Our Civic Duty

Hello World,

Today I had the opportunity to see our justice system in action first hand.  No, I was not arrested for being too awesome.  (Although, I think the judge is onto me.)  No, today I served jury duty.  And lucky me, I was selected to be on a jury.  Despite disrupting in my life and your classroom, it is very interesting to watch our justice system at work.  Although, I can not discuss any details of the case at this time, I do know that I will miss multiple days of school.  So, what does that mean for you?

All tests and quizzes that where to happen this week, will be postponed to Monday.  Sorry, I don't like to give assessments on Monday, but since I will be in on Friday, it is the only way I can give the opportunity for extra-help.  We will be reviewing on Friday.  Please watch all the videos in your section to insure that you are prepared for your test or quiz.

The second part of our civic duty, maybe more important.  I want to remind everyone to PLEASE bring in donations for our troops.  These men and women are putting themselves in harms way, so that you can complain about having a test on a Monday.  Some people in this world don't have the luxury of complaining about such petty things.  We are very luck.

Thanks for reading.  I will see you soon. (I hope.)

Mr. Adelmann
Juror #39

I'll Flip ya'. I'll Flip ya' for real.

Hello World,

I am very excited about the new phase of the Adelmannia blog.  The blog is now an extension of my classroom. Not only can my students and I can discuss our classwork, but now parents, other teachers, and others can be involved in our class.

For each class, there are videos of the days lesson.  Make sure to take notes on the lessons.  This is your only homework.  After you watch the video, please feel free post a question.  Or you can post an answer to a question that has been posted by someone else.  Any student who asks a question or gives an answer to a question will receive extra homework credit.  I will answer any questions in class.

Since you are now getting my lessons at home, you will be doing your homework in class.  In the past you have done homework by yourself with no help from anyone.  Now you will have the chance to practice with other students and your teacher to answer any questions you have.

The videos will stay on the blog until we finish a chapter.  You will be able to watch the videos at any time to study or just show off to your friends.  (You know you are going to show your friends, because it's that cool.)  I hope this will help you understand the information a little better.

So, get some popcorn and enjoy the videos.  Have fun.

Mr. Adelmann

How Can This Blog Help You?

Hello Purple Team, My F period Geometry Class, and the Rest of the World,

Well, the school year has started, I finished my first half marathon, the Pats won their first game, and the Sox have no chance of making the play offs. And now you have the pleasure of reading and using my blog. I bet you are excited.

Here is how you can use my blog. Find the your classes tab. There is a brief overview of what is happening in class and some links that may be helpful. If you have any questions, you can post them here on the blog. If you have answers for any of your classmates, please post them. Any one who posts a question or any answer on the blog will receive extra credit.

Good Luck and enjoy.

By the way, congratulations to the Plymouth North Girl's Cross Country. They finished second at the Martha's Vineyard XC Invitational. North vs. South Cross Country meet on Tuesday. I am still not sure who I am rooting for.

Have a Great Day,
Mr. Adelmann

Summer time Post

Hello World,

It is mid-summer and I am just starting to think about next year. Don't worry, I am not thinking that hard. The blog is under a little construction, so don't be scarred.

I am spending most of my days training for my first half marathon, doing construction on and around my house, preparing to host many Cape Cod visitors, and most importantly spending time with my daughter. (She is pretty awesome!)

So, enjoy the rest of your summer. I know I will. Remember that Championships are won in July and August, not November.

Love,
Mr. Adelmann

Hello Geometry Students,

Congratulations on finishing MCAS!  Now you are ready to get back to serious learning! 

We are going to continue on with learning about Parallelograms.  Parallelograms can be used from anything from Art to Engineering.  And as always, you can impress all your friends this weekend at parties with your vast knowledge of parallelograms!  I am telling you it will work.

So, please watch the videos, try to answer the question, and leave a question for me in the comment area.  By the way, I have decided to give bonus homework points to anyone who leaves a comment that is related to this lesson.  (Sorry, Toby Keith will not get credit for asking about Red Solo Cups.)

Have the best day you have ever had in your whole entire life!

Sincerely,


Mr. Adelmann

Senior Final!! You are almost there!

Hello Seniors (& anybody else studying for the final),

Well here we go.  One last push to get you across the stage.  But before you walk off into your next chapter in life, we must make sure you have been reading this chapter.

Today, we started to review with a packet.  For the rest of the week, we are going to try some packet enhancements to make sure that you are ready for this test.  In class, you will be partnered up, by me, and placed into stations around the room.  One station will be part of a game, one will be to watch videos on this blog, one will be to prepare to present a lesson to the class, and some of the stations will be to work on the packet. 

For the video watching station, I am going to ask everyone to post a question in the comment section below.  This will be part of your class participation grade.  You can ask questions about the video or about any question on the packet.  The videos are posted below the blog.  In class, you will only have time to watch one.  If you want to watch more than one of the videos, you can start now. 

Happy studying!  I hope this helps you to get across the stage.

