Mr. Phelan's Math Community

Proud supporter of lack of laxness

Email: bphelan@lakeseagles.com

Last Updated 8.27.10 by Mr. Phelan

All parents should be receiving a Friday email from Mr. Phelan, if not, please contact me so you can be added to the group contact list.  Many thanks.

Got Confidence?
Many students only need one more example or simply check some of their work with the teacher, and the light goes on.  Invest the time like an extra five minutes after school as needed and a whole new world opens up for connections and discovery.  Tutoring date and time: TBA
  
Success in Math
There is a fine line between success and failure in the math classroom, i.e. time and organization.  A lot of students experience success in math because they simple have an organizational system.  The most effective system I believe is the use of a binder.  Why do many students wait so long to get a binder, once organized a new world of connections and discovery arise.

Why Study Geometry?
1. Geometry is useful.
2. Geometry is challenging.
3. Geoemtry is logicial.
4. Geometry gives visual meaning to algebra and arithmetic.

Weekly Calendar - posted in the classroom too

		Honors Geometry	Geometry	Business Math
Monday	8.30	1.6	1.5	Review
Tuesday	8.31	1.7	1.7	Chapter One Test
Wednesday	9.1	1.8	Review	2.1
Thursday	9.2	Work Day	Review	2.2 and 2.3
Friday	9.3	Test Chapter One Problem Set due	Test One	2.4

Go Green with Classroom Donations

tissue boxes, hand sanitzer, straws, candy (smarts, tootsie rolls, etc.), extra candy after Halloween and Easter, makers, crayons, index cards, small standard envelope 3 5/8 inches by 6 1/2 inches, tootpicks, old kids toys like small wooden boxes, dice, playing cards, lined paper, pencils, pens, 1" binders, magnet letters and number, etc.

Websites

Math Department Website	"ttp://www.lakeseagles.com/Academics/Departments/Math/
Math Team Website	"ttp://discover.d117.org/~brian_phelan/S05BE6F64
Geometry (not Honors) Book On-Line	"ttp://my.hrw.com username: shamilton471 (named in honor of Ireland's greatest mathematician, Sir William Rowan Hamilton) password: f9u5s

Classroom Informatinon

Calculator Advice	If you are planning on buying a calculator or upgrading your current one, our department recommends a TI-84+ graphing calculator.
Department Grading Distribution	Semester Grade = 30% Daily Work + 50% Assessments + 20% Final Exam
Department Grading Scale	A (90% - 100%), B (80% - 89%), C (70% - 79%), D (60% - 69%), F (59% and below)

Phelan Phavorites

Games	RBI Baseball, Balloons, Sticks, Euchre, Yahtzee (716)
Number	41
Color	Yellow
Hobbies	Organizing, Biking
Band	Gaelic Storm
Animal	River Otter
Bozo Game	Grand Prize Game (yes I played it back in the day and we'll watch the video in class)
YouTube	300 Eagles
Combos	Peanut Butter and Nutella, Hard Work and Fun
Life Skills	Take Risks, Challenge Your Assumptions, and Use Effective Models
Quote I	If you're not Phelan, then you must be passing!
Quotes II	It is the goal of the master to have the apprentice surpass him one day.
Quotes III	The worst thing I can do for you is what you could and should do for yourself.
Quote IV	Knowing is easy; learning is hard.
Quote V	When the student is ready the teacher shall appear.
Quote VI	In school, the lesson is given first, and then the test.  In life, though, the test is given first, and the lesson after.
?	Define time.