Il Ling New

Illing Math Students Take On Book Editing

Imagine being a student and having a hand in editing a book future classes will use for study. That's exactly what happened for students in two eighth grade math classes at Illing Middle School.

The book, the Third Edition of "High School Math Made Simple" was published this month by TutaPoint, a New York-based publisher of supplemental education textbooks and materials which also offers on-line tutoring.

"We arranged to work with the classes by sending out some information on the project to math teachers we have corresponded with in the past," said TutaPoint co-founder Ryan Duques. "The feedback was amazing and over 20 classes signed on to the project."

Kate Dias, a math teacher at Manchester High School who also teaches two accellerated geometry classes at Illing Middle School, said the chance for her students to participate in the process couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

 "We happened to have been discussing editing in class after a couple of students found some errors in their geometry textbook," Dias said. "This was a wonderful opportunity for [my students] to have a front row seat in the editing process," she said.

Dias said she found it was a very manageable project for her classes, which she made easier by taking the draft of the Algebra I textbook, dividing it into sections, and then assigning groups of students to edit their portions of the book for both readability and for accuracy. 

"I made opportunities to provide feedback in class and then compiled their edits and sent them on to [Duques]," said Dias. "I think they gained an appreciation for textbook editing. It's not always an easy thing to do."

"I remember that there was a part that would have been confusing to the readers, so I tried to make it more understandable," said Nouran Ghonaim, one of 36 students who worked on the project. "It was a good idea to get us, the students who use the books, involved so that the books will be better suited to our level of understanding."

Eighth grader Sara Karr said Dias gave the class worksheets to check their understanding of the problems and to see if they made sense to them. 

"I was proud to help in the making of a book that will later help students out in the long run," Karr said.

"The process wasn't bad at all. All math publishers should do this!" said Kobe Nielsen, another participant.

Gun Quote Friday: Il Ling New | Shooting Divas

New reminds us of the truth – shooting is a perishable skill. We need to practice regularly to maintain proficiency.Schedule time to go shooting regularly. If this is hard for you to do or keep up with treat it like a workout plan. Hold yourself accountable and get a buddy. You can even bribe yourself with rewards – like a new gun after reaching a consistent practice goal.

So what led to her career change? Did it have something to do with her personal experience of being mugged at gunpoint?

Spectrum auctions and competition in telecommunications

Industrial organization and the digital economy

Xenobiotic metabolism and disposition, the design of studies on novel compounds

Financial crises, contagion, and the lender of last resort, a reader

The new Basel Capital Accord and the cyclicl behaviour of bank capital