Why we learn Math

As I was cruising the net looking for something interesting to say I found this movie at Google Movies. The Math Lesson


is the reason why we learn math and need to understand the concepts behind the arithmatic.

Enjoy the show!!

Mr. Harbeck

How to create an account to your class

Here are the instructions for you to get your blogger account active.

A) Get a google account. You can do this from either blogger or google itself.

Your google account will be your email and a password you create.

B. You will use this account to access betablogger.

At Blogger you need to create a blog. Call it any thing and follow the steps.

Create 1 post and publish it.

***** Keep this window open for the next steps*****

Open a new browser window (control n)


Find the email I sent inviting you to the blog.

Do not click on this link but paste it into your address bar and hit enter.

Reenter your google password on the page provided.

YOu should see your class blog on your dashboard.

Delete your fake blog.

You are in business.

Meet the Teacher Night

Every year there is an opportunity to meet the parents of my students. I get to explain how my course is run and what expectations I have of the students and of parents.

Assessment in the course this year for the first term is based on test and quiz scores, journalling, completion of TLE-8 computer units, mental math activities and interaction with the classroom blog.

I like to give the parents a heads up on the positive aspects of blogging and the importance of the students being responsible for their actions.

Blogging is a very public form of communication. Bud Hunt, a teacher in the U.S. has these guidelines for his students. I will use them too.

1. Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.



2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.



3. Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.



4. Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.

One form of blogging work is Scribe Posts.

Scribe Posts

Write a brief summary of what we learned in class today. Include enough detail so that someone who was away sick, or missed class for any other reason, can catch up on what they missed. Over the course of the semester, the scribe posts will grow into the textbook for the course; written by students for students. Remember that as each of you write your scribe posts. Ask yourself: "Is this good enough for our textbook? Would a graphic or other example(s) help illustrate what we learned?" And remember, you have a global audience, impress them.

Students will be expected to contribute one scribe post every 30 classes or about 4 times a year.

Examples of Scribe Posts from last year.

LaraMae did a scribe post during our algebra unit. Her scribe included a picture that accuratly depicted a piece of paper that had been folded into 5 columns filled with notes. It was awesome.

Norielle through the use of one image described and explained how to find the surface area of a cylinder.

Josh showed how to find the volume of geometric solids in tremendous detail.

The Scribe Post Hall of Fame showcases the best Scribe Posts from around the globe. Our student figure prominantly on this site.


Another way we use our classroom blog is to create Growing Posts.

Growing Posts

Growing posts are like unit reviews. Each growing post starts off as one post by the student answering one question about a concept. Each day the students have to answer a new question and add it to their post. At the end of the unit they will have a comprehensive resource of material needed to study for tests or complete assignments.

Here are some excellent Growing Posts

Michael's Growing Post Ingrid's Growing Post

Sometimes students strive for enrichment. Here is an example of intrinsic creativity

Aldrin's Fraction Growing Post

Dion's Growing Post

The Growing Post Hall Of Fame was created to allow student work to be displayed for the world to see. I am proud of the work that students did last year and am looking forward to this years inductee's.

This years classes will participate in many activities that will prepare them for their future. As parents enjoy their ride through the Sargent Park Math Zone of Room 17. If you dare come along for the ride with them!!

I showed the students this video today. Watch it and see where the world might... is going. It was made by a teacher K. Fisch from Colorado.

Did You Know

Mr. Harbeck

Why we Blog

As I asked you in class "How many of you blog?" Most of you put up your hands because of your experience with Mr. Reece last year. Many of you also indicated that it was not you favorite activity during math class. I hope to change that this year. It is important to know that times are changing. The world you know now will be different by the time you enter highschool, and that world will change by the time you are ready to enter Highschool.

K. Fisch a teacher in Colorado created this powerpoint presentation for his students. It demonstrates how the world is changing. It is a remarkable presentation.

Did You Know

In your journals or as a comment I would like you to tell me what you are feeling after this presentation. Mr. Kuropatwa from Danial Mac asked his grade 11 and 12 students these questions:

• What surprised you the most? Why was it surprising?


• Did you learn anything? If so, what?


• As you think about it now, does this change the way you think about school, learning or the purpose of getting an education? Is there anything you want to do differently related to school this year?


• What Shift is happening?

How would you answer them?

Mr. Harbeck

Mr. Barksalot's Bath Graph

Welcome to your Math Blog. It is a place for you to post answers to questions and to communicate to the world about what happens in 8-17 Math. I would like you to leave a comment answering the following question. Some of this work will have to be done in your math journal. The bold print can be left as a comment.

Bobby fills a sink with enough water to wash his dog Mr. Barksalot. He then puts Mr. Barksalot in the sink and washes him. After he is finished he takes Mr. Barksalot out of the sink. Then he drains the sink.

Draw a graph that represents the level of water in the sink from the time paula started to fill the tub until the tub was empty. Clearly label your graph.

Explain what the graph should look like in a comment on this post AND on the back of your graph.

Mr. Harbeck

This is our new home

On the old SP8 Math Zone I just posted the following.....

With much regret and yet excitement the Sargent Park Math Zone has moved to a new site. The reasons for leaving are that Blogger in Beta is a much better service. Please continue to use this site to see what happened over my first year of blogging.

Former students I encourage you to continue to use you classroom blogs as a way to communicate with each other and the math blogging community.

I enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing what will happen this year. Below you will find links to the new Math Class blogs for Sargent Park School. To the seven wonderful people who have subscribe to this blog. Come on over to the new site and continue the journey. Comments are always welcome and appreciated.

New Homes for.....

Sargent Park Math Zone This will be the new class hub. Students will find out what they need to do for Blogging assignments and have the ability to be interactive in their learning.

816 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 33 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.


817 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 31 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.


841 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 32 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.


873 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 31 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.

Students will also post to their classroom wiki to create A Grade 8 Math Guidebook. This is a new and exciting opportunity to create a manual of everything that they have learned. The students will include problems and solutions, their scribeposts and growing posts.

The Scribe Post Hall of Fame will be a place to showcase the best class scribes.

The Growing Post Hall of Fame will house the best Growing Posts that the students create.

I hope you take time to visit our new blogs.



Mr. Harbeck
Thanks for watching our journey..... but it ongoing


I am looking forward to this next step