Monday, December 13, 2010

your week in maths & physics, dec 13-17

last week, last bit of effort... let's go!


ib math sl grade 11
this week is test week. in the first part of the class, we'll have a look at what logarithmic functions look like, and we'll have some serious review set action later on. tuesday we'll have part one of our test, the calculator part. thursday, part two follows (non-calculator). friday we'll have a semester review.

ib math sl grade 12
motion on a straight line and curve properties  are on the menu today and tomorrow. thursday, after a little bit a review, our first calculus test awaits; friday, we'll move on in chapter 18, discovering the significance of f''(x)=0 and the sign diagrams for the second derivative.

ib physics grade 11
preparation for a test on tuesday - simple harmonic motion and waves! exercises, exercises and more exercises.



igcse maths grade 10
the next topic, sequences, will be introduced today, and the quadratics test shall be taken again. more sequences on tuesday, wednesday and friday (maybe with a little test on the last day of school).

ib physics grade 12
communication test after clearing doubt session, excluding the part that you were tested on last week. we'll work on topic 8 (energy, environment & co) for the rest of the week.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

retest for december 15 - last one in 2010!

if you want to retake a test, please leave a comment below, with name, grade level and name of test to be retaken. if you do so, it is binding - you should come. 
you may want to use the opportunity to clear doubts before said retest. i'm available every day after class, minus wednesday (retest day) and friday.

Monday, December 6, 2010

your week in maths & physics, dec 6 - 10

only two more weeks to go - let's power through them!

igcse maths
today and tomorrow we'll finish to look at presentations and clear doubts. WEDNESDAY is the day of our quadratics test, after another short review. no hw quiz for this week. sequences shall be our next topic.
ib physics sl grade 11
today we'll finish the topic of waves, look at a few exercises. thursday, practical. friday, more exercises; shooting for a test next thursday, december 16. don't forget them logs.
ib physics sl grade 12
don't forget your homework/log for tomorrow! max will present a physicist, and we'll move on to optic fibre transmission and channels of communication. you might want to use some of your research time on these subjects.
ib math sl grade 11
all things logarithms. the goal is to finish this subject this week (hw quiz on friday will include 4 a-f), a review session on monday and a 2-part test next tuesday & thursday (one with calculator, one without).


ib math sl grade 12
hw quiz today, after answering individual questions. we will go right into chapter 18 tomorrow, and i'm shooting for a differential calculus test on thursday, december 16. the hw quiz will be on friday and will include 18 A-D.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

hw for grade 12 (1 hour of log)

exercises 1-15 to hand in to me, from pages (372-383). this is for all of you!
have it done by MONDAY, december 6

retest for december 8

if you want to retake a test, please leave a comment below, with name, grade level and name of test to be retaken. if you do so, it is binding - you should come. 
you may want to use the opportunity to clear doubts before said retest.

Monday, November 29, 2010

your week in maths & physics, nov 29 - dec 3

hey, everyone! only three weeks to go... and werder finally scored a goal (even three, and a red card, and all the same person!); well, bayern scored four, i guess.

ib math sl grade 11
hw quiz today, then graphs of exponential functions, moving on to some problem solving with growth and decay, and getting to know good ol' "e". we should finish the chapter this week and even start logarithms on friday! hw quiz will be on the review sets (3 A, B & C), and on friday.

ib math sl grade 12
hw quiz tomorrow, including 17 C. we'll be looking at the chain rule, the product rule, the quotient rule, tangent and normals, and the second derivative. it should be a pretty busy week, and we should be able to do another hw quiz on monday, december 6, on 17 D-H. thursday, december 9, expect our first calculus test.
ib physics grade 11
shm should be basically done by today, and we'll examine waves quite a bit on thursday. at some point this or next week, we'll have a practical about the topic. don't forget your logs.
igcse maths grade 10
hw quiz today after a review. tomorrow, some serious problem solving. wednesday, our test in the second period, doubts and review in the first period. no hw quiz next monday!

ib physics grade 12
after a swift review on am and fm radio, it's on to digital communication. please do not forget your logs, it's really hurting your grades (and your knowledge/learning)!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

retest for december 1

if you want to retake a test, please leave a comment below, with name, grade level and name of test to be retaken. if you do so, it is binding - you should come. 
you may want to use the opportunity to clear doubts before said retest.

Monday, November 22, 2010

retest for november 24

if you want to retake a test, please leave a comment below, with name, grade level and name of test to be retaken. if you do so, it is binding - you should come. 
you may want to use the opportunity to clear doubts before said retest.

retest policy in math - new rule!

just to be more specific and organized about dates, this is how my time after school will be spent, from now on:

mondays, 3 pm and tuesdays/thursdays, 3:40 pm
time to look at hw quizzes and help with specific or general doubts. i will be here as long as you need me, as usual.

wednesdays, 3 pm and/or 3:40 pm:
the new official RETEST day. please write down which test you would like to retake until every TUESDAY, the day before the retest. i will always have a post up something every wednesday, where you can write your name, grade and the test you want to redo. this way i will always know exactly who is doing what, and that day will not be open for clearing doubts, to give the students retaking tests more quiet and concentration.

your week in maths & physics, nov 22-26

this week marks the beginning of the second isb kicktipp season, starting on friday. and, oh yes, only four weeks to go...

igsce maths
this week will mark our full understanding of what a quadratic function looks like, and how we can draw one based on the different ways we can write the quadratic function. i'm shooting for a test on the whole subject matter of quadratics for wednesday, december 1. homework shall be 21 D-H.
ib maths sl grade 11
rational indices, factorization and expansion with exponents, exponential equations and exponential functions - i'm hoping to look at all of this, during the week. we will have our hw quiz only on monday, including 3 C, D, E and F. your total focus is needed this week!
ib maths sl grade 12
finding asymptotes, discussing behavior - a reminder from chapter one today (monday). then we will go straight into derivatives. we should cover 17 A-C, so that should be in the hw quiz for friday.
ib physics grade 11
thermal physics test today. then it's off the simple harmonic motion in our next topic, waves.
ib physics grade 12
tuesday, after a presentation by aidin and some review, we will have our digital technology test. we will stay in the subject area, though, and move on to digital communications. after that, we only have one more topic (core topic 8) and then reviewing can begin!

