Lovejoy High School
Precalculus
Overview
BrOOKS
2014-2015
Credit: 1
Prerequisite: Algebra II
Description: PreCalculus is comprised of two areas of study. The first to be
addressed this year is Trigonometry. This involves the relationships between the
sides and angles of triangles and the myriad applications of those relationships.
The second area of study is analysis and application of the 12 Basic (Parent)
Functions. The course work provides both a challenging environment for learning
and developing lifelong problem-solving skills, and a base to support the rigors of
the next course in the progression, Calculus. We will be pursuing the benefits of a
‘Flipped’ classroom this year and have provided more detail regarding the ‘Flipped’
classroom at the end of this overview.
Minor grades: Quizzes/Checklists/Participation/Mastery Practice/Small Projects.
Accounting for 50% of each overall six week average. These are recurring checks
for understanding and student engagement. Students may or may not be allowed
to use a Graphing Calculator or notes on quizzes. All quizzes will be given within a
finite time frame.
Major grades: Tests and Major Projects.
Accounting for the remaining 50% of each overall six week average are unit tests
which will occur once every 2-3 weeks. Students may or may not be allowed to
use a Graphing Calculator. All tests will be given at times specified on the grading
period timeline. In addition, Major Projects may be assigned periodically to enrich
the student’s learning.
Retest Policy: Students scoring 70% or less on a test are required to complete
corrective work and have their learning reassessed (retest). The criteria related to
this reassessment are listed in detail later in this overview.
Lovejoy High School
GoogleDrive and other resources: The Google Suite of tools may be utilized
this year as a classroom organization system documenting assignments, activities,
and support, and fostering online communication. The school has assigned each
student a GoogleDrive account in order to access this information. Course
materials will also be available on the district’s student network drive (LHS
Website ->Student resources ->Cloud drive ->O:drive ->DataFilesforStudents
->Precalculus) and/or an instructor-defined website.
Make Up Policy: If a student is not in class, it is the student’s responsibility to
acquire the missed learning and related assignments via a choice of channels.
The student should attend a before/after school tutoring session if there are
questions. If not in class on the day of a quiz or test, the student is responsible to
take the quiz or test the day that they return to campus. In the case of multiple
days missed, consult the student handbook for policy and coordinate with the
instructor regarding an acceptable plan for recovery. It is the student’s
responsibility to take care of any and all missed work, quizzes, and tests in a
timely manner.
Tutoring: Following is the Official PreCalculus Tutoring Schedule. Students may
tutor with any PreCalculus teacher and may communicate with any PreCalculus
teacher to schedule a tutorial time other than those depicted below. Students are
encouraged to utilize all resources for learning depicted in the Mastery Checklist
prior to pursuing tutoring.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
7:45 – 8:30 AM
7:45 – 8:30 AM
7:45 – 8:30 AM
7:45 – 8:30 AM
7:45 – 8:30 AM
D126 / E109
Mr. Brooks
D124
Mr. Stallings
D126 / E109
Mr. Brooks
D124
Mr. Stallings
D126 / E109
Mr. Brooks
4:20-5:00 PM
4:20-5:00 PM
4:20-5:00 PM
4:20-5:00 PM
By Appointment
D124
Mr. Stallings
D126 / E109
Mr. Brooks
D124
Mr. Stallings
D126 / E109
Mr. Brooks
Lovejoy High School
Major Assessment Process:
In preparation for each regular unit test (Assessment A), students are expected to
complete the following Mastery Checklist:
 Complete Notes Daily
 Rework Lesson Examples
 Complete Mastery Practice (MP) assignments and check work against the
assignment keys posted in the district’s student network drive or
GoogleDrive.
 View/Review online resources
 Summarize key components on a new document
 Attend tutorials, as needed
 Complete Quiz Corrections and Reviews
An honestly and thoughtfully completed readiness checklist regarding the items
below will be turned in before Assessment A.




