Session 1 was to have been an introduction, distributing the books, getting people started, distributing the calculators, and providing a group session on the use of the claculators. The fact that the calculators were not available in time for the session made this a bit more difficult. For the Monday class I only had my single EL-531. We passed it around, and we were able to try out a few problems on it. For the Wednesday class, I purchased two more El-531's and students could share them as needed.

Here are a few points on the first session.

• In my sections, some of the students had not been tested, so we needed to look at the material in the books to get them into the appropriate first book.
• Even though the students who had been tested were given a starting level, many of those students were uncomfortable starting with the material at that prescribed level; some students asked to begin at a level below, and we did this.
• It is essential to recognize how strange most of this math is to most of the students. The things that we think are easy can be difficult and even frightening to the students.
• I believe that we need to explain to students how the "job levels" were created, and the inherent shortcomings of the ACT design.