Hello Parents and Students! My name is Marleen Kooker, and I will be your child's math teacher this year, teaching Gifted and Honors Accelerated Integrated Algebra 1 and Accelerated Integrated Geometry. I look forward to a very productive and successful school year, partnering with your child and you to make it a great learning experience!
My personal education background includes a B.S. in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from S.U.N.Y. Albany, an M.B.A., with a concentration in economic forecasting, from Fairleigh Dickenson University, and a Teaching Certificate for grades 6-12 math from Oglethorpe University. I am gifted certified, as well, and I have completed Level 3 IB training.
My first career was in the fields of management and technology with AT&T, for thirteen years, working in various capacities and departments. I then took a ten year sabbatical, while I had my children and we moved around for awhile. I then went back to school for my teaching certificate and have been teaching math ever since. I spent a year at Summerour Middle School and then seven years at Pinckneyville Middle School, before coming to NHS two years ago.
I have loved the transition and being able to be amongst our children, including my own three, who have gone through NHS themselves. My older daughter is a graduate of UGA and will be attending graduate school at Georgetown University. My son is a junior at Georgia Tech (yes, we have a house divided!) and is currently in a Co-op program with Dell Computers. My younger daughter is a 2011 graduate of NHS and is now attending the US Naval Academy (Class of 2015). My husband is a golf professional (I have never played!), and my two step-daughters are from the Duluth community. So, yes, we really do have a house divided, but we enjoy the diversity and rivalry and the opportunity to experience it all!
Daily Schedule
1st Period - Honors Accelerated Integrated Algebra (Room A109)
2nd Period - Honors Accelerated Integrated Algebra (Room A116)
3rd Period - Planning
4th Period - Guided Study A (Room B106)/Lunch
5th Period - Honors Accelerated Integrated Geometry (Room A103)
6th Period - Gifted Accelerated Integrated Geometry (Room A103)
7th Period - Gifted Accelerated Integrated Geometry (Room A103)
Tutoring Schedule
I am available for tutoring at the following days and times:
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Monday and Thursday afternoons from 2:15-3:00 (Room A103)
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Most mornings from 6:45- 7:15 (Room A109)
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By appointment, as necessary
There is also a separate AIG tutoring scheduling posted in the AIG section of my website, to ensure that an AIG teacher is available almost any day before and after school.
There are times that I may not be available. Please check with me before you plan to attend.
Free math peer tutoring is also available every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:20-3:00 in D211. Sign up to tutor or stop by to be tutored.
Website Links
My main focus for this website is to publish and share test, quiz, and homework information. Homework will be assigned almost every day (including weekends), will consist of work that is not completed during class, and it is imperative that it be completed. Not only will it reinforce the concepts learned in class. It will also be required to prepare and study for quizzes and tests.
Quizzes and tests will be based on problems similar to those completed in class and for homework. Homework assignments will be checked for completion but not accuracy. Therefore, it is your child's responsibility to check their homework for accuracy, mastery, and understanding. Homework assignments will be reviewed before each quiz or test, and the students will be given ample time to ask questions about them during class. Thus, it is extremely important that these assignments are completed on time. They will usually be due the next school day after they are assigned.
If students complete and understand the homework, they should do well in general, because the questions on quizzes and tests should be no more difficult.
I assign homework nightly and on the weekends. This is because I believe that independent practice is critical, to reinforce skills that are taught during class. I do not believe that children can be successful in math by simply taking notes and working through problems with me during class.
The amount of homework that I assign varies, based on the level of difficulty and amount of work required to complete problems. Sometimes it takes more time and effort to complete a few difficult, lengthy problems than many basic problems involving minimal steps. Therefore, homework cannot be measured by the number of problems assigned.
Also, it is difficult for me to determine how much time it will take students to complete homework, because each student works differently. Some students work more slowly than others, some take more time to show more work, and some need more time because they are not as comfortable or familiar with the material.
If you feel that your child is spending too much time on math homework, please send me an e-mail to let me know, and have your child speak to me about it, as well. As I always tell them, if they are putting forth the effort and working hard for me, then I will be more than happy to work with them, as well.