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.