Halloween!

No homework! Well, you have the test corrections due Monday, but that's been outstanding for a couple weeks now.

I'll be after school this Monday--you're take home test will be due Wed., so feel free to come Monday after school, work together, and maybe I can even help a little.

Be safe tomorrow! Have fun, dress up, and enjoy!

Wednesday's HW (sorry it's late)

Page 213: 5,7,9,11,13,17

Homework, Review

Yo yo. Homework tonight is the multiple choice problems I handed out in class, and get crackin' on that crossword puzzle which is due Friday.

Also, ALL of you have test corrections due on Monday. NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Period C, you have until Friday to come try the extra credit.

And Thursday, we'll have an after school review focusing on the graphing calculator.

Homework!

Read chapter 9! Take notes if you like, you can use them in the event of a reading quiz.

Bock Visit!

Hopefully you all had a good time and learned a bit from Bock's visit...I think he shed a lot of light on R squared--at least more than I could've!

Homework for tomorrow: finish the "Quiz" worksheet I gave out yesterday.

Tomorrow's review session will focus primarily on the calculator. Be there!

Homework

Page 189: 3,4,6,8,12,19,21

Don't forget--for 3 and 4 you need to look up residuals in the chapter!

Homework

Page 189: 1,2,5,13,17

Homework

Yo yo...homework tonight is to work on the chapter 1-6 crossword puzzle...I'm pretty sure it'll be impossible to finish, but try as much as you can without going crazy.

PERIOD C STUDENTS...

Yo...we have no class tomorrow, so you BETTER have those outlines done Thursday for your extra time. If you'd like, you can come by tomorrow and get your tests back. Your homework for Friday is going to be to finish the other 3 AP problems on your exam, so it might be a good idea to grab the test tomorrow and get a head start.

Also, you have the opportunity to earn back 10 points on your exam with some more questions I have set aside. If it's possible, it's my recommendation that you come to my period E or F statistics class (if you have lunch or study) and get those done. If that's not possible, you'll have through Tuesday to come to my class during a free period or after school to work for a half hour on the problems.

On Thursday we'll get back into this regression stuff...and I owe you, since it's not really your fault we have no class tomorrow (for the third time this year). Maybe donuts? We'll see...

READ ALL OF THIS POST! I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT!

Alright, so I have one period of open-ended (free-response) exams left to grade, and I'm feeling the need to take a break and give you the summary. No, I am not only on the last class due to procrastination; actually, for the first time I've been on top of my game. However, I have no-lie spent about 8 hours so far grading 60 tests...I'm not trying to boast, I just want you guys to know that I have the same commitment to our class that I expect from you. Remember, in this AP environment we're a team, working to collectively beat that evil AP monster. After test one, here's what I'm feeling...

First off, the most important thing for you to remember is that the exams are tough. Every single question you answered, multiple choice or free-response, came from a past AP exam, so you're working at a high level of difficulty. Not only do I think this challenge will overall help you grow statistically, but I think the familiarity of the AP exam format will serve as an incredible aid come May 6th. Given the rigor of these tests, you may not receive grades you're used too--if you scored an 8/12 (24/36) on this exam, I'd say that's extremely impressive. Further, you'll have plenty of opportunity to make up the extra points to get you to "A" territory. Remember what else I told you--I'm not here to give you all grades, I'm here to teach you statistics. Whatever it takes, as long as you learn the content, I'm happy (whether it's the first try or not).

On that note, tomorrow (for periods E,F) we'll have the opportunity to earn back some points (not sure exactly how many yet, at most 12). You'll have the entire shortened period to annihilate a few AP questions--only a perfect answer gets full credit. As you saw before, if you'd like to study a little for the test, check out the following:

• Comparing distributions--SOCS
• How shape (skewed, symmetric) affects the mean in relation to the median
• What does it mean for two things to be associated?
• Whenever asked to find a proportion above/below/in between, remember we use the z-table.

Overall, I'm feeling very confident after test one. The scores could ideally have been higher, but no matter what happens, all of us can always do better. You all showed a lot of potential, and with some practice, I think we have many students capable of achieving 3's, 4's, and 5's. I liked what I saw in much of your writing, and there were a few tests that simply blew me away. I know I was tough on you after the first section, but I promise that all of that angst solely lies in effort--I can't have people skipping questions. I will always only ask for one thing from you--your 100%, best effort. I have confidence that with this effort, each and every one of you is capable of great things, both in statistics and otherwise.

Finally, I'll begin stepping off my soapbox with some updates:

• I'll be after school tomorrow, but the b-boy (breakdance) club is meeting. It'll be loud in there, and maybe a little stanky from a bunch of sweaty breakdancers, but I'll be there.
• THURSDAY I'll be holding a review, focused on the language of statistics. We'll spend the time from 2:20 to 3:30 looking at how questions are worded, and taking some notes about
  "code words" that tell us which statistics we need.
• And Friday, we'll go over the unit one free response. You'll have the opportunity to take notes on your test for 3 additional points on the exam. If you're absent, we'll have to go over it on your own time, so be there!
• Finally, next Wed/Thurs David Bock, author of our text, will be in town to spend some time with the class. I'd like you all to have the opportunity to experience a lesson, but we'll see how it goes.

