but will not take away their opportunity to think and investigate for themselves. In order to be successful in this class your child will need to be a willing and active participant as they develop their mathematical understanding.  

Principles of the CPM Course Design Students learn best engaged in inquiry that leads to deep conceptual understanding of the underlying mathematics, exploiting each others’ insights, and using distributed learning to increase retention and transfer of knowledge. The CPM Core Connections series integrates basic skills and procedures with conceptual understanding, encouraging students to understand ideas, see relationships between them, and apply mathematical principles to complex problems. Students are held responsible for high academic rigor, analysis, and critical thinking, and communicate their mathematical findings in writing or in oral presentations in a clear and convincing manner.

Key Topics of Study Transformations of Functions Periodic Functions and Their Graphs Area Under a Curve as the foundation for integration Inverses, Exponentials, and Logarithmic Equations and Applications Limits at infinity and at a point Polar graphical systems Applications of Vectors Properties of functions including: continuity, increasing vs. decreasing, and concavity Average rates of change and instantaneous rates of change as a foundation for derivatives Applications of trigonometric functions Algebraic fluency and simplification techniques Modeling using a variety of functions

Assessments and Grading Policy Grading Scale A 90.0 – 100% B 80.0 – 89.9% C 70.0 – 79.9% D 60.0 – 69.9% F 59.9% and below Weighting of Grades % Individual Assessments 70% Team Tests & Small Quizzes 20% Coursework 10% Individual Assessments (70%) Team Tests and Small Quizzes(20%) Coursework (10%) Individual Tests Team Tests Class Presentations Large Individual Quizzes Homework Quizzes Participation Quizzes Formative Quizzes Technology Activities Entrance/Exit Slips Projects Math Notes Quizzes Homework Checks (very rare) Graded Assignments Class/Team Participation Examples

Supporting Your Child Remind your child that daily homework assignments are an essential part of this class providing additional instruction, practice and reinforcement of review and newly acquired concepts as well as a preview for upcoming concepts. Encourage your child to seek help immediately if they are having difficulty so that the problem can be remedied quickly. Students can get help from me, another student, or the Math Lab. Instill in your child that attendance is a requirement for success.

Internet Information On my page, you will find daily lessons, homework, upcoming tests and quizzes as well as some of the class resources. To get to my page follow these steps: 1.   Go to the Solon Schools web page www.solonschools.org 2.    Choose Schools - SHS 3.    Choose Staff Directory 4.    Scroll down to my name (Michelle Speelman) 5.    Choose “Calendar” from the bottom 6.    Choose the appropriate class (PreCalculus) Internet Information

Parent Resources Our textbook publisher has many resources for students and their parents at their website: www.cpm.org This website also has all of the resource pages for activities in class. Hints to all homework problems and solutions to select problems are available at www.cpm.org in the Homework Help section located on the student tab of the website. This presentation as well as class procedures and requirements are available in class files on my page on the school website: www.solonschools.org

Communication Parent – Teacher communication is of utmost importance for student success. If at anytime you have a concern or question, please call or email me. I check and respond to email every day. My voicemail also goes directly to my email. Please leave a number that I can reach you at during the school day. Voice mail: 349-7757 ext. 5327 Email: michellespeelman@solonboe.org

Thank You for Attending Tonight! Please make sure to leave the note card with the requested information with me as you leave. Please feel free to contact me at any time with concerns or questions. My school website is a great place to find out what your son or daughter is or should be working on! Thank you for being a supportive parent. I am looking forward to a rewarding school year.

We learn . . . 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we both see and hear, 70% of what is discussed with others, 80% of what we experience personally, and 95% of what we teach someone else. ~ William Glasser