Download Geometry_-_T._Harness

Oneida High School
Tommie Harness
Mathematics Teacher
(423) 569 - 8818
Email: [email protected]
Dear Geometry Students and Parents Thereof,
I am excited to be teaching and working with you at Oneida High School this year. This will be my seventeenth
year of teaching mathematics, and my sixth year at the high school. My own continuing mission as a teacher is
to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help you find your own passion in life. This year, I am eager to renew
my relationships with each of you and help us create a culture of learning where we may all create quality
work!
Required Equipment
Like carpenters who need to bring their tools to the job, you will need to bring your own tools as students. The
following is a list of equipment needed to discover, explore and understand mathematics. Bring them to class
each day unless otherwise stated.
1. A covered textbook.
2. A pencil and a pen. We all make mistakes. However, we can erase the ones we make in pencil. Assignments
should be done in pencil and corrected with pen.
3. A notebook with two sections. One section is for taking notes in and the other is for completing your daily
assignments.
4. A folder where you keep syllabi, cows (challenge of the week) and returned papers.
Attendance & Tardiness
As in college or at a career, you are expected to arrive to class prepared and on time each day. If you are
absent, you are responsible for making up missed assignments. If you are aware that you are going to be
absent, please plan ahead by using your syllabus and asking me or other students what assignments you will
miss.
Homework
I’ve always valued practice. Clearly, to be good at anything in life, one needs to practice, practice, and
practice! Homework provides daily practice essential for developing mathematical understanding of the
concepts introduced in class. Homework is assigned nearly every day and is due at the beginning of the
following class period. Your homework assignments will be graded with the following criteria:
Accuracy
Neatness
Timely
Organization
Name and Title
Tests and Quizzes
Practice is essential in mathematics and will lead to successful performance on exams. Tests and quizzes are
given throughout each unit studied. Tests are weighted twice as much as quizzes. If you earn less than 70% on
a test you are expected to relearn the material and retake a similar exam to replace that original grade.
However, this should be done within 5 days of the exam being returned to you.
Grades
Your grade each quarter is calculated as follows:
30% homework
70% tests, quizzes, and cows.
Your final grade for the year is calculated as follows:
18.75% Quarter 1 Grade
18.75% Quarter 2 Grade
18.75% Quarter 3 Grade
18.75% Quarter 4 Grade
25% EOC
Classroom Principles
Five general principles guide our work together:
1. Be respectful.
2. Be courteous.
3. Be prepared.
4. Treat others as you wish to be treated.
5. Try your best at all times.
Most Oneida students follow these principles naturally. However, there are occasions when some students
interrupt the learning process for others in their class. These students may expect to meet with our Principal,
Kevin Byrd, to process their behavior and consider any appropriate steps necessary to improve the learning for
all.
Geometry Standards
The high school Common Core Standards
(http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Mathematics_Appendix_A.pdf) call on students to practice
applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges; they prepare students to think
and reason mathematically. They set a rigorous definition of college and career readiness, by helping students
develop a depth of understanding and ability to apply mathematics to novel situations, as college students and
employees regularly do. Furthermore, they emphasize mathematical modeling, the use of mathematics and
statistics to analyze empirical situations, understand them better, and improve decisions. The following
standards guide the content and instruction of this geometry course.
Geometry Congruence
•Experiment with transformations in the plane.
• Understand congruence in terms of rigid motions.
Build on rigid motions as a familiar starting point for development of concept of geometric proof.
•Prove geometric theorems.
Focus on validity of underlying reasoning while using variety of ways of writing proofs.
•Make geometric constructions.
Formalize and explain processes.
Similarity, Right Triangles, and Trigonometry
•Understand similarity in terms of similarity transformations.
•Prove theorems involving similarity.
•Define trigonometric ratios and solve problems involving right triangles.
•Apply trigonometry to general triangles.
Circles
•Understand and apply theorems about circles.
•Find arc lengths and areas of sectors of circles.
Radian introduced only as unit of measure.
Expressing Geometric Properties with Equations
•Translate between the geometric description and the equation for a conic section.
•Use coordinates to prove simple geometric theorems algebraically.
Include distance formula; relate to Pythagorean theorem.
Geometric Measurement and Dimension
•Explain volume formulas and use them to solve problems.
•Visualize the relation between two- dimensional and three- dimensional objects.
Modeling with Geometry
•Apply geometric concepts in modeling situations.
Statistics and Probability
Conditional Probability and the Rules of Probability
• Understand independence and conditional probability and use them to interpret data.
Link to data from simulations or experiments
•Use the rules of probability to compute probabilities of compound events in a uniform probability model.
Using Probability to Make Decisions
•Use probability to evaluate outcomes of decisions.
*************************
Course Sequence
The course includes several units; the following is an approximate timeline indicating when particular units are
taught.
Quarter 1
• Introducing Geometry
• Reasoning in Geometry
Quarter 2
• Triangle Properties
• Polygon Properties
• Circle Properties
Quarter 3
• Transformations
• Area
Quarter 4
• The Pythagorean Theorem
• Similarity
Final Notes
Please complete and return the last page. Students should know that I am happy to give any extra help that I
can. Feel free to stop in before or after school any day. No question is too small. Many parents find email to be
a great way to keep in touch with me. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] or call me at
school during the week at (423) 569 - 8818. The best times are at 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. If you are in need of
an extra syllabus and/or a practice test for the unit, you may email me to get you an extra. If students,
teachers, and parents work together closely, the possibilities and the results will be marvelous. I look forward
to working with you and giving you the best education that we can offer.
Sincerely,
Tommie Harness
Geometry Class 2016 - 2017
We have received and read your course syllabus. If you need to contact me/us, here are the phone numbers
and/or e-mail where I/we can be reached:
home phone :___________________
work phone : __________________
e-mail address: ___________________________________________
Following are the best times to contact me/us: _______________________
Parent(s) Name: ______________________________________________
Parent(s) Signature(s): ________________________________________
Student Name: _______________________________________________
Student Signature: ____________________________________________
Please write below any comments, concerns or questions you may have. Please let me know if you use any
mathematics in your workplace that you would be interested in sharing with a mathematics class. Thanks!