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Precalculus - Introductory Information
First day of class
At LAC: Thursday, Sept. 4 at 2:30 pm
At Dunwoody: Wednesday, Aug 27 at 1:00 pm
At St. Nicholas: Friday, Aug 22 at 11:30 am
Distance Learning: Tuesday, Sept. 2, although distance learning schedules remain quite flexible.
What to bring
I will provide the textbook. Students should bring a three ring binder with some paper in it, a pen or pencil for taking notes, and a calculator. Any calculator that will compute trig functions (sine, cosine, tangent) will do, but the TI-83 Plus or TI-84 Plus is
recommended because it will be suitable through all of the high school math and science classes. These calculators will be used quite a bit in Physics, Algebra 2, Precalculus, and extensively in Calculus,
and the College Board now assumes some proficiency with them for AP exams. Students should also bring their copy of the Student Notes and Workbook (see below).
Books
For students attending class, I will provide the textbook. The textbook we are using is fairly expensive. I hope to reuse all of these
books next year, so please take care of them, do not write in them, and please return them at the end of the year. Distance learning students should purchase a copy of the textbook on their own. The book is Precalculus, by Michael Sullivan, published by Prentice Hall, 1996, ISBN 0-13-228-594-0.
The Website
Lots of material will be made available through the website at www.derekowens.com. Homework assignments, tests, and a syllabus will be found there, along with lecture notes and videos of all of the lectures as well as any other materials that I find or develop during the course of the school year.
Videos and Lecture Notes
You should purchase or print a copy of the Student Notes and Workbook, which contains all of the student lecture notes for the entire year. This material is available in a bound format from Lulu.com
(a self-publishing and printing service).
Students need to bring their copy to class each week. If you do not want to purchase the Student Notes and Workbook,
you can alternately download and print out the notes yourself at no additional charge; all of the same material is
available in PDF format on the website. A copy from Lulu, however, will be about the same price as ink and paper
and will be more convenient.
Videos of all of the lectures are available on the web site. Students will each be given a username and password to access the videos and the other materials. The student lecture notes and videos go together. Students bring their printed copy of the lecture notes to class. As they watch and listen to the lecture, they fill in the lecture notes by working example problems, writing down key points, etc. If a student misses class or needs to review, the students can get the same content from the videos.
Homework
Students will download and print the homework assignments from the web. They can turn in the assignments in class, but to speed up the feedback process, they can also fax the homework to 770-985-3799 or scan it and email it to derek_owens@comcast.net. Graded homework will then be scanned and returned by email. With this system, students do not have to wait a week or more to receive feedback on their work. If you fax your homework, please write darkly enough for the fax machine to pick up. If you email your homework, PDF files are convenient and easy to work with but any file format is acceptable. Sometimes fax machines and scanners can be a hassle, and students simply use the regular mail, which is also perfectly fine.
In this class, there is a distinction between practice problems and homework problems. Practice problems will be assigned from the textbook or will be given on handouts. Students should check their answers with the
solutions provided, and parents may also want to check the work. I will not be grading
the practice problems. Homework assignments will be downloaded from the web site. The homework assignments should all be turned in and will all be graded.
Tests
Tests will be given at home. This allows us to make maximum use of instructional time in the classroom. A final exam at the end of each semester will be given in class. Students will find a test for each chapter on the web site.
Grades
Students will receive a numerical grade, which will be computed from their homework grades, tests grades, and exam grades. Progress reports for each student will be available on the web.
Tuition
The tuition for the class is $78 per month for nine months, or $58 for distance learners.
For classes at LAC and Dunwoody, Caryn Becker will be helping me
(and other teachers) with the bookkeeping again this year. Checks can made out to Derek Owens but sent directly to her at
Caryn Becker
4094 Flintridge Drive
Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Or you can simply hand a payment to either of us at any time. If you forget any payments,
Caryn will gently remind you.
Distance learners should send the payments to
Derek Owens
2378 Twenty One Cotton
Lawrenceville, GA 30044
Payments may also be sent via PayPal to derek_owens@comcast.net.
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