Merrilea+Winberg

Aug 31, 2010 Hey everyone! lol This week in math I FINALLY got my book!!! Things are slowly coming back to me! YAY! I'm still trying to find a good way to remember the associative and commutative properties.

Cory: Associate deals with grouping, generally with parentheses. Commutative (different spelling) is the direction, meaning you can do it in any order. Knowing that you can do it will be far more important than knowing the names (except for once on my test and once on the midterm).

Sept 3, 2010 This week made my head hurt a little. Just trying to remember it all. I liked the study wheel idea! I am trying to memorize the times tables. For some reason I am really struggling with that! Cory got any good ideas on how to keep them in my head? lol (no really) Cory: I know math teachers like to invent cute shortcuts and stuff to remember things, but I honestly think that times tables have to be automatic and that there is more effective way than just memorizing them (like with the sheets of problems that we were timed on as kids). I think it is important to try to get to the point where you see two numbers and, without doing any math, associate the product -- I see 6 and 8 and immediately think of 48 without even knowing why.

Sept 14, 2010 Last week was crazy! For myself personally and for my life in math. I have studyied a lot from the book in the last week. It has help but missing last weds really kicked my butt! I'm not really feeling ready for the test at all! I'm bit overwhelmed at the moment with sick kids and tons and tons of homework! The plan for now is study for the test and finish my English paper! Wish me luck!

Oct 1, 2010 SO...um did alright on my test, but I can't believe how freakin' close I was to getting 100%!!! I am so sick of negative numbers they are really bringing me down! lol Homework is coming along it's a good thing I have like 2 engineers in my family! Sometimes I feel like I'm getting it, then other times I want to pull my freaking hair out! I have noticed if I do a little math homework everyday its much easier!

Oct 4, 2010 I like fractions so far! They are much easier to add and subtract with variables.YAY!!! I love the reciprocal property just seams to make sense to me. So maybe if I flip my Psychology book upside down for a little while it will make more sense to me! lol I have a little bit of a hard time simplifying some of the larger fractions. I think just doing it over and over again will help me most!

Oct 13, 2010 Wow! Miss a week of class and take your test after having strep throat really kicks your butt! I'm glad to know that decimals may be a bit easier. Started the homework tonight I get it so far. I just need to remember the placements start at tenth's place after the decimal. Kinda nice that I can drop the zeros as well! My head just hurts and I hope I will get it by Mon! BTW fractions suck! lol

Oct 23. 2010 The review for mid term kicked my trash!!! I have been going over and over it all day today. I have also been going over solve for x in fractions as well as decimals. The order of operations is p,e,m,d,a,s What i really need to remember is if the problem inside the can be solved I need to do that first. I am making division fractions with variables way harder than it should be. Just flip the fraction and multiply but I have to be careful to not flip wrong fraction I flip the fraction that had the variable with it. I think I have the -x- = + down I still just need to remember that Neg - Neg you add and A pos - neg you subtract when you add a pos and neg you subtract then use the sign of the bigger #. Solve for x is simplify isolate and divide. I need to write them down on my test like you said before I do anything else. I am trying to figure out a good way to calm myself before the mid term. I don't like taking it with other people around just like I hate running with other people around. I don't know why it just makes me anxious.

Oct 31 2010 I am very dissapointed with my mid term. I really don't know what I could have done better. I study my guts out! I think I get the concept mostly. But maybe not since I did so bad on my midterm. I just am really bugged with it. So in class I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the making fraction bigger and then cross multiply but when I started doing the homework and I re read the book it made more sense to me. I was a little confused on writting a ratio back in word term. I guess i don't need to write per??? My times tables are getting better but I still struggle with 8's. I know so lame!!! I'm 31 years old and I still don't know my times tables.

Nov 20th ( I think???) Polynomials seamed to make more sense to me than any other math concept yet. I guess I shouldn't say that until I get my test back. I wish I would have studied a bit harder in this chapter. Due to illness I was glad just to make it through most of the classes!!! I have found that multiplication and division are the easier methods to do in almost all of pre algebraic equations. The distributive rule makes more sense to me now that I have seen it a few different times in different equations from fractions to polynomials. Very cool!I

Dec 1 2010 I am more confused then ever!! I do know a little about conversions...Large to small multiply Small to large divide. Cory: Use something very concrete to think about this. If you have one loaf of bread and cut it up into 20 pieces, there are more small pieces, but you could fit them back into the same breadsack. If you had 3000 pieces of bread, you would divide that number by 20 (how many fit in a loaf) to see how many loaves (larger unit) you would have. I must confess than I finished chapter 8 and have pretty much forgotten it! I so need to review!!!! As for chapter nine I get points I am still having trouble with linear equations HELP!!!!! Why don't we plan on setting up a time on Saturday afternoon that you could access a virtual classroom online. I we could chat and we could share an online whiteboard to work out problems? Call me or text me if that is an option.