A. Jorge García developed a series of take-home exams for his Pre-Calculus class that require students to work in groups and think more critically about solving problems. He also created bi-weekly physics-related take-home exams for his AP Calculus students to show real-world applications of calculus. Additionally, he started an independent study class focused on Linux cluster programming. García is proud of incorporating group work and real-world applications into his classes as well as helping his computer science students learn Linux.

1. Mathematics Department: Accountability Report
Name: A. Jorge García Date:4/11/2008
1.) Peer Coaching
Students in Math 4R Pre Calculus very often are not challenged to
solve problems that require “thinking out of the box” or that require more
than one period to complete. I have developed a series of four Quarterly Take
Home Exams to address this problem.
1a.) Peer Coaching Principle of Learning:
“Fair and Credible Assessments.”
1b.) Peer Coaching Focus:
“How can I incorporate group work on Take Home Exams in Math 4R?”
1c.) Peer Coaching Experience:
Students learn a topic best when they have to explain it to a peer. The
Take Home Exams are done in groups of the students’ choosing. They get
two school weeks to work on these extended projects. Typically, I assign a
Take Home Exam the Monday before a long break and collect it the Monday a
week after that break.
1d.) Peer Coaching Evidence:
Students learn new material on their own by completing each Take
Home Exam. Each exam extends topics from class and contains step­by­step
questions leading the student on a discovery. When the student is done with
the exam, he or she has, in essence, completed a research paper on the new
topic!
1e.) Peer Coaching Lesson:
The day I assign a new Take Home Exam, I give a short lesson on the
topics already covered in class that the student needs to know in order to
understand the Take Home Exam. Then I explain each question and what
the student should learn from this experience.
Accountability20072008.doc 1

2. Mathematics Department: Accountability Report
Name: A. Jorge García Date:4/11/2008
2.) Curriculum Development:
Most of my AP Calculus BC students also take AP Physics C
Mechanics. However, the Physics teacher typically does not have the time to
“teach the math behind the physics.” To address this problem and to show
the students more applications of Calculus in the real world, I developed a
series of bi­weekly take home exams related to Physics applications. These
exams emphasize the Calculus required in several Physics applications.
Each Monday I either assign a new take home or collect the last one
assigned. On the first Monday I explain what the take home is about and do
several similar examples with the students. The students do not need to
know Physics in order to complete each problem. All the information they
need is given in each question and modeled by my examples. The second
Monday of each take home, I collect the exam and explain each solution.
3.) Personal Goal:
I have been researching Linux Cluster Programming for several years
now. I have done so with an eye toward incorporating several cluster
programming related activities in my computer science classes. We have
touched on this topic in class in the past. My goal this year was to
incorporate this topic in an Independent Study class for students who have
taken AP Computer Science as Juniors.
Accountability20072008.doc 2

3. Mathematics Department: Accountability Report
Name: A. Jorge García Date:4/11/2008
4.) Staff Development:
I attended the T^3 Conference at Molloy last November. T^3 stands
for “Teachers Teaching with Technology” and is sponsored by Texas
Instruments. I gave a morning session on “How to program your TI89
without really trying.”
I attended the LIMACON Conference at SUNY Old Westbury in
March. LIMACON stands for “Long Island Math Conference” and is
sponsored by Nassau County Association of Math Supervsors. I gave a
morning session on “How to program your TI83 without really trying.”
4a.) Department activities and initiatives
I help teachers and students with problems relating to Graphing
Calculators and Personal Computers.
I develop and promote the computer classes.
I am continually researching new curricula and teaching methods for
teaching computer programming.
I maintain two Linux ssh servers and one Linux ftp server for the
computer programming students to use on campus and at home.
I make sure that the LAN in room 429 is up and running every day for
the APCS classes and the Advanced Computer Math classes.
I maintain a Linux Super Cluster in Room 429 for the Independent
Study Computer Science class.
4b.) Describe your role in school activities:
co­curricular ­
I am the advisor for the Continental Mathematics League (CML) in
Calculus. We have 4 meets in class each year. We are currently 1st
in New
York State!
My Independent Study Computer Science students entered their
fractal art in several art shows: I­CON at SUNY Stony Brook in April and PI
Day at Suffolk Community College Grant Campus in May. This class meets
every Friday after school (3PM – 4PM).
extra­curricular ­
I advise the Baldwin High Chess Club. I am a rated member of the US
Chess Federation (USCF). I am a USCF Certified Scholastic Chess Coach
and a Permanently Certified Local Tournament Director (LTD). We hold
USCF rated tournaments every Monday after school (3PM – 4PM).
Several of my Calculus students also participated in the Moody’s Math
Challenge competition this year for the first time.
Accountability20072008.doc 3