Monday, November 15, 2010

your week in maths & physics, nov 15-17

a very short week indeed... and only five to go!

math sl grade 12
test today (probability), then some functions review is in the need to get into calculus! chapter 16 A-D until next tuesday, for homework and classwork.

physics grade 12
tomorrow, we leave for the kart experience after our class, at 3:40 pm. 24 euros per person + 3,50 for material. the race is at 5 pm, we should be done half an hour later. before that, though, we have a presentation by bilal (heinrich rudolph hertz). in digital technology, we'll move towards capacitance and charge-coupled devices (ccds). we should finish the chapter by wednesday, expect a test for next tuesday, november 23.
math sl grade 11
test today (functions), then we'll rush to exponential und logarithmic functions. we're a little behind in our year plan, so please see me after class if you're not quite following the whole exponential and logarithmic stuff. we're doing both chapters, and then a test with both of them together.
physics grade 11
we'll wrap up the chapter today in class; expect a test for next monday, november 22.
igcse math grade 10
today we'll have a homework quiz and look at the quadratic equation; tomorrow and wednesday we'll find out all the characteristics of the quadratic function. the chapter should be finished by next wednesday (the latest), and a test might be due on friday, november 26.

Monday, November 8, 2010

your week in maths & physics, nov 8-12

and the countdown continues... six more weeks!


ib physics grade 12
tomorrow we'll have two presentations (promita & max) and we'll continue our topic in digital technology this week. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET YOUR RESEARCH LOGS. thursday, after your last class, we will leave together to the kartbahn.
ib physics grade 11
thermodynamics and how it is used to power a motor is what we're looking at this week. thursday after class we leave for the kart experience.

ib maths sl grade 12
we should finish up the probability chapter this week, thus the homework quiz at the end of the week will be based on the review set. we'll do quite a few exercises from the remaining parts of the chapter (sets and venn diagrams, laws of probability, independent events) in class, you should focus on review set questions out of class. the test will be monday, november 15.
ib maths sl grade 11
we'll finish up on asymptotes and such today, and even move into inverse functions. tuesday and thursday shall be intensive days of review (using the review sets), and friday is our functions test.
igcse maths grade 10
after a short review, we will have our transformation geometry test today. next on the menu? quadratic equations and functions! 21 A, B and C are homework, for the homework quiz on november 15.

Monday, November 1, 2010

your week in maths & physics, nov 1-5

seven weeks to go... ;)

igcse maths grade 10
our main focus will be on pages 419 and 420. in class on monday and tuesday, and outside in the other days. next monday, november 8, we'll have a doubt session and our first test of the new term.

ib maths sl grade 11
composite functions and sign diagrams, two very important parts of the chapter, will be looked at monday and tuesday, the reciprocal function should be reached by friday. homework is 1 D & E. I'm shooting for a test next friday, november 12.

ib maths sl grade 12
today we have a little assessment activity, and we should finish compound events, using tree diagrams and sampling, to even reach binomial probabilites by the end of the week. a test should be due on thursday, november 18. homework will be on 15 E, F and G.

ib physics grade 11
we'll have a final look at the kinetic model of ideal gases; the PVT formula and PV diagrams (gas transformations) and all the thermodynamics will follow after a quiz on topic 3, thermal physics. that quiz should be on friday, one day after our out-of-school activity, which should be confirmed by tomorrow morning. the initial plan is that we leave school at 3 pm (so that the seniors can come, too) on thursday and have the 4:30 pm race. more details in class.

ib physics grade 12
TEST TOMORROW! we will look at some ib questions together during class, and at the end, we will have a 30 to 40 minute mini-test on astrophysics, with emphasis on cosmology. electromagnetic induction is next on the menu, and will be introduced on thursday, when we'll have promita's presentation (instead of tuesday). thursday after class (3 pm) we leave for the karting experience, but this is still to be confirmed.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

daniel is the champion!

ok, this is old news. october 12, daniel hendrich became the first ever isb kicktipp champion. at the end, he managed to stay ahead if milan, with a slim margin of five points. dennis finished a good third, and aylin was the fourth best student to compete. torben was the winner of the last week and will therefore win a milka.
next season should start saturday, november 6. a few changes: the best three of every week will get chocolate, there will be info hanging out in two places around school with the newest results and standings - but one thing will remain the same: only the winner will get a trophy! hopefully, the inaugural trophy can be presented to daniel soon.
long live bayern!

Monday, October 25, 2010

your week in maths & physics, oct 25 -29

so yes, we're back to school. 8 weeks to go until the next major break... until then, let's do some work, shall we?

grade 12 ib physics
i really need your internal assessments until tomorrow, they must be graded for this grading period, so please don't forget to bring them. on the menu, some cosmology this week - the big questions in life, and the current answers from physics. friday is homework log time, please find 90 minutes on any subject; this might be a good time to watch that movie "contact"...

grade 12 ib maths
tomorrow is our big statistics test; base your studies on the worksheet i gave you before the break, and you should be ok. today we will start our new subject, probability. i'm hoping to get until using tree diagrams this week. there will be a hw quiz on friday, and it will cover 15 A,B,C and D (no E any more) (pages 423-433).

grade 11 ib physics
time for thermal physics: some important definitions, a little bit of math, and quite a bit of discussing. don't forget the log...

grade 11 ib maths
functions, here we come!  we should be able to cover topics 1 A-E, and the hw quiz will be on topics 1 A-D (pages 48-56). what is a relation, what is a function - well, let's find out (if we want to or not...)

grade 10 igcse maths
translations, reflections, rotations, enlargements & reductions, stretches - this will be on our weekly menu under the umbrella of what we call "transformations". math notation will be important. 20 A-D will be homework and in the hw quiz for monday, november 1.

