Halfway through 1st Quarter ALREADY???!?!?!?

Wow! Time is flying by. I am amazed that mid-quarter is this week. We are busy calling parents about grades and missing work. This next week I am giving the first test, so that will be interesting to see how they do. We are finishing up our first book on "Variables and Patterns" which is our algebra section. The students are so sick and tired of tables and graphs, and they keep asking IF we will ever be finished with them. In the next book we start using more manipulatives as we start our similarity unit. I wish I had a magic solution for students to turn in their homework. I have so much late work, and begging for it constantly just wears me out!! I just cannot stand to see them with bad grades ONLY because they aren't turning in homework. My partner math teacher and the social studies teacher on my team just found out they received an E-mints grant. Therefore they will have Emints classrooms soon-one on each team. This is a huge deal for our school, and everyone is excited! Teaming is still a new concept, but I am loving the fact that our team has a planning period together where we can discuss student issues and plan together. It is working out great for everyone!! I also just got a new set of calculators for my room, so I have enough for everyone! Pretty exciting for a math teacher!! My business math class has been going online daily to check their stocks. However, this is a class that can barely handle the privilege of going to the computer lab, so I am not sure how much longer it will last. I am amazed by how many students to not have internet access at home. We have a team website where we post homework daily, and there are links to individual teachers websites on our team. The address is: http://nlcommunities.com/communities/mms7r/