Hello all,
First of all, I would like to welcome you back to Pike for the 2014-15 school year. I know that we are going to have a great time this year learning a little about Spanish, math, life, and ourselves.
For my first year Spanish students, don't underestimate the difficulties in learning a new language. We will focus on primarily conversational Spanish (family information, talking about oneself, etc.) and basic grammar points for the present tense. It is not difficult, but you must study to be effective in this class. It should be fun but that doesn't mean that it will always be easy.
My Spanish II students should already know what to expect as far as the class goes. The study guides will be a little different from Spanish I and more will be required from you in the way of preparation as this is an honors course.
Pre-Calculus is a class from which I am going to expect a great deal. We will move as quickly as I am able; however, if you do not understand something, please stop me and ask me to elaborate. Yes, I want us to move quickly and cover everything you will need to be successful in Calculus either here with me next year or at the university, but I want you to understand what we cover. I will move at the quickest possible speed at which you will all be able to keep up.
Calculus, you guys are old pros. You have had me for three years (Spanish I, Spanish II, and Pre-Calculus) so there are going to be no surprises from me. You will have to work a lot on your own and form study groups if you need to in order to be successful. I teach this class as a college class and we will cover Calculus I and II from major universities.
If you are having problems in any of my classes, do not wait until you are failing or doing terribly in my class to come to me for help. I am always available before school, after school, during break and during lunch to help with any of my classes or any of your other classes. I am here to help...take advantage of that.
Study hard, work hard, and have fun and we will have a great year. Please let me know if I can do anything for you.
Sincerely,
Mr. Mathews