Monday, October 11, 2010

your mini-week in maths & physics, oct 11-13

just a few days...

igcse maths grade 10
today we'll finish the topic of similarity, and we'll look at some review set questions tomorrow. wednesday is our test on the topic! no homework, but if i were you i would do some review set questions at home, too. don't forget today's mega retake afternoon and any afternoon to sort out hw quiz issues.

ib math sl grade 11
the end of the topic is arriving. today we'll finish up series and look at review set questions, tomorrow is our 30 minute test on this topic, one of three in the algebra part of the ib exam. i'll stay in school this afternoon for any question you might have.

ib math sl grade 12
today we will have a look at the significance of the standard deviation and the meaning of "normal distribution". tomorrow, an extensive review set session. the test will oficially be on tuesday, october 26. no homework.
ib physics sl grade 11
newton's universal law of gravitation will be our subject of study today. and that's all for the week! please hand in any corrections to the mechanics test until monday, october 25.

ib physics sl grade 12
tomorrow we'll close with the two remaining topics in astrophysics, magnitudes and stellar evolution. our astrophysics quiz will be short (30 minutes) and on wednesday.

Friday, October 8, 2010

retake mega-afternoon, monday october 11

you are a math student.
you want to retake one or more tests.
you want it to still affect your grade for the first term report.
monday is the day.

below, please write your name and the test(s) you wish to retake. if you have a science class on monday, please also add that you will only arrive at 3:40 pm.

use these in your comment.

grade 10:
t1 - chapter 15 test
t2 - continuous data minitest

grade 11:
t1 - unit circle & radians
t2 - sine & cosine rule, area of triangle

grade 12:
t1 - vectors 2d3d
t2 - lines and planes in space

EXAMPLE OF COMMENT:

aakash, t1 & t2

would mean that aakash wants to retake two tests on monday, the ones above.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

first kicktipp champion: milan or daniel?

it's werder x bayern, grade 10 x grade 11, milan x dennis. one of these two will be the first ever kicktipp champion in isb. this little competition might not gain any tradition at all in the school - or it might still be there in many years, and one of these two will have their name on a trophy, as the first champion ever.
dennis, who led the pack for a few weeks, still has silent hopes, but is 24 points short of daniel, who currenlty leads with 399 points. incredibly, milan has the same 399 points, but less weekly wins, and therefore on second place.
mr goncalves (that's me!) leads the last week, and milan is in the run for the last chocolate of the season, followed closely by torben.
after the tuesday games, we'll have our champion, and a break. the new season should start at the end of october, from zero. anyone can take part...

Monday, October 4, 2010

retake: continuous data, grade 10 (igcse maths)

you know what to do... (name in comment).
this is for thursday, 3:45 pm.

special extra sessions this week

based on what i'm seeing in all my math grades, i will have some short extra sessions on the following topics in the following time slots:

tuesday, 15:45 - 16:00: factoring and completing the square to solve quadratic equations
wednesday, 15:20 - 15:50: algebraic fractions & dealing with fractions in general
just show up if you like! you are warmly invited!

your week in maths & physics, oct 4-8

bayern bad, werder one place behind. that's how the week begins. a week filled with "stuff":

ib physics grade 12
this week we will have an internal assessment, probably we'll use time on thursday (maybe tomorrow). max will present on louis de broglie, and we should conclude astrophysics with magnitude of stars and stellar evolution. there will be a quiz on all things stars on thursday or next tuesday, the latest. don't forget your weekly logs, they do count as homework grades.

ib physics grade 11
uniform circular motion, chapter review, big mechanics test on mega-thursday; that seems to be our menu for the week. next week we should have a brief look at gravitational field strength.

ib math sl grade 12
internal assessments are due tomorrow, i'll be answering last questions today in class or via email (mgoncalves@isbremen.de). homework for the week will be chapter 14 f1, f2 & f3. i'm hoping to finish the whole chapter this week, to review on monday and have the statistics test on tuesday, right before the break.

ib math sl grade 11
we should be able to cover the series section this week. homework will be on 2d.2&3,  and all the 2es. the plan is to finish everything in this chapter by the end of the week and have the test on monday.

igcse math grade 10
time to move on! moving on to a topic that combines geometry and algebra, the similarity of geometric objects! 18 a&b should be done at home this week, for a hw quiz next monday. we will have problems presentations on the board, probably next monday.

Friday, October 1, 2010

isb kicktipp: milan wins week six, title race is tight!

only one more round to go, and the first isb kicktipp season will have been history. who will win he frist trophy? it looked like a sure thing for bayern-fan daniel from grade 11, but now milan has won his second week and is less than ten points away from the top. dennis also had a good week and is now close enough to start an attack in the last round. one of these three will be the smiling champ at the end.
for the others, it's a race for the last chocolate of the season, which will rightly go to the week winner. after the autumn break, a new season will begin and everyone is invited to participate right from the start. good luck to all!

igcse math retake: trigonometry, take 3

you want to take the trig test again? be my guest, on monday, 3 pm. just write down your name as a comment in this post. thanks.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

ib math sl grade 12 retake: vectors

if you want to retake the vectors test on monday, october 4, at 3:05 pm, please leave your name as a comment below. thanks.

ib math sl grade 11 retake: non-right angled trigonometry

if you want to retake the trig test on monday, october 4, at 3:05 pm, please leave your name as a comment below. thanks.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

isb kicktipp: milan races daniel for the title!

43 points - no one came even close to milan's performance this week, so far. with only one more week to go in the championship, the title race has become more exciting, since leader daniel is not having this best week. milan is 16 points behind the bayern munich fan and title favorite, and this is reversable. dennis still has a slim shot, 26 points behind, but he will have to have a good european week, starting today.
max (12th grade) and nino, though, are milan's main challenger's for this week's milka chocolate, with an  8 and 10 point deficit, respectively.

