With my class, students can buy online access directly...no need for a separate code...but it is pricey. The software has recently gone to a way that students can get free access or 1-2 weeks at the start of the term. Be sure if buying from someone that the packaging with the code is unopened and the code hasn't been used. From what I hear, tech support isn't the greatest for students.

I do not know of a way on the TI to show whether the inequality is included or not when graphing. There may be programs for it that would. Personally, my preference is to do the work by hand. :)

I haven't seen students resell the unbound books. I do see students post notices for selling some books but not these. I'd be concerned about missing pages! The difference in price between unbound and bound is almost $100 which is by the department chose to use the unbound version. I think text pricing is ridiculous...but I do really like the online software for my classes.

I have heard of some classes (not math!) where the text is a required text but the instructor doesn't use it. I can see that being very frustrating as a student. I think some students (my classes) are used to high school and not having to study much outside of class. I remember in middle school and high school taking turns reading aloud from the text. I always hated that. I imagine some of that still goes on (especially since I can't get some students to READ the text). So I think students avoid buying the text for a number of different reasons. Some think they can get by without it (wrong typically in my class). I've also had students tell me they don't have money to buy the text. If that's the case, they REALLY shouldn't be taking the class - the text is a requirement!! And with my class, 15% of their grade comes from online work. We do have the hard copy bundled with the online code. I have some try to use the online text (would save some money) and I'm okay with that. I taught at a different cc where we had a custom text. The text was bad... it was cut and paste from 3 different texts... prealgebra, algebra, and trig. It was a strange course that was a requirement for 3 different departments (non-transfer credit). Each wanted some topics in there and the custom text was the best compromise. I don't often see a custom text to be much cheaper than separate texts, but if you're doing a course and you want certain topics, that would be why you might go with a custom text. To regentrude, I'd prefer a different text than we use, but I do understand the point of having departmental texts for courses at the cc. As an adjunct, I will complain when they're using a text I consider poor, but I can only rock the boat so much. If something is completely wrong IMO, I can always quit... but we're not there yet :)

I'm okay with students using the online text. It's a RARE student who actually reads the text despite me telling them to. Online materials have the text as PDF, course videos, and MyMathLab. We do use the text examples in class on occasion, but students can share texts then.

Explore is offered in Jan and Feb only through the main talent searches AFAIK. Registration starts in August, I think.

Agree with regentrude about contacting instructor or department. Our department chose to go with an unbound text rather than a bound one to save money (texts are quite the racket). We do have an online code bundled though. Not everyone in the department uses it. I do and find it very useful for my students. In my class, the online material is a requirement. It is MUCH more expensive to buy the book elsewhere and then the online code since the online access includes an online version of the text.

Yeah... that messes with you, doesn't it? ;)

I take off if units aren't included in a word problem. I wouldn't for a singular/plural issue, but if you said 8 rather than 8cm, yes, that's a problem. It's not that I'm being PITA... it's that if you're going into nursing, you'd better know the difference between 12 mg and 12 g. Units matter! The illustration I also use is that we lost the first Mars rover because of a unit issue (metric vs US units). I want my students to get in the habit of including units. It'll also help them with science classes. And I want students to see multiple approaches to solving problems, but I see so many students who don't know the standard (US) algorithm at all and can't do basic arithmetic without the calculator. If they had a method they could generalize from multiplication of two numbers to two polynomials, I'd be fine.... but they don't. I do blame Everyday Math since until we started using it, I never saw students who couldn't multiply two numbers at the levels I see now.

I guess I'm not understanding your question. Yes... one should know from the equation whether the line should be solid or dotted. Solid if equality is there (less than or equal; greater than or equal); dotted if we have a strict inequality (< or >). When graphing by hand, you'd first graph the line as solid or dotted as the boundary, then use a test point to determine shading (the true part of the inequality). That's the fastest and typically easiest way to graph inequalities in 2 variables by hand. When using the calculator, you have to solve the inequality for y. BE CAREFUL to remember that if you multiply or divide by a negative number, you must reverse the inequality. So, if you were graphing 3x - 2y < 6, solving for y, you get -2y < -3x + 6 y > 3/2 x - 3 On the calculator, go to y= menu and type y1 = (3/2) x - 3 Then you can move the cursor to the left of y1 where you can see the line... Here, y is GREATER than the line we've graphed, so we want to shade ABOVE the line. Click enter until shading above the line shows up. Then when you graph, you'll have the shading done. You do need to know that the line is NOT included though. There may be programs out there that would graph and show the line as dotted, but I don't see the need. HTH.

And that's exactly where it depends on the kid. For me, testing was always kind of fun... it was a way to challenge myself. I think my son feels similarly. If he had any sense of dread about the tests, I'd be thinking very carefully before having him test additional times. My thinking is that as long as we can afford it and it doesn't cause him distress, why not put him in the actual testing experience so it's not scary in any way when the tests count?