Good luck. See you manana.

Hope those SAT's went well.

Absent Today

Hey guys...sorry I couldn't make it today. Believe me, I'd rather be there. Every second is precious in our course, as we have less time to cover all the content as it is, and we don't get any snow days back or anything before the AP exam.

So today in class, get that chapter outlined...I'm going to check your outline and that will serve as a 10 point reading quiz...as long as it's done thoroughly, you'll all get a 10.

Tomorrow in class, periods E, F, we'll be working on 3 AP problems from chapter 1. These will all be for additional points toward your open ended test grade. You can use notes, but you only have a short time, so you should study ahead...know your boxplots, SOCS, shifting/rescaling, the Normal model...all that good ol' stuff. Remember, it's all extra point, so no stress. They could be huge though for your test grade. Step it up.

As for period C, we do not have class tomorrow. Thus, I am giving you a little while to get these extra credit points...because I need you to work alone, you'll have to come in on your own time (either study hall, after school) for a half hour-ish to work. If you like, I recommend you come tomorrow during E or F (my other stat classes). Any day within the next couple weeks is ok, any period...lunch or study...just let me know ahead of time and I'll give you a pass.

Good luck today. See you tomorrow.

Homework:

Tonight's HW: Page 160 1, 3, 5, 7, 9,11, 13, 17

My bad...in class today I told you to draw the histogram for number 13. I meant number 9.

Lil' Tidbits of Info...

So, I've been corresponding with one of CT's other AP Stat teachers, trying my best to answer some questions. It struck me that not only might this info be valuable to teachers, but to you too! This is some review stuff...

Remember your homework tonight is to read chapter 7. Do it.

For contingency tables, I'm not sure of a systematic method. I'd just check out the textbook and see how it goes. When I personally do them, I always check to see how a group is distributed among the whole. For instance, with the titanic, I'd see what percent of all passengers were in each class. Then, I'd look at the percentage of survivors by class and those who died by class; these number should reflect the overall proportions if everything was independent. For example, if Wilby high school is 30% black, 30% hispanic, 30% white, 5% asian, and 5% other, then I would expect the AP statistics class at Wilby to consist of those same proportions (ideally). The numbers within each group should reflect the overall proportions. Did that make any sense?

As for your other question, when describing a distribution's center and spread, we always report the mean/standard deviation for a symmetric curve, and median/iqr for a skewed curve. In a skewed curve the extreme values in the tail will either pull the mean up (skewed right) or down (skewed left). Since standard deviation is a measure of the average distance a data point is from the mean, these extremes in the tail will similarly "ruin" the standard deviation. Further, given which measures we use, to determine an outlier in a skewed curve we would use the fences (since they're based on IQR) and for symmetric curves we check if the z-score (distance from the mean in standard deviations) is greater than 3 (or less than -3).

Tuesday's Homework (and some more extra credit):

Tomorrow (TUESDAY 10/6) your homework will be to read chapter 7 if you'd like to get ahead. You can take notes for a potential reading quiz.

Also, if you want extra credit on the MC take home portion of the exam, you can answer the multiple choice questions posted on this blog. Simply number each question (in the order they appear, top to bottom) and your answer. Each is 1 extra point, for a total of 5. Get on it.

You would be surprised how many people I met who have bumped/will bump/regularly bump the stat rap. Spread the word so I can be famous someday...I'll give you a cut if I get famous.

Wow, that test was pretty hard...

I hope not. But it was definitely a difficult test. And although it pains me to do so, you can all take an extra day and finish up those take homes. Therefore, I expect even BETTER work. If you're done, go back and check your answers. On the open ended, make sure you have a picture drawn for each question--if you draw this and shade in the appropriate region, I think it could make your life quite a bit easier.

As for the test today, we'll see how it went! You'll likely get them back Tuesday--first off, I have tons to grade b/w the take homes, SAT papers, and tests. I'll try to get the tests done first and show you your grade, but with people making them up and such you probably won't actually own them until Tuesday (because Monday is a day off! Yeaaaaah Christopher Colombus!).

I just learned crazy amounts of goodness at the AP Stat conference. Got some hot problems for us to work on this week as we start unit 2! Bivariate data! Woop!

TONIGHT'S HOMEWORK: None. Just finish up that test and get ready for a new unit tomorrow. Or, if you want to get ahead, you can start reading chapter 7 and taking notes for a potential (definite) reading quiz.

EXTRA CREDIT INVESTIGATIVE TASKS ARE DUE NEXT TUES.

Don't stress too much about the test...I'm not here to try to fail you. I'm here to teach you statistics so you can pass the AP exam. So, no matter how much practice it takes, if we can get you to learn what you need for this first unit, we can handle some extra credit. Last year I had a review session after Test 1; everyone who came worked on another test-like worksheet, and when completed entirely correctly, they got 15 points on the first test. So it'll be ok, as long as you're willing to learn the material.