Monday, September 27, 2010

your week in maths & physics, sep 27 - oct 1

after an important bayern loss and an important werder win, it's champions league week again (in milano and basel). and it's more of math and physics...

igcse math grade 10
our quick look at how to calculate with and represent continuous data will have an end this week, with a mini-test on wednesday or friday. the homework for the week is chapter 17 review sets. this is really not very difficult - keep focused and perform well! those who want to do the retest on wednesday are warmly invited to leave your name in the post below.

ib math sl grade 11
much fun is guaranteed in our next content area, within the algebra spectrum: sequences and series! homework will be 2A,B,C and D1! it seems a lot, but you don't have to do everything; you do have to know how to do everything!

ib math sl grade 12
no homework this week, to give you time to work on the internal assessment. so it's basically work in class involving all things statistics. knowing this class a little, this part will not be complicated at all. your ti-calculators will be very important these next weeks.

ib physics grade 11
we start with an internal assessment part (conclusion/evaluation) for a grade, on monday (today), in class. then: work & energy, and efficiency. next week, on thursday, we should have our first big test, in mechanics.


ib physics grade 12
extra info on internal assessment, and a prompt for one. in astrophysics: cepheid variables, magnitudes & stellar evolution. then, it's cosmology time!

igcse math retake: trigonometry

hello 10th graders.
please sign in here, leaving simply your name in the comment, if you want to retake the trig test this wednesday, starting at 3:05 pm.
you will be given unlimited time.
see you there!

Friday, September 24, 2010

isb kicktipp: daniel wins week again, and looks like the champ!

just two more weeks to go. the sixth week is already online, and if nothing too unusual happens, it will be a race for the weekly chocolate. because the championship seems pretty secure in daniel's hands, who just won his second week, 4 points ahead of alex. aylin and grade 12 max were a distant third during the week; in the general standings, dennis and milan still hope or a breakdown on the top of the table. chantal is now far away from the title.
don't forget the tipps for next week!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

isb kicktipp: "xanner" is looking for his first chocolate...

alex from grade 12 is the current leader of week five in the first isb kicktipp season. "xanner", which is his nickname for the competition, leads by a clear 11 points, but will have to survive the midweek matches in the bundesliga, la liga and serie a. max, also grade 12, is once again in the running and on second place. daniel, aylin, chantal and dennis still all have realistic chances for the week's milka.
in the general standings, daniel and dennis are fighting it out for the title, but both milan and chantal have a shot at the number one spot after seven weeks. unfortunately, caroline & jule are out of the race, since they forgot to put in the tipps for the week.

Monday, September 20, 2010

hw quiz and retest policies - maths only

hello to all.
here are some minor changes to the homework quiz policy and some more specific information about the retest taking process. the better structured certain things are, the greater the chances that they might actually work.

homework quizzes
any student who would like to increase their grade in any homework quiz up to now and from now on can do so, outside of class time. no matter if you got a 6 or a 2 in your hw quiz, if you come and see me (mr goncalves) after school to look at the problem(s), and either learn it (them) with me or demonstrate that you now are able to solve it (or them), then your grade in that quiz will automatically rise to a seven, for full understanding. i will decide case by case what i need to see from each student to be convinced of his deserving that 7 for that specific homework quiz.
the times in which this can be done are:
monday, 3:05 pm: ib students have priority (igcse students have to wait their turn, ib grade 12 have priority over ib grade 11)
tuesday, 3:40 pm: any students (order by sequence of arrival)
wednesday, 3:05 pm: igcse students have priority
thursday, 3:40 pm: any students
you can also see me between 7:35 and 7:50 every morning, if that suits you better.
if you had less than a 5 in any hw quiz, you should make an effort to show up at one of these times. i will be here as long as students are, and i might leave five minutes after the beginning time if no student comes.
THE ONLY THING YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO BRING THE HW QUIZ YOU WANT TO REVIEW AND GET YOUR GRADE CHANGED. even if it is not yours, i need you to bring it (ideally, though, it should be yours).

retest opportunities
the different dates for retest opportunities will be set within the class, always for the following week. these days will be announced through a post, and ONLY STUDENTS WHO LEAVE A COMMENT in the post, with their names, will receive the retest. i will announce the retest days in the "your week in maths&physics" post. THOSE DAYS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR HW QUIZ REVIEWS, so please do pay attention to those details. they will also be announced in class.

any questions? ask in class or leave a comment and i'll answer you on the blog.

all of this is to give each and every one of you who really wants to improve their current mathematical level of knowledge to do so. you are totally free to come, or not to come, for that matter; but i will keep classes at the highest reasonable pace, so that we can all get through the needed content in preparation for the ib exams or the igcse exams. i count on your effort. you can count on mine.

your week in maths & physics, sep 20-24

an "english week" in the bundesliga is a week full of assessments for my students... please take note!

ib math sl grade 12
all ready for our test on thursday? i believe so. still, a few of you should try to show up today after school, or even on wednesday after school, to look at some specifics before the test. today (monday) we will look at classification of line to line relations in a more specific way, and tomorrow we will do a lot of work in the review sets. we will start statistics on friday.
i will set no homework for this week (or next week), but i will give you an internal assessment on thursday, to be completed by monday, october 4. friday, we will start the statistics chapter, which should be an okay chapter for us. probability will be a little tougher, and then comes calculus!

ib physics grade 12
tomorrow, tuesday sep 21, we have a full day: aidin will tell us some things about nils bohr (which should give us a little bit of extra review for atomic physics), we will have our test, and then move on with astrophysics. we should do an internal assessment next tuesday, so i will promt that on wednesday. in astro, we will have a look at our solar system, and beyond. we should get into the subject of light in stars.

ib math sl grade 11
the sine rule and its applications will be seen through some exercises in class today, monday. tomorrow, we will start (and hopefully finish) the problem solving with non-right trigonometry, and thursday will be dedicated towards the review sets, which are the homework you should be doing during the week (pages 232-234). friday, we have our grand trigonometry test.

ib physics grade 11
our quiz on thursday will be preceded by today's class, where we will look at conservation of momentum for collisions and explosions. thursday, after the quiz, our lab (finally!), and friday, we'll go into work, energy and power in newton's world of mechanics.

igcse math grade 10
homework quiz, review, test. that's the menu today; details on retest opportunities will be discussed as the week progresses. we will then start a short chapter on continious data, which e will hopefully conclude next week already. 17A and 17B is your homework, the hw quiz will be on monday, september 27.

