Greeting and welcome to a new school year!

I am Mr. Meeks, your mathematics teacher this year. In my two decades in the Antioch Unified School District, I am super eager to get this year underway with new curriculum and projects to help reinforce the math courses with Career Tech Education principals and projects to help reinforce the math lessons with real world projects and examples.

Contact: jeffmeeks@antiochschools.net

I check my e-mail throughout the day and make every effort to respond as soon as possible. If you do not receive a reply in a timely manner, and especially by the next business day, please send me another message or call me (I won’t be offended!). I’m here to help you, and if you don’t hear from me it’s possible I either didn’t receive your message or it accidentally got overlooked.

Course Description: An introductory course in algebra that includes the following topics: linear equations and inequalities and their graphs, systems of linear equations, exponents and polynomials, factoring, rational expressions, roots and radicals, and quadratic equations. Components of the course are infused with real world examples to promote rigor with relevance to skills that will be utilized in the workplace setting when the students leave us.

Prerequisite: Students must have a solid understanding of pre-Algebra concepts to be successful in Algebra I. Likewise, Geometry students should have a firm understanding of Algebraic concepts, and so on. Students who are unsure of their skill level should contact the instructor to assess what level they will be most successful at. Be able to work in a group setting and respect others while on the job to the best of your ability and pushing others to theirs.

Course Goals: To develop an understanding of the foundational concepts, reasoning, and skills necessary for success in further mathematics courses. Be able to simplify algebraic expressions and solve algebraic equations using proper mathematical form and technique. Solve applied problems using algebraic concepts and to be able to use these in a work environment.

ARIES: This is the grade-book…what you see is what you get. And here you can see assigned or missing work. Assignments are loaded here in PDF form with bar codes that will take you to lessons about the assignment on You-tube. So if you are planning a vacation and need an Independent Work Contract, or you are out sick with Covid, or you missed the assignment and lost a copy of the assignment... please refer to ARIES for all assignments. Any concerns or comments about your student, such as being on the phone in class, will also be posted here for you to look at. I’m not calling home for every infraction, just looking for a pattern before it gets out of hand.

Work Ethic: Students think that just showing up and being here will get them credit for the class because they’ve seen it all through middle school; but this is a most dangerous attitude because it just simply does not work that way. We have a very large number of Algebra repeaters due to two things: students not showing up to class and students on their phones during class. Math is one of those compounding courses that if you get behind, it is really hard to get caught back up. The stuff we use in the first chapters will be used in the all the other chapters, up until the last one. No other courses are like this and that’s what makes it dangerous. We are here to learn and be successful but most importantly, build the skills needed to succeed in the next two or three A-G REQUIRED math classes that follow.

Course Flexibility and Due Dates: The course has been designed to provide students and their families the flexibility that homeschooling allows. However, learning mathematics requires more effort than many other endeavors, and there is a direct correlation between a student’s success in mathematics and the student’s regular participation and faithful completion of requirements. In general, the lessons and work given within the week are due the following Monday. The assignments are worth 40 points each, 20 for in-class assignments and 20 for homework. Every week they are late they lose 10 points until they expire. This is done so students can pace themselves to work methodically through the course materials and adhere to their deadlines in order to complete the course in a timely manner. If you do your work honestly your grade will be an honest reflection of what you know going forward, and will also help guide you as make life decisions based on your unique gifts.

For those with IEP’s, Medical and %04 contracts; this is the extended time...if a student is going to be more than a week late with assignments, they need to com to me and address this and we can make a plan. Extended time contracts does not mean you get to turn in a bunch of work at the end of the semester in hopes that you pass. As a Special Education Clear Level II Teacher, that Taught for seven years, that is not what these contracts are for. Any issues please get a hold of me before the end of the semester.

Time and Effort Expectations: Learning mathematics is no different than most anything else of significant lasting value—there is a cost involved to obtain it. Many students fall behind in their math courses simply because they don’t expend the time and effort necessary for success. Depending upon the student skill and preparation, to complete this course in a semester will on average require 10-16 hours per week, and approximately half that each week for completion over an academic year. To be most effective, time should be allocated each day, preferably at the same time, and spent on task watching the lecture videos, taking notes, reading the textbook, doing the homework, reviewing previous material, and preparing for the exams. By keeping up with your work you will find that your daily efforts pay off in a level of understanding that allows you to face exams without worry or cramming. Remember that “yard by yard, math is hard, but inch by inch, math is a cinch”!

Organize Your Life: A large part of success not only in this math course but in any formal educational endeavor has to do with students’ ability to effectively manage all aspects of their lives (family, work, recreation, finances, health, time, relationships, etc…) in such a way as to have in place the stable “infrastructure” upon which to build their education. Learning anything new, and especially mathematics, is hard work, perhaps harder than any job you will ever have. Students who are unsuccessful most often find it is not because they are incapable of learning the coursework, but because they have not adequately allowed for the extra time and effort from their normal routine that are required for success. It is therefore important that students and their families organize their lives to allow for the time and energy commitment necessary for the successful completion of this class and their educational goals.

Carpe Diem (Seize the Day): Students should also keep in mind that their formal education happens during a relatively short but important time of their lives. The time you invest now becoming proficient in important skills like mathematics will be rewarded throughout your life. On the other hand, the opportunities you have now for your education will diminish with time, and things that are easier for you to learn now in your youth will become more difficult. So “seize the day” by making the most of the opportunities you have while you have them.

A Word About Cheating Yourself In This Math Course: Keep in mind that the goal of this course is not to just jump through an educational hoop that costs you time, money and frustration but doesn’t actually benefit you. Rather, it is to prepare you for success in later math and science courses where the skills you learn here are absolutely essential. Math is very cumulative and sequential, and my experience teaching math for over 30 years is that those who do not earnestly seek to understand the concepts by doing their own work only cheat themselves, and usually don’t figure that out until much later when it is too late and too difficult to remedy. If you do your work honestly your grade will be an honest reflection of what you know going forward, and will also help guide you as make life decisions based on your unique gifts. Anyone can copy someones work or use the Photomath app, but what are you really learning?...Nothing that is going to be useful on the tests or finals. There is an old fallacy that some idiot said: “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying”. Believe me when I say, nobody wants to be that fool in the end.

Grading Scale: Standard; A 90-100%, B 80-89%, C 70-79%, D 60-69%, F below 60% based on,

30% for In-class assignments and homework, 30% for projects and group work, 30% assessments and 10% for Mid-term and Final Assessments.

OK, email is long enough, I will send out more nitty gritty stuff like attendance and participation and other stuff in future emails. For now, I think it is enough to go by. I have a lot of activities planned for the merger of the EDGE and Green academies but for right now, I just want to get things up and running so have a little patience.

Here’s to an interesting and great year!

Mr. Meeks