We've done explore 2 years now. This year in 6th since ds was close to ceilings, he'll do the SAT. I figure the practice with standardized testing is good. This gives experience with a different environment than home testing. So it really depends on your reasons for testing.

I'm sorry. It's hard to lose a friend.

Happy birthday!

I found 1 to be the weakest of the Singapore series. We used US edition for 1 and then switched to standards for 2 onward. Basically, stick it out. With my son, I found the IP books to be excellent for helping with frustration. He'd get a problem wrong & I wouldn't tell him why it was wrong, just hand it back and say try again. (I was sitting with him the whole time.) He'd try again and sometimes still wouldn't get it. We'd then just move on... do a different problem in the IP book or a different subject. Then we'd try the problem again the next day. I think trying the problem and then putting it away and coming back to it did a wonderful job at teaching him that with math (in particular), sometimes you don't just get the right answer. The point is to think about a problem, document your work so you (or someone else) can follow it and reproduce it. It also helps with the perfectionist tendencies, because he's getting used to the idea that you have to set it aside and return to it later on occasion. Now, I wouldn't do this if it were a problem from the Workbook, but from IP or CWP... set it aside and return to it. If he isn't showing his work, that's a different issue and I make sure he shows the work before setting it aside. Often I will have him do the work on scratch paper so he has more space or we'll use manipulatives. I found that using Miquon along with Singapore worked really well in Gr 1-3 too. Don't get discouraged. If it's a reading problem, I'll have my son read the problem aloud to me... sometimes I say, "Explain your work to me." At this point, that's usually enough for him to catch his errors :) But it took a few years to get to this point with some battles along the way.... that's where you are :)

Before cell phones, I saw a guy driving on the highway while reading a newspaper.

If you go to 5, you would want the text, workbook, and HiG. I would recommend against the extra practice book. If you think additional practice on level is needed,get the tests and use them for practice. IP books would give more practice and challenge.

We have a cover, so we only see ads right when using the kindle. Cuts down on annoyances...and keeps screen from getting scratched by pens in my purse! :)

You know, I wonder if by spraying the child with water if you could be charged with assault. Laws can be strange sometimes. I'd talk to the police before anything else at this point (since you've already spoken to the child and his parents).

At this point since you've talked to the parents, I'd give the local police a call and see what they suggest. You know they'll end up involved if the kid gets in your yard and bit. Sorry you're dealing with this.

You can grab almost any text and work problems. If I remember correctly, your husband teaches at college...if so, see if he can get an old edition from someone he knows in the math department :). The interact software by Pearson works well for practice. (Can't add link easily here, but google search should get it for you.)

Typically at a college, apart from grad school or a freshman experience book, an assignment due first day of class is NOT going to be worth 20% of the grade. It may be a homework assignment or quiz though. In my classes, the assignment has been an orientation homework that ends up being worth uner 1% of the total grade. The point is to get students used to working without reminders, get used to the website and required software, and start the ground running. That said, you'd better be able to read a lot and quickly. I'd typically have a book a week to read in my undergrad classes for my English major. So if the guy in the amazon reads so slowly, he's gonna have trouble with his courses no matter what. But definitely start checking websites a week before the first class. If there's a college email account, check it daily when you're enrolled. You can typically set it up to forward it to a different account if there's a different one you check regularly. I think anyone who'd have a 20% of the course grade due on the first night is going to lose that grade appeal for an undergrad course. That's definitely not what I'm talking about here.

Our state is stupid. With state lottery scholarships for in state colleges, the legislature created a "uniform grading scale" for all districts. Students don't get A, B, C on transcripts. Instead, they get a numerical grade. So a 93 in a college prep/tech prep course gets a 4.000 while in an honors course it'd get a 4.500 and an AP/IB/Dual Credit it'd be 5.000 A 94 would get GPA of: 4.125 or 4.625 or 5.125. A 62 gets a GPA of zeros for any class, so I imagine that's why most districts don't give grades under 50 anymore. Depending on high school accountability here, I don't know if I'll use the uniform scale or just go to letter grades. I think the idea of differentiating GPA by points on the grade definitely contribute to school policies that create begging. It makes no difference if an A is a 4.0 between a 95 or a 98, but with our state's scale, that 's a 3/8 difference. Stupid state.

(Hugs) Very sorry for your loss. Glad you were able to be with your father at the end and he knew your love.

Chair of department. (Eye roll) Luckily the idea didn't go anywhere. I HATE the idea of students as our "customers". If we do have any customers, it's the employers who hire our graduates. IMO, students pay for the opportunity to learn material. They have rights: a instructor who knows the material and can communicate it, timely feedback, clear expectations that are followed, and class time (we have one guy who cancels classes way too much). But paying for a class...even attending a class....doesn't guarantee passing it! And as an adjunct, if they want me doing more than I do, they'd better pay me more! I don't have to have office hours, but I do reply to emails within 24 hours and am available to meet with students before or after class by appointment. And we have free tutoring on campus 5 days a week at 3 different campuses. But the students HAVE to take some responsibility.