Friday, September 17, 2010

isb kicktipp: daniel wins the week and is the new leader!

what an end of a week for daniel hendrich. with a pretty good performance of 107 points in 36 matches (almost exactly 3 points per match average), he won the week's chocolate and climbed up to first place in the general standings. on sixth postion after last week, that is quite an achievement. with 207 points, he leads a very close race for the trophy, followed by carol & jule (205), ex-leader dennis (204) and milan (204). one of these should be crowned champions after seven weeks.
the phantom, katharina, almost landed her second chocolate in a row and was second best in the week, at 101 points. milan also performed well, with 98 points to his name. tim, lea and dennis had the worst performances of the week, with only 77 points.
week five has been online since wednesday - don't forget your tipps!

Monday, September 13, 2010

extra sessions for math students.

it is clear to me that one or the other of you might need some extra help and individual attention. it's not always easy to provide this in class, so there are two official sessions per week:

monday, 3pm: for all ib students; seniors have priority, but i will also give the juniors my full attention.
wednesday, 3pm: for the igcse students. this is your exclusive time, please use it.

there is no limit to the sessions; as soon as the last one leaves, so will i.

your week in maths & physics, sep 13-17

champions league season starting, tottenham and rome are coming! and some maths & physics...

igcse math 10
the homework for monday will be 15F1, and wednesday you should do 15F2 & 15F3. we will have a permanent change in policy: our homework quizzes will now be every monday, not friday. therefore, friday will be question session from wednesday homework, and monday, first thing, we will have our hw quiz; so the next one is on sep 20.
we will finish the chapter this week and do some work on the the review sets. our chapter 15 test will also be on monday, sep 20. not this wednesday, as announced earlier. please do your best inside of class, and at home to. walk the extra kilometer, if you have to. wednesday, 3pm, room 403, every week: you should be there if you haven't quite understood everything yet!

ib math sl 11
this week, we have a quiz tomorrow, sep 14 (area rule and cosine rule). it will take only 20 minutes and you will get specific feedback on it. we will start working the sine rule tomorrow, and continue on thursday (including the ambiguous case). homework for the week is 9C1 and 9C2. next monday, we will have problems presentations, which will be graded in the presentation/investigation/project category. i will need eight volunteers (to be determined tomorrow) to present one problem each, from exercise set 9D. our next test will be on friday, sep 24, right at the beginning of the class.

ib math sl 12
homework for the week will be the 13Bs - there are four sections. we should get through  them in class, this week, and hopefully get to classification of lines in 2D and 3D. our test on chapter 13 will be thursday, sep 23, as previously announced. mostly, what we are learning is more conceptual, the mathematical part is a review from previous years.

ib physics 11
on the menu on monday: newton's second law, momentum, impulse and some examples of how newton's law can be applied. exercises up to 31 should be done.
on thursday, your lab will be a success. we will quickly map out the design (BRING THE NEEDED MATERIALS) and we will collect and process the data together. if there is time, you will do the conclusion/evaluation bit by yourself, to be graded, in class. if not, that will be on friday's menu; or else, newton's third law is on the menu...
expect a quiz (or mini-test) on thursday, sep 23. don't forget your research log.

ib physics 12
tomorrow, we will start with bilal's presentation of good ol' ernest rutherford. after quickly refreshing our memories on how to calculate with half life, nuclear reactions are on our menu. fusion and fission, all should be finished by tomorrow, although we will stop classes at 3 pm for the poetry afternoon. thursday we will have a look at some pratice questions, and friday we shall move on to astrophysics. our test on atomic and nuclear physics will be on tuesday, sep 21
for the research log, i will give you an article to read. complete the 90 minutes with any other research piece.

isb kicktipp: milan in the race for week and competition title!

not even half of this weeks games are played, but there is already a tendency. 10th grader milan is leading the way in the race for a chocolate, and he's risen to second place in the general standings, leaving caroline/jule behind in chasing leader dennis. daniel, also 11th grade, is currently in second place in the week, and up to fourth in the general standings. aylin, third this week, is also doing pretty well.
tomorrow, six games are on the program, including werder's match against tottenham. another five matches will follow on wednesday, and 10 matches will round up the week on thursday. in the meanwhile, there are a few new tippers in the list; we are now 23.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

ib physics assessment guidelines

after getting a feel of the classes and priorities, these are the guidelines for grading your performance in 2010/11:

homework - 15%
the weekly logs will be reviewed by the teacher. ponctuality and a good analysis guarentee you 7 marks if an email with the updated log (you should always use the same one) is received by every friday up to 6 pm. after that, you still receive 4 marks on monday, 3 on tuesday and 2 on wednesday. remember: i will only accept emails and excel files, nothing written in ms word or by hand will do.

quizzes & tests & final exam - 55 %
all written assessments, individual or in small groups, will count towards your grade in this area. the final exam, though, will be divided into subtopics, which will have an impact on the smaller assessments grades. if you do better in a specific topic in a major test or the final exam, then your test or quiz grade on that topic will be replaced. if you do worse, the grade from that prior assessment will o down by one mark. the weighting of each assessment is proportional to the number of marks, which is linked to the time taken to do it. the final exam counts double.

