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Mathematics
Mission Statement
The mission of the Mathematics Department is to train students to think and communicate logically, to develop an understanding of the language of mathematics across the curriculum, to develop the ability to analyze and interpret problems and situations, to apply concepts to real life situations and to prepare for a post high school career.
Mathematics Faculty
14 full time teachers, 2 part time teachers and 3 teachers who also teach in other departments.
Courses Offered
Algebra I (8th Grade) - offered for both honors and regular credit
Algebra I (9th Grade) - offered for both honors and regular credit
Geometry (9th or 10th Grade) - offered for both honors and regular credit
Algebra II (10th or 11th Grade) - offered for both honors and regular credit
Advanced Math (11th or 12th Grade) - offered for both honors and regular credit
Probability and Statistics (12th Grade) - offered for regular credit only
Calculus (12th Grade) - offered for honors, regular, or advanced placement credit
When entering a mathematics classroom at Mount Carmel Academy, one will find a teacher prepared to assist students in becoming lifetime learners of mathematics. The department's goal is to dispel fear of mathematics and the student's misconceptions of her own mathematical abilities. This is achieved by creating a warm, caring environment where the students feel comfortable asking questions and expressing their ideas. This is also accomplished through performance assessments, group activities, and technology usage.
The Mathematics Department at Mount Carmel Academy provides a college preparatory curriculum. Students beginning in the eighth grade are required to take 5 years of mathematics. Students entering in the ninth grade take four years of math. Required courses are Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Advanced Mathematics with an option of Probability and Statistics or Calculus in the fifth year. Honors courses are available at each grade level offering a rigorous curriculum requiring students to apply concepts at a deeper level. For the accelerated student, Mount Carmel offers Advanced Placement Calculus.
In our classrooms we strive to incorporate a variety of teaching methods in order to accommodate the diverse learning styles of the student population. We generally begin lessons with the basic form of direct instruction to equip the girls with a strong foundation of mathematical concepts. Teachers encourage their students to use and understand the proper mathematical terminology. Students are continually challenged to improve their computational skills, make real world connections, strengthen problem solving abilities and interpret math data. We also use the Socratic Method, group activities, peer teaching, performance assessments, and technology such as Geometer Sketchpad, graphing calculators, Texas Instruments Graph Link, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. In utilizing these various methods, we deepen students' understanding of mathematics, allowing them to excel on various types of assessments. The department also tries to promote real-life applications throughout its courses. For example in Geometry, students use digital technology to find examples of geometric concepts throughout New Orleans. They also create quilt squares using four basic transformations. Algebra II students use quadratic functions to predict the path of a projectile. Advanced Mathematics classes use angles of elevation and depression to calculate the heights of buildings and flagpoles on the campus. They also use properties of trigonometric equations to create artistic designs on their graphing calculators which are printed. All of these projects demonstrate concrete examples for otherwise abstract ideas.
Students graduating from Mount Carmel Academy leave with an understanding and appreciation of mathematics.
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