4. Mathematics Department: Accountability Report
Name: A. Jorge García Date:4/11/2008
5.) Professional Organizations:
http://www.ams.org American Mathematical Society
http://www.maa.org Mathematics Association of America
http://www.nctm.org National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
http://www.acm.org Association for Computing Machinery
http://www.knoppix.net KNOPPIX Linux CD Beta Tester
http://www.yabasic.de yaBASIC for Linux Beta Tester
http://www.realbasic.com REALBasic for Linux Beta Tester
http://gcc.gnu.org g++ for Linux Beta Tester
http://bccd.cs.uni.edu Bootable Cluster Linux CD Beta Tester
http://www.cs.rit.edu/~ark/pj.shtml parallelJava Beta Tester
http://www.quantian.net QUANTIAN Cluster Beta Tester
http://www.uschess.org US Chess Federation
Nationally Rated Member/Player
Certified Scholastic Chess Coach
Certified Local Tournament Director
6.) Contests/Competitions:
US Chess Federation Rated Tournaments
Continental Mathematics League: Calculus
Moody’s Math Challenge
I­CON and PI­Day Art Shows
7.) Additional:
I have been involved, for several years now, as a Beta Tester for the
KNOPPIX Linux live CD and the Bootable Cluster Linux live CD in the
Computer Science Classroom. I install and maintain the latest updates of
the Linux Kernel in Lab 429 and on the Linux Servers. The Independent
Study Computer Science class upgraded the client platform to an openMOSIX
Super Cluster using the QUANTIAN Linux DVD. I am also a Beta Tester for
REALBasic, yaBASIC, g++ and parallelJava for Linux which I use in
Computer Math, Adavanced Computer Math and AP Computer Science.
The Linux cluster may also be used next year for Mathematical
Computing using Octave which is like MATLAB and Statistical Computing
using R which is like S. I will encourage the new AP Statistics teacher to
learn R. I will develop a new computer lab for AP Calculus BC students
meeting every other day opposite the AP Physics C lab in addition to current
class time teaching students how to use MATLAB.
Accountability20072008.doc 4

5. Mathematics Department: Accountability Report
Name: A. Jorge García Date:4/11/2008
As I have developed the curriculae for both Computer Math and
Advanced Computer Math and taught both courses for many years, I help the
Computer Math and Advanced Computer Math teachers as needed.
Accountability20072008.doc 5

6. Mathematics Department: Accountability Report
Name: A. Jorge García Date:4/11/2008
8.) Most Proud of:
The Take Home Exams I give quarterly in Pre­Calculus and bi­weekly
in AP Calculus as group tests have proven to be a creative and interesting
extension of class work.
Using Linux in Computer Math, Advanced Computer Math and AP
Computer Science has made my students very productive. Teaching students
about open source, free software and the GNU Public License has opened
many doors for them. My Computer Science students are very excited about
using Linux at home as a replacement for the Windows Desktop and to be
able complete classroom assignments.
My Independent Study Computer Science students were very
enthusiastic about learning how to build and program a Linux Cluster. They
learned how to program the cluster for use on very complex number
crunching problems as well as for rendering very sophisticated computer
generated art!
I am very proud of my Chess Team. My Chess Club members are all
USCF rated players. This is a great accomplishment and a goal that has
alluded us in the past.
Accountability20072008.doc 6