Mathematics Department

Welcome to Miss Wong's webpage for North Campus located at 2465 Dolan Way, San Pablo, CA 94806. School phone (510) 741 - 2857 and school fax (510) 724 - 4795.

To function in today's society, mathematical literacy is as essential as verbal literacy. These two kinds of literacy, although different, are not unrelated. Without the ability to read and understand, no one can become mathematically literate. Increasingly, the reverse is also true: without the ability to understand basic mathematical ideas, one cannot fully comprehend modern writing which appears in the daily newspaper. The goal of the Mathematic Department is for all students to achieve mathematical literacy.

Beginning 2004, North Campus High School's graduation requirement includes the WCCUSD and State of California requirement to pass a course of Algebra 1. The requirement can be met with a one year version of Algebra 1 or a two year version of Algebra 1.

Text: Prentice-Hall Algebra 1 CA edition.

Assignments: from the text, practice workbook, or computer tutorial.

Pre-algebra, algebra, and skills tutorial programs are available for class use.

Most days there is time for individual help or questions during the period. If additional time is needed, most teachers would be happy to give individual help after school. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the better days to ask for after school help.

Math Study Skills

Active Study vs. Passive Study

1. Be actively involved in managing the learning process, the mathematics and your study time:
2. Take responsibility for studying, recognizing what you do and don't know, and knowing how to get your teacher to help you with what you don't know.
3. Attend class every day and take complete notes. Teachers formulate test questions based on material and examples covered in class as well as on those in the text.
4. Be an active participant in the classroom. Get ahead in the book; try to work some of the problems before they are covered in class. Anticipate what the Teacher's next step will be.
5. Ask questions in class! There are usually other students wanting to know the answers to the same questions you have.
6. Get additional help and ask questions. The Teacher will be pleased to see that you are interested, and you will be actively helping yourself.
Good study habits throughout the semester make it easier to study for tests.

Studying Math is Different from Studying Other Subjects

1. Math is learned by doing problems. Do the homework. The problems help you learn the formulas and techniques you do need to know, as well as improve your problem-solving prowess.
2. A word of warning: Each class builds on the previous ones, all semester long. You must keep up with the Teacher: attend class, read the text and do homework every day. Falling a day behind puts you at a disadvantage. Falling a week behind puts you in deep trouble.
3. A word of encouragement: Each class builds on the previous ones, all semester long. You're always reviewing previous material as you do new material. Many of the ideas hang together. Identifying and learning the key concepts means you don't have to memorize as much.

We believe that student accomplishment is a shared responsibility of students, parents, staff, administration, school committee, and community.