Reworked Class Examples
Complete and Correct Mastery Practice (MP) assignments
Complete and Correct Quiz Corrections
Complete and Correct Unit Review
Students scoring below 70% will be required (and those scoring between 70%
and 85% may choose) to have their learning reassessed (Assessment B) after
attending a tutorial and completing corrective work. The date and time for
Assessment B must be scheduled within 5 days of receiving the scored
Assessment A. Instructors will identify available before/after school rooms/times
for students to select for taking Assessment B.
Students who have completed the Readiness Checklist items prior to Assessment
A and have attended a tutorial and completed the corrective work will be eligible
to improve their Assessment score to 85%.
Students who have not completed the Mastery Checklist items prior to Assessment
A will:




Still be required to complete the Mastery Checklist items,
Attend a tutorial and complete corrective actions,
Be eligible to improve their Assessment score to 80% with Assessment B.
Obtain teacher approval before reassessing.
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Timelines and Grading Policy: Students are expected to stay current with the
lessons for each grading period. In our learning cycle, quizzes are formative and
used by the students to assess where they are relative to mastery. Consequently,
if the initial (original) test score is higher than the quiz scores over the same
material, the original test score will replace the quiz scores. If the need arises,
any student may take a re-assessment (retest) for up to one week after the
original test. The retest score will replace the initial test score (up to 85%, or up
to 80% if the mastery checklist was not complete and correct before the original
test day) and will replace the quiz scores (up to 70%). If a student scored below
70% on the original test, additional corrective work may be required.
Supplies: Required Every Day in class:
 Pencil (Sharpened before class)
 3 ring binder dedicated solely for Precalculus
 Graphing calculator. You will need your own, non-media device.
Classroom: Come to class every day eager to learn. Upon classroom entry, store
all distractive media, determine what materials are required for the first activity,
acquire those materials, and engage. Actively participate in classroom learning
activities. Use all of every class period for learning, understanding, and applying
PreCalculus.
Other: Reference PreCalculus Instructor LHS or GoogleDrive websites for useful
website links. Reference the student handbook for policies regarding Late Work,
Zeroes, Electronic Media, Dress Code, Tardies, and Discipline.
Instructor:
Mr. Brooks, Room D126
Randy_Brooks@lovejoyisd.net
(469)742-8700
Lovejoy High School
Flipping the Classroom
Historical issues we are striving to address.
 Many students find the fast-pace of in-class lessons overwhelming.
 Many other students find aspects of the school environment distracting.
 Involved students often miss classroom instruction due to numerous other
obligations.
 Outside of class, some students feel they need more help on practice
problems than referencing the worked solutions keys.
In response to addressing these issues, this year we will be “flipping”
the PreCalculus lesson format.
Following is an overview of how our flipped classroom will work.
In this course, the location in which your learning takes place will be “flipped”
from what you have experienced before. You will be watching the lesson
instruction videos and taking notes outside of class and then working problems
related to those lessons mostly in class. This is done so you can get immediate
assistance and feedback on mastery practice, from the instructor, your peers and
other resources, as you work problems.
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The following are benefits we expect to experience based on results
seen in the flipped AP Calculus classroom.
 Allows students to enter the classroom and begin work at the same level.
(45 minutes of in-class lesson/lecture allows for less learning differentiation
and guided practice)
 Students spend as much time as they need to outside of class completing
the lesson in preparation for the planned mastery sessions in class.
 Students can consult other sources to increase confidence prior to delving
into guided skills practice.
 More classroom time will be devoted to guided/monitored mastery practice.
 More classroom time available for extension application.
 Students control when, where, and how they acquire base lesson
knowledge.
In Summary
Basic Lessons for PreCalculus are taught outside of class via videos of the course
instructors and additional supporting digital tools. After watching lesson videos
and taking notes, students then spend class time working assigned problems,
collaborating with their classmates and getting assistance from the instructor.
Instructors will also use class time to further address challenging concepts
(building on the basics that the students acquired from the lesson video), and
engage the full class in lesson analysis extension activities.
This “flipped” model has been used the past three years in AP Calculus, and
students who take advantage of the class time to work and ask questions have
experienced success, both in the course and on the AP exam. Further, as students
head to college they will be taking fully online courses for which the flipped
classroom is a stepping stone.