9th Geometry

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I'm pleased to have your child as a student in Geometry, and am looking forward to a good year. Geometry is one of my favorite classes to teach, and most students enjoy the material. We will do lots of projects and hands on work as we cover the NC standard course of study. We will have supplies available during class, but it would also help if your child had a ruler, compass, protractor and graph paper available to use when they do homework. Some students also like to use a highlighter or colored pencils. Calculators are always permitted, although students may find that they aren't as useful for the geometry material.
Since geometry comes between the two algebra courses we will also continue to practice themajor algebra skills so that students remember them next year when they get to Algebra 2.

If you'd like to get in touch with me, my email is mdimaio@woodscharter.org, or you can call and leave a voice mail at 919 960-8353 ex. 217. I will be available after school or a lunch for tutoring, and students are encouraged to come in if they have any questions or concerns.

Students may elect to take the course as an Honors course. See me for a contract.

Course outline for Geometry

1st trimester

Ch 1 Points, Lines, Planes and Angles

Ch 2 Reasoning and Proofs

Ch 3 Parallel and Perpendicular Lines and Proofs

Ch 4 Congruent Triangles

2nd trimester

Ch 5 Applications with Congruent Triangles

Ch 6 Quadrilaterals

Midterm

Ch 7 Proportion and Similarity

Ch 8 Right Triangles and Trigonometry

3rd trimester

Ch 9 Analyzing Circles

Ch 10 Polygons and Area

Ch 11 Surface area and Volume

Ch 12 Coordinate Geometry

Homework Policy

Students need practice in math in order to fully master the concepts and to retain material that has been learned. Therefore, they will have homework Mondays through Thursdays, and occasionally over the weekend. Late work will be accepted for an 80 instead of a
possible 100. All late work for each chapter must be turned in by the day of the chapter test.

Each day's objective and homework will be posted on the board in the same spot every day. It is the student's responsibility to check the board and write the assignment down in their planner. If a student is absent, it is his or her responsibility to check with me for missed assignments. I will be happy to work with students after school if they need help getting caught up, or with
questions on regular class work.

Assessment

We will have tests, quizzes, pop quizzes, and projects. Rubrics for each project will be given out with the project assignment. Also, there will be midterm and final exams. The midterm will be half way through the year in December, and will count for 10% of the final grade. The final exam will count for 15% of the grade. Tests and quizzes will be announced ahead of time, and students will be given assistance in preparing. Before tests they will receive a review sheet with similar problems, and have class time to ask questions about the problems. If a student is caught cheating on an assessment, he or she will receive a zero for the assignment.

The grade for the trimester will be weighted as follows:

Tests and Projects = 50%
Classwork and Quizzes = 25%
Homework = 25%

The grade for the year will be determined as follows:

Trimester 1=25%

Trimester 2=25%

Midterm Exam = 10%

Trimester 3=25%

Final Exam=15%