Ted Said:

houghton mifflin long term lesson plans?

We Answered:

When you say "they," do you mean your principal? Or are you in college and a professor wants you to do quarterly plans for a certain subject?

If you are doing this assignment for your principal, you can check the teacher's edition of textbooks you will be using. A lot of the textbooks will have plans for the entire school year mapped out as a perk to get districts to buy the series.

If this assignment is for a college class, then you could check the department of education website for your state. There, you should find a listing of all the standards for teaching each subject. Then you will need to design a plan for teaching those standards including a time frame for each concept. If you get to choose the subject to make these plans, DO NOT choose the ELA standards. Choose math...much simpler since the standards build on each other.

If your assignment is for college...that sucks...lol. I can remember having to do this and never learning anything from it. Some districts (including mine) have set curriculums that pretty much have already mapped out how the subjects are going to be taught...which of course makes writing long range plans (or long term lesson plans) easier.

Good luck and welcome to teaching!

Randall Said:

Does anyone have examples of Quadratic Equations that CANNOT be factored?

We Answered:

hey mate,

Infinite solutions exist to satisfy your query, I will present what I hope to be a generalised solution,
for quadratics of the form,
y = ax^2 + bx + c
to be unable to be factored the discriminate D = b^2 - 4ac must satisty
D< 0
or b^2 - 4ac < 0 --> b^2 < 4ac
Thus,
b < sqrt(4ac)
b < sqrt(4)sqrt(ac)
b < 2sqrt(ac)
to avoid square roots of negative values (which ironically is what we are seeking!!) impose a, c > 0 or a,c < 0
Thus,
b < 2sqrt(ac)
To ensure this
let b = 2sqrt(ac) - d ; where d is any positive real value

Thus for,
y = ax^2 + bx + c to have no real roots y must be in the form
y = ax^2 + (2sqrt(ac) - d)x + c
where a, c must be either both positive or both negative and d must always be positive.

So sub in as many different combinations as you like
Few examples
a = 1, c = 1, d = 1
a = -1, c = -1, d = 1

Hope this helps,

David

Manuel Said:

Do you teachers constantly think about lesson plans?

We Answered:

I am currently teaching fourth grade. I do think about my lesson plans and try to predict the outcome, but I wouldn't call it rehearsed. In order to be a teacher, you have to be flexible and just go with the flow of your students.