Algebra 1 | Level 7 | Boom! Nailed It! | Graphing Quadratic Equations FLEX

This 4-week Algebra 1 FLEX course teaches all about the coordinate plan and how to get amazingly fast at plotting and analyzing linear equations. It's the fifth of six parts of complete Algebra 1 course.  This course can be taken with other parts or independently.

Algebra is critical to all math that follows, so mastery has to be the goal. And the right teacher knows she can get your learner there. You, as a parent or as a learner, should make sure that someone beginning this class has the foundational skills for working with linear equations including understanding the coordinate plane, slope, intercepts, equation forms, plotting, and developing the equation from a graph.

This is a FLEX class, so there are no live lessons. That makes it perfect for those who can't meet during my scheduled live classes. I often have families whose learners want to take my classes because they do well with my teaching style, but a specific class doesn't fit their schedule. They have found the flex classes not only fit the schedule, but offer many advantages and they enjoy the community that develops from our activities we do together.

Here is how it works:

Each week on Tuesday morning your learner will get assigned a weekly lesson, with part two of the lesson presented on Thursday. These lessons will be in the form of Nearpod Activity Links. Nearpod is easy to access and requires no logging in. When they hit the link, they simply put a name in - it can simply be their first name if they like. I will receive a report of their finished work.

These lessons have recorded portions where the learner will my instruction as I work through problems. During these recorded instructions, the video will pause from time to time and Nearpod will prompt the learner to answer questions about the lesson. Along with these interactive recordings are interactive games, fun mini-projects, and polls. The results of their interactions with these are received by me, the teacher, through Nearpod.

On Thursday morning they will receive the second of the two lessons for the week.  It will be modeled the same way as the Tuesday Nearpod lessons with  brief video recordings of me teaching and embedded places in the recording where your students can interact. Those interactions and the results of activities and games they do will be something that will generate a report for me, the teacher, so that I know they are participating and progressing.

We will repeat that cycle for each of the four weeks and have a final assessment at the end that your student will do on Nearpod. That final will be embedded into the end of the second lesson of that week. Upon completion of the assessment, I will send a final report to the parent of each learner.

The activities can be polls, games, or quizzes. I will show them the results of this poll on the classroom page so that they can discuss it and get to know each other. There are match games, timed races to answer problems, fill in the blanks, and drag and drops. 

These interactions have worked well in my FLEX classes!

The material I cover along with the content of the videos is very much like the live classes I teach on the same topic.  I have had many students and parents tell me they love my style of teaching and interacting with the students, but one of two obstacles get in the way of signing up for or staying in the live classes.  Either there is a scheduling conflict, or the student wants to move at a more accelerated classroom pace than I can do in a live class because I believe so strongly in making sure all students are reaching mastery.   With the FLEX format, students can go as fast or as slow as is appropriate for their learning needs.

I teach each concept thoroughly and with positive energy so that students stay engaged.  As I teach the content, I have the learners interact through Nearpod so that they are fully involved like they would be in a live classroom.

Links to the Nearpod meetings will be posted to the Outschool classroom page each week on Tuesday and again on Thursday.  The classroom page will be used for class administration discussions and any specific questions about methodology.   The other discussions and communication points will be done in Nearpod.  

Here are the topics we will cover week to week:

Week 1	What is a polynomial?  What is a quadratic?
Week 2	How do you find the zeros (x-intercepts)? How do you complete the square
Week 3	How do you graph and transform quadratics, and what is an axis of symmetry?
Week 14	What's the quadratic formula and how do quadratics show up in word problems on the ACT / SAT?

Where this class fits within my Algebra  classes: 
My Algebra classes fall into 8 levels.  The first two levels focus on solving for x.  The second two levels focus on linear functions. The next two levels focus on radicals and exponents, and the last levels focus on polynomial functions. This class is the seventh in the series.  Together all the classes comprise a complete Algebra 1 course.  Feel free as a homeschooled parent to use those assessments each week to calculate your child's grade.  Or, if your learner is not homeschooled, feel free to use those assessments to benchmark how well your learner is doing.