internal assessment, labs, presentations, projects - 30 %
this is often time intensive, and expectations will be made clear in rubrics, where the assessment criteria will be made clear. in the internal assessment and labs, those rubrics can be found on he ib physics syllabus link on this blog.
this is all subject to change, since i want to be flexible: the final goal will always be student learning, and the assessment rules are designed to help in that process.

retake: vectors in 2 and 3 dimensions (grade 12)

if you want to retake the first test of the year, please just leave your name as a comment.
it will be on monday, sep 13, 4 pm.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

isb kicktipp: caroline, jule and "das_Phantom" win week 3!

with 71 points in 22 matches, football4ever have convincingly conquered the "gold" in week three of the isb kicktipp competition. caroline and jule, from grade 12, did pretty well and scored points in 14 matches, and are now sitting in second place in the general standings, 10 points behind leader dennis albert. but they did not win it alone - actually, who is the phantom, who also scored 71 points and will be presented with a chocolate, if he dares to reveal himself? it was not to be for max, who did well with 69, but not quite well enough. leader dennis scored 66 points, while milan and ailin still managed 62 points each. the looser of the week was ex-leader mr goncalves (me), who scored 11 points less than the worst student and dropped to fith position. milan is now in third, and chantal, in fourth position.
things will get pretty interesting for next week, though. in 36 matches, a lot can change in the general standings - it is back to european top leagues on the weekend, and champions league (+ europa league) action during the week, so plenty of matches to predict. a little help might come from my new blog, the last link to the right. in a series of four posts, the new european season will be previewed.
best of luck to all, and where almost half through the first season. let's see if max pohl and bilal finally put in some predictions, this time...

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

retake: unit circle and radian measure (grade 11)

it will take place on monday, sep 13, 4 pm.
if you want in, please leave a comment below. just your name is ok.
see you there...

Monday, September 6, 2010

isb kicktipp: race for week 3 victory is tight

tomorrow, some of us will focus on 12 euro 2002 qualifiers taking place all around europe. and literally anyone could still win the week. the week leader max has a slim 7 point advantage over 9th place dennis - and 7 points is what you get for one exact prediction. currently, das phantom (who is it?) and carol & jule are very close to max, as is lea. mr goncalves (me) is having a bad week and was overtaken by dennis in the race for the full season championship. tim sits on third place in that one.
for those who generally like football and sports, i have added a link to my sports blog, which i started this weekend. feel free to visit and leave some comments/opinions.

your week in maths & physics - sep 6-10

here we go, week three already! and at the end of it, bayern v werder awaits...

grade 10 igcse math
we will have a quick look at the hw quiz from friday, and move on to some exercises in D1. at the end of the class, our little trig quiz. tomorrow you will get that quiz back, with specific teacher feedback. we will move on to true bearings, and on wednesday, we'll start the 3d questions. expect a test on wednesday, sep 15, on the whole chapter. please remember that i will give a once in a lifetime opportunity of students retaking their hw quizzes from sep 3 on wednesday, at 3 pm, room 403.
hw monday: have a look at last week's homework and prepare for the sep 8 retake hw quiz (optional)
hw wednesday: 15E
hw friday: 15F1
hw quiz friday: only 15E

ib physics grade 11
monday, after reviewing the exercises in the book, we will have a long quiz (or mini-test).
we will have our projectile motion lab on thursday, please remember to bring the needed material.
on friday, we will move on to newton's second law.
don't forget your second homework log, by friday.

ib math sl grade 11
after the monday test, we will be working on some non-right triangle trigonometry. the sine law, the cosine law and calculating areas of triangles will be our goal.
homework for the week will be 9A & 9B; don't forget the hw quiz on friday. on that same day (sep 10), we will have a short quiz (20 minutes). the hw quiz will open the class, the quiz will close it.

ib physics grade 12
shame on you! no one sent me the research log on friday... . well, please don't forget it for next friday!
tuesday's class will have max's presentation of isaac newton. in nuclear physics, we will move on to remembering the radiation types (alpha, beta and gamma decay) and see what effects they have on the nucleus and on the surroundings. terms like half-life and exponential decay should be learnt and dealt with during the week. nuclear reactions will be  topic in the near future.
for tomorrow, we will have a short time in the computer lab; promita, aidin and bilal will present about each decay type, after a short period of research.
additional to the homework i will give you an opportunity to a re-write your essays on atomic physics, since they could be much better. this is optional and additional to your research time, and i expect them by thursday.

ib math sl grade 12
review monday, test tuesday, lines in 2d and 3d on thursday. the homework for the hw quiz will be 13 A1, A2 and A3. the hw quiz will be on monday, sep 13, since friday should be the day where you clear some of your doubts. the test on this chapter should be on thursday, sep 23. there should be a quiz before that.

Friday, September 3, 2010

weekend reminders

starting with the kicktipp competition: don't forget to post your predictions before the games start this afternoon. Chantal, CASH, Lea, Chris, Bilal and mpohl haven't done that yet. and once again - who's CASH?

igcse grade 10: 
we will have a quiz at the end of class on monday, on all things trig.

ib physics 11: 
you will also be quizzed at the end of your class on monday, on chapter 2 up to page 37, but without projectile motion.

ib math sl 11: 
our test will be on monday, not this friday. it will be in the last 45 minutes of class, so there will be about half an hour to clear any last doubts.

ib physics 12: 
don't forget your first research logs, due this afternoon.

ib math sl 12: 
our test is on tuesday, please use the monday single period to clear any doubts, since we will start with the test on sep 7 and then move on to lines and planes in spaces.

have yourselves a merry little weekend.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

isb kicktipp: nino gets some chocolate, mr goncalves wins week 2!