-Mr. Adelmann (Class of 1994)

Hello Algebra Students,

Good luck on your quiz tomorrow.  There are a couple of videos to watch to help with your studies.  On the side there are a couple of sample questions of the type that will be on the quiz tomorrow.

Good Luck,
Mr. Adelmann

Hello Geometry Students,

Yesterday, we discussed the sum of the measures of the interior angles.  We will continue tomorrow by discussing how to find the number of sides when given the sum of the measure of the interior angles.  Please watch the video.  Then leave me a question in the comments section.

Mr. Adelmann

How to use a blog to improve learning.

Hello World,

I never know how to start my blog post.  I have often started with "Hello World".  I think it makes me sound welcoming and that the entire world is paying attention to me.  It's really just a way to convince myself that the world loves me.  If I promise to stop talking about this now, will you promise to not dash my hopes of world domination?  Good, let's move on then.

The actual reason for creating this blog is to help my students understand my teaching better.  It will also be used to help me get a better reading of how well my students comprehend the material.  The learning experience will begin prior to entering my classroom.  When the blog has new material for a particular class, I will send a tweet to inform those students who follow me.  This will allow students to gain prior knowledge about the upcoming lesson.

When on the blog, there are three tools which will be used to enhance the learning experience for those in my class.  The three tools are "Lesson Links", the polls for each class, and the comment section.

• Lesson Links - The lesson links are located at the top of the page, just above the posts.  These are links (most often the www.khanacademy.org) to video on the subject my class will be learning the next day.  Students will watch the videos in order gain prior knowledge on the subject.  This will allow my students to feel more comfortable with the material and work to a better understanding.

• Class Polls - Each class will be asked a poll question.  The class poll are located at the right of the page on the side bar.  There will be two possible types of questions.  The first type will be an opinion about what the most important or relevant part of the video was.  The second type of question, which will be the more popular type, is an example of a question the students might see on the homework or assessment.  This will allow me to see how well the students understand the material.  I can make changes to my lessons depending on how well the students do or do not understand the material.

• Comments - Label "Questions for Mr. Adelmann", the Comments are located, like most blogs, below the post.   Here students, after watching the videos, will ask questions about anything they did not understand or want more clarification.  This will let me know what questions students have before they enter the classroom.  I can then prepare answers or explanations before meeting with the class.

Hopefully, my students will use this blog as a tool to better understand their studies.  Please let me know what you think.  I would love to hear suggestions before I start using this with my classes.

Thanks & have the best day you have ever had,

J. Adelmann

Studying for Quizzes

Hello World,

From time to time, I will use my blog to communicate with my students (because Lord knows that I am not communicating with them in class.)  This is one of those times.  Above are some links to the Kahn Academy website.  Kahn is a great website you can use to help enhance your understanding of my lesson.  (But we know you are all paying such close attention that you don't need any enhancement.)

Geometry should check out the trigonometry.
Algebra 2 CP II should check out the Solve Quadratics by Graphing
Algebra 2 CP I should check out the Solve Quadratics by factoring

Feel free to check out the rest of the website and see what else you can learn.

Happy Studying,
Mr. Adelmann

Where to Begin?

Hello World,

Before I begin, I must give credit to my brother John for the "Adelmannia" which this blog holds.  When we were young, he would draw "Adelmannia" in the same font as Def Leopard's Pyromania album.  It was cool then, and I think it holds up.

I am taking a class to held me expand my PLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network).  The goal of the class is how to make me a better teacher.  (My student's really wanted me to take the class.  Why do you think that is?)  The problem is that I just don't know where to begin.  We have discussed twitter, blogging (which you are currently enjoying.  Enjoying alot!), and a whole host of other social media which will make me a superior educator!  The only problem is that I don't know where to begin.

We started off with Twitter.  Holy Moly!  That thing ... place?...what ever it is?...is mind blowing.  For a guy who has struggled with a reading disability his entire life, twitter is a lot of reading.  Then you throw in hash tags and at signs, so then reading is boarding on impossible.  I am not sure how to use it in my classroom.  In fact, I find it much easier to connect with members of the Track & Field world, than members of the Math world.  Maybe, like many educators, I don't have a ton of time to send on the computer.  (That dang family of mine!  Always wanting to spend time with me!  Where do they get off!)  Maybe its just a matter of spending more time.  I would love to hear about how a high school math teacher has used twitter in his or her classroom.  And I am not just talking some gimmicky use of the website, but a true technique to enhance learning.  If you know of it, please let me know.

The second tool my class has discussed is this blog, which you know by now is AWESOME!  Well maybe not awesome, but it has potential.  I have some ideas, just no ideas on how to make them happen.  This blog may get better.  But like anything, I must keep up with it.  And that of course takes me away from my family.  And my family is really cute.

So, I am doing my best to embrace all the benefits of social media.  But you have to know, I would much rather be enjoying this bright sunny day.

Adelmannia is Running Wild!

Hello and welcome to the Adelmannia Blog!

I will be using this blog to discuss education, athletics, & anything else I can make witty comments about.  At least I think they will be witty.  Please enjoy responsibly.

Thanks,
Jeremy