Couchon, Todd | HS Math

Welcome all to the 2024 Fall Semester. My name is Todd Couchon. If you are taking Algebra 1 Honors, Algebra 3-4, Algebra 3-4 Honors and Precalculus 1-2 Honors, I will be your teacher for the next few months. I have been teaching in the district since 2005 and have been teaching exclusively online since 2020. I consider myself both a teacher and a student of mathematics. I LOVE teaching math, because in helping students I often discover new ways of thinking about math that helps me make more sense of it. It's a very symbiotic relationship. In my (precious) spare time, I like to play ice hockey, build Legos with my children and work in my very demanding backyard. I am from Rhode Island, but I've been in Arizona since 2000, so I'm pretty much a Phoenician now. The only trace of the East that remains is a faint accent and a love for Boston sports teams, the Patriots in particular. It's been a tough few years but we will definitely win the Super Bowl this year, so that will be nice. My goal this semester is to help you meet your goals, whatever they may be (as long as your goal isn't failing math.) I also hope to showcase the beauty of mathematics. It ALL MAKES SENSE and it is a critical tool for understanding our world. 

More personally, I have been married since 2004 and we have three children and one dog. I am not much of a dog person though. I'm not really a pet person. 

I look forward to working with you this semester.

Class Expectations

• Online students are expected to work 7 hours per course per week. You must complete your weekly online attendance log to be considered actively participating in your course. If you are not completing your attendance log, you will be dropped from the course. You can submit and access your hours at DVUSD My Hours. This is due every Sunday by 5pm.

• To access our class, you will use the Canvas Learning Management System. Please bookmark this URL and save it as this is where all of your lessons and assessments are located.

• The website is: DVUSD Canvas and your login and password information is the same single sign-on that you use for school computers and PowerSchool. 

  5 Tips for Online Success

  1.Keep Pace with the Course Calendar

  I encourage you to keep up with the lessons planned for each day. Study after study details the detrimental effects of "cramming" information into a short study window. The human brain retains more information when learning is "spaced" out. Try your best to keep up with our schedule. 

  2. Watch the Video Lessons (and take notes)

  Students who earn A's in these courses routinely have over 50 hours logged in on Canvas, 75 for more challenging courses like College Algebra and Precalculus. Students who earn D's and F's will have under 10 hours. Since Canvas is where you recieve the instruction, this would be the equivalent of attending class for less than two weeks. If you want an exceptional grade, you must put in the work. Watch every lesson and pause it often to take notes. Rewind if you need to. That's the advantage of taking an online course, you can go back if you need to. 

  3. Take advantage of the Practice Material on Math XL

  In order for people to get good at something, you have to do it when you don't have to do it. It’s easy to imagine a young LeBron James playing pick-up basketball, or JK Rowing penning short stories in what spare time was allotted to her as a youngster, or me sneaking Double Stuf Oreos from my mother’s cookie jar . The greats don’t become great by only practicing their craft when they are forced to. You can use Math XL to practice math anytime, even if you have no assignments due.

  4. Prepare for all Exams 

  Depending upon your class, you can expect 3-4 assessments, not including the midterms and finals. In almost all cases, I have cleared the schedule around the unit exam dates to give you time to practice. Please take advantage of these reviews. There are "Help Me Solve This" and "Show an Example" options that can guide you step-by-step through the problem. One of the most effective strategies, though time-consuming, is to anticipate the types of questions that will be asked, and write yourself a 5-10 question test. This will require you to be very familiar with the content, and to look at the additional resources I provide (see above) to see different types of questioning techniques. I did this in college and it was amazing how successful I was. My exams were hardly scary, because I had written similar questions.

  5. Keep a Math Journal

  This was another college thing that I wish I had done in high school. This does not need to be extensive. There are 3 components to an effective math journal:

  1.) Jot down what you learned

  2.) Describe how you feel about it (easy, fun, infuriating, nonsensical, cool, wicked cool, frustrating, boring, etc.)

  3.) Pinpoint how well you think you understood it and record any specific questions you still have.

  The last part is extremely helpful for me if we need to meet on Zoom, the more specific you are with what you understand, the faster we can address it. “I don’t get it,” it vastly inferior to “I don’t get how CPCTC can be used as reasoning if you only know three parts of each triangle.”

  6. Contact Me (Canvas Message) when you need help 

  Use that message inbox early and often. I am more active in the evenings, but you will hear back from me shortly after you write.

Pacing Calendars for Fall 2024 semester for the following courses are now available below. Keeping pace with these calendars is the best way to ensure you pass the course. 

• Algebra 1 Honors
• Algebra 3
• Algebra 3 Honors
• Algebra 4
• Algebra 4 Honors
• Pre-calculus 1 Honors
• Pre-calculus 2 Honors