Math 204 Syllabus

Course Syllabus: Math 204 Syllabus

Meet Your Instructor: Dr. Marty Romero

Textbook Information: 

Required:

1. Math for Elementary Teachers W/ Wiley+ Custom 10 TH ED., Author: Musser, ISBN: 9781118865972.
2. Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching, Author: Boaler, ISBN: 9780470894521

**Bring your textbook to class on non-exam days**

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will develop problem solving techniques and mathematical structure associated with numeration, set theory, elementary number theory, the real number system, ratio, proportion and percent.

Classroom Policies

Attendance

I will be taking roll during each course meeting. Attending every class is required and important for your success. Remember there are no make-up assignments, exams, or POWs. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting any class announcements and updates, and turning in any assignments that are due. Remember, any student missing the first day of class will be dropped. Any student absent for 4 classes may be dropped.

Tardiness

Any student missing 30 or more minutes of class (start and/or end of class) will be marked absent, unless your missing time is cleared with me prior to class beginning. The best way to do this is via email.

Classroom Behavior

Students are expected to actively participate by following class rules, being on time, having materials, answering and asking appropriate math questions, presenting solutions to the class, and helping others. Students are not expected to distract or disrupt their peers. All cellular phones or other technological devices must be put away and put on silent at the beginning of class. If you need to leave the classroom during class, please do so quietly without disturbing others.

Course Assignments

Homework

Homework: Selected problems from textbook will be assigned after we complete a lesson. Your solutions to those problems will be due at the beginning of the next class. If you are late or not present when homework is discussed, graded, and collected, it will not be accepted.   Homework grade is determined by three things and worth 100 points: (Full Completion and effort, Correcting your homework before class, Participating in group discussion and reflection in class). Keep in mind that solutions are provided a head of time, 20 points will be deducted if you do not self-correct your homework using the posted solutions and 10 points will be deducted if you do not complete the reflection. PLEASE BE NEAT AND ORGANIZED WITH YOUR WORK, USE STANDARD SIZE PAPER AND MAKER SURE EVERYTHING IS LABLED AND FOLLOWS THE FORMAT BELOW. ILLEGIBLE WORK WILL NOT BE SCORED.

In addition to textbook homework, other written work will be assigned as necessary. These assignments will count towards your homework/classwork grade.

* Three (3) of your lowest written homework assignments will be dropped. NO LATE HOMEWORK IS ACCEPTED

Learn Checks

There will be 6 Learn Checks used to help you gain a better grasp of your progress on important math content. Learn Checks will include similar problems from homework, so you will be asked to retrieve what you learned in the past. This effortful retrieval makes your learning durable and sustainable. There are no Make-Up Learn Checks if you are absent. These will be 30 minutes in length and completed on Canvas during class. Your lowest Learn Check score will be dropped.

Problems of the Week (POWs)

There will be 3 Problems of the Week (POWs) through out the course. For each POW, you will be given a choice of two POWs to choose from. Carefully write up the work that you do solving the problem. For each

POW, look at your copy of scoring guide. The scoring guide will be used to score your work. Show your solution path and all of your work. Keep in mind to clearly note strategies and failed attempts, know that “Picture perfect solutions” are not our goal, communicating our problem solving process is our goal.

Book Forum Posts (SAY, MEAN, MATTER)

After reading the chapter: Write a well-written 5-6 sentence paragraph addressing the three prompts below. [SAY] Post a quote that describes an important idea from the chapter.  

[MEAN] Write a response that explains what the quote means (what does the author mean, what is your interpretation?).

[MATTER] Write a response that explains why the quote matters to teachers and students (why is this important, what are the implications?).

 

All forum posts must be completed by the due date and time. No credit will be given for late posts.

 

Course Mid-Term/Final/Class Projects

Midterm/Final

The Midterm and final exam will cover major mathematical concepts covered during the class and be given prior to the exams. Before each exam a pool of possible exam questions will be given to you. The actual exam will be made up of a subset of these questions, or parts of these questions, although the numerical examples and details of the questions may be different. For example, if you are asked to write a story problem that represents a particular division problem, the numbers used on the exam will not be the ones included the sample.   You are encouraged to study and prepare these questions, and to do so with one another. If you do this, you will be well prepared for the exam.  There are no make-up Midterms and Final Exams.

Math Mindset Chapter Presentation

A student group of 5 is assigned one chapter from the textbook. The group is to carefully read, analyze, select relevant information, and then use this to develop and present a 30-minute presentation to teach the class about the topics in the chapter. The presentation will include an interactive component, factor in time for Q&A, and create a HW assignment for students to complete. Every group member is expected to fully participate in both preparation and presentation of material.

Class Materials

Pencil, Paper, Eraser, Binder, Calculator (TI-36, TI-30, TI-83, or TI-84), (No Cell Phone Calculator or Computer on Tests), Ruler, Color Pencils/Pens.

Class Materials

Pencil, Paper, Eraser, Binder, Calculator (TI-36, TI-30, NO GRAPHING CALCULATOR), (No Cell Phone Calculator or Computer on Tests), Ruler, Color Pencils/Pens.

Grading

Homework/Classwork: 15%

Problems of the Week: 15%

Learn Checks: 20%

Mindset Book Chapter Presentation: 5%

Book Posts and Book Activities: 5%

Midterm: 20%

Final: 20%

A: 90% and Above     B: 80%-89.9%               C: 70%-79.9%   D: 60%-69.9%   F: Below 60%