the isb kicktipp competition concluded its second week on monday, an the pack is lead by mr goncalves, who scored the most points in the week and passed dennis to take the lead. nino (grade 11) was the best student of the week and received a toblerone chocolate as a reward. his 47 pointos in 15 matches was quite impressive, as 2.5 points per game is generally seen as a good performance, and nino surpassed the 3.0 mark. football4ever (caroline, grade 12, i presume?) was a close second, with 46 points - one more than chantal. lmx (milan, grade 10) had a nice performance and was the leader at some point in the weekend, but ended up with 44 points.
if you still haven't entered the competition, you can still do so. chances of getting the trophy after seven weeks would be slim for you, but at least he eekly chocolate price would be well within reach. week three is online already, check it out.
special mentions in week 2 go to tim and CASH (who is that?). tim was the only one to predict vfb stuttgart losing 1x3 at home to borussia dortmund, and CASH was the only one to predict a 1x1 tie between french greats girondins bordeaux and olympique marseille.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

assessment in math classes

just to make it official.

homework (10-15%, depending on class)
homework is assigned every beginning of the week and is assessed every end of the week, on friday, using the infamous hw quiz. there should be around seven per term, and they last ten to fifteen minutes; key questions from the homework will be chosen and the student (you) has to basically show that they can do it. clearing doubts with teachers and/or colleagues is strongly encouraged, but the teacher will not answer any questions in the class of the actual quiz. i can be found before 7h50 am in room 403 for any doubts. at the end of the term, the lowes hw quiz grade is dropped.

minor and major assessments (quizzes and tests, 70%)
the shorter, around 20-minute quizzes have the goal of providing specific and hopefully useful feedback to a student (you), for purposes of preparation and learning. these quizzes are graded and contain quite a lot of comments from the teacher, but there grade is eventually replaced by the 45 to 60-minute tests. these are usually chapter tests, and preperation for it is ideal if the respective review sets and the quiz or quizzes are used. in the ib classes, all tests will contain at least 50% ib questions, for better preperation. retaking a test is possible, but outside of class hours. the retaking of tests is actually encouraged, since it will hopefully strengthen the students knowledge of that specific content area. these retake tests are (of course) different from the original, and they are never easier. the last evidence is considered the best, so even a lower grade than the original will count, if that were the case.

projects, investigations, modelling, seminars (15-20%, depending on the class)
these vary from shorter presentations to longer investigations, can be in groups or individual, and will vary from class to class.

all of this, of course, has the main goal to make you learn and retain as much as possible, it's the attempt to achieve true understanding. the assessment system in math is designed to do just that, and comments or suggestions are welcome. i do ask you for some patience to see if the system works for you and/or your class; i'm actually quite positive it will.

Monday, August 30, 2010

your week in maths & physics, aug 30 - sep 3

another week, quite a lot to cover...

igcse math grade 10
nine problems today, after a quick chat about the first homework quiz and a reaction to that. the nine problems might finish tomorrow. we will get into the unit circle business, and true bearings should also be started. both of these recquire your full attention and some work at home.
there will be no homework for monday (i'd advise you to work on some problems from pages 325-327), wednesday's homework is from pages 327-330. friday's homework (not in the hw quiz on friday) will be page 331. monday, sep 6, there will be a 20-minute quiz, covering everything up to page 331.

ib math sl grade 11
after the hw quiz today and some feedback on that tomorrow, we will finish the chapter and have a quiz; the quiz will go to page 213, just as the homework from last week.
there will be no hw quiz this week, since we will have a test on friday, sep 3. the test should take 45 minutes. review sets on pages 214-216 are the right place to prepare for that, and will be the basis of thursday's "clear-doubt-session". consider doing review set exercises as your homework for the week.

ib physics grade 11
feedback from the quiz, suvat equations and projectile motion are on the menu today  forces, free-body diagrams and calculating resulting forces using vectors will take up most of our time on thursday, and newton's laws of motion should at least be looked at until friday. expect a test on everything until page 36 in your books for monday, sep 6.

ib math sl grade 12
at the end of tomorrow's class, a little quiz (20 minutes). we will have our test on vector chapter on sep 7. this week's homework will be on pages 326 to 347; i know it sounds like a lot, but it's actually pretty straight forward. please try to do 20-30 minutes every day and come with questions during the week. in class, we will work on some of those exercises and some review set questions, too.

ib physics grade 12
"vocabulary quiz", schrödinger's model and heisenberg's uncertainty principal are on the menu for august 31, alongside some exercises. then we'll have promita's presentation, followed by nuclear physics  (on wednesday/thursday).

Friday, August 27, 2010

reminders

this is a reminder to all who still wish to participate in the kicktipp competition, week 2 starts today. some of you are already in, but haven't sent their "bets" yet.

also a reminder for grade 10, to prepare nine problems for the class on monday. don't forget!

reminder for grade 11 math sl, your homework quiz will take place on monday, the quiz on tuesday.

grade 11 physics, if you find some time this weekend, start your research log already; don't forget the graph quiz on monday.

there will be a quiz on tuesday for grade 12 math sl, in preparation for the test next friday.

grade 12 physics, be prepared for a short vocabulary quiz on tuesday.

to all a very nice weekend.

p.s.: sporting highlights this weekend
f1 grand prix of belgium, in spa-francorchamps (best race of the year)
kaiserlautern v bayern, st. pauli v hoffenheim and vfb stuttgart v bvb in the bundesliga
uefa supercup final today in monaco, atletico madrid v internazionale
and on monday, the us open begins, last grand slam of the year.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

igcse maths - exception to the rule: hw presentations monday!

hello sophomores!
i am hereby announcing one exception to the general dealing with homework through hw quizzes. the homework given for friday (choosing 9 problems to solve) will not be checked through the quiz on september 3, but quite a lot earlier. i will have students coming to the board on monday to solve one problem that they've selected (and i will be the one to choose from the nine you were supposed to do). so each one of you will receive a homework grade for their presentation and explanation on the board. if you, by any chance, have not done nine problems until monday, august 30, then i will freely choose your exercise. 
only ten of you will be randomly chosen, the other ten will have a similar activity at a later time. check out the descriptors for the grades on that specific day:
1 - student refuses to solve a problem on the board
2 - student goes to the board, but doesn't seem to know the basics of what to do.
3 - student demonstrates some basic knowledge, but cannot explain how he got to the answer.
4 - student's explanation of how to get to the answer had errors, but was generally correct.
5 - student explained the problem at a satisfactory level.
6 - student explained the problem and was able to capture everyone's attention through his methods.
7 - student did a great job of explaining the problem by envolving everyone, being clear and making the presentation interesting.

you have five days till then, and if you finish the other homework early today, you might want to start with friday's homework already.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

dennis albert wins week one!

two perfect predicitons and two tendencies correct - that was enough for dennis albert (grade 11) to be the first ever weekly chocolate winner in the newly founded isb kicktipp competition. he leads the way in a competition with now ten participants... and maybe growing!
you can now post your tipps for next week's matches.

homework for ib physics classes

this will be an ongoing homework assignment for physics. i would like you to do 90 minutes  of research per week (60 mins for grade 11) on any topics in the ib physics course, past or current.
this research can be reading, audio or audiovisual, and it can be online or in books, dvds, blu-rays or even cds.
please send me a weekly email (by friday of every week, can be earlier, but not later) with the excel document i will send you, always updated. 
i really do believe this will increase our level of debate, knowledge, scientific mind and even interest. i'm looking forward to it.
we will start this on september 3, where i will expect your first email. please send it to mgoncalves@isbremen.de.

specifics for today - ib physics year 12

we will go to the library today, at the beginning of the class, and i want to observe your researching methods while you try to get some information and understanding on the following terms:
  • atomic spectra
  • electron energy levels
  • photoelectric effect
  • light - wave or particle? (debate)
  • photon
  • de broglie hypothesis
promita and aidin, please prepare for a short debate, by defending the idea of light being a wave. bilal and max, you will defend the light being a particle. all of you should try to become aware of why the other can't be right.
please do your best! thanks!

reminder for math sl grade 12

this is to remind you to come back to class on thursday with a list of the syllabus items you feel you haven't quite mastered yet, or you feel most insecure with. this will guide further review sessions until the exam period and give me an idea where to spend more time, and where to spend less. thanks. 
(use the link to the right)

Monday, August 23, 2010

your week in maths & physics - aug 23-27

i hope you all had a weekend as nice as mine (even the werder-fans, after that unfortunate loss...) and count on your focus and work ethics for the new week, our first complete one.

igcse math 10:
we will finish our review today and start into the wonderful world of trigonometry tomorrow! since your homework is organized into days, this is my suggestion for the week. 
monday: read page 314 and do page 315 (exercises 1&2).
wednesday: all exercises in pages 318-321
friday: choose 9 problems to solve on pages 324-327; three from problems 1-9, three from problems 10-18, and three from problems 19-27.
i will leave it to your discretion whether you choose to do all exercises, but please not that you should do a half an hour of work in each of these three days (the first one might be less), and that you should be able to answer all of the questions. we will have a homework quiz on friday, and a first quiz will take place on tueday, august 31.

ib physics 11:
hope you have a nice retreat. please bring calculators and books to each and every class; we will start working with mechanics on thursday, with focus on constant acceleration and graphs of displacement, velocity and acceleration against time... it sounds as fun as it is! we might even get into forces and dynamics on friday. i'm gonna ask you guys to remember and/or read up on newtons law's of motion, as well as possible. on thursday we will begin our series of great physicians, let's see if someone volunteers.

ib maths sl 11:
we will have a look at the beautiful world of the unit circle, with all its marvel and wonder. i'm going to quiz you on the homework, which will be all exercises in pages 202-213. because of the retreat, the homework quiz will only be on monday, august 30. there will be an actual quiz on tuesday, august 31. our first test will be on friday, september 3.

ib physics 12:
atomic spectra, quantum nature of light, photoelectric effect, ionization, even mr heisenberg and his uncertainty principle - all will be studied and hopefully learned next week. we might even get to schrödinger. if you want to, please read up on these things, to be more prepared for class. your homework will be a little seminary, which i will distribute in class.

ib math sl 12:
some more review for today and tomorrow (i'll try to vary things from one day to the other), then the new stuff begins on thursday. from page 312 to 320, all exercises should be either done or dealt with, there will be a homework quiz on friday. so please read those pages even while we are doing our review, and come to class with your questions on thursday. i was hoping to work from page 322 on, starting friday. a quiz might be expected on tuesday, august 31.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

physics year 12 homework

just a reminder to open the syllabus on the link to the right and look at the descriptors of topics 1-6 and 9-11. please bring me a list of those descriptors you feel you have not at all mastered. thanks!

chocolate challenge

this is a post for those who like football... or chocolate!
there is a link on the right side of this blog referring to kicktipp, which, as some of you know, is a program where you can try to guess football scores and get some points out of that.
every week i will select the top matches of the big four leagues plus uefa competitions, and, if you want to, you can tipp away! the weekly winner will receive a nice chocolate (i know, it's just a gesture, the competition is what is fun), and after each season (which will be seven weeks), a little trophy will be given to the winner.
what does this have to do with maths or physics? not much, really, although i will refer to it from time to time in maths. but i love to compete, and i love football; if you do, too, just join us at the link!
you might want to invite certain teachers to get into the action, too...
if you have any questions concerning this, just leave a comment and i'll answer you as soon as i can.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

introduction

hello to all!
i'm glad to be here in bremen and looking forward to getting to know you better throughout this new school year.
this blog will be used mainly for the following:
  • information about homework
  • dates and types of assessments (quizzes, hw quizzes, tests, projects, investigations)
  • weekly class plans
  • important and interesting links
 i hope we all learn a lot this year, and that, most of the time, we have a smile on our faces while doing so.