I don’t consider myself to be particularly good at math, though I don’t think I’m exactly bad at it either. Growing up, I had a complicated relationship with math that I was never all that confident about. It always seemed as if the moment I understood one concept and had finally discovered how to determine the correct solution to the problem in front of me, another set of obstacles with a new list of rules were presented for me to learn all over again. When I was younger and I was learning things such as simple multiplication or division, I was always the last one in the class to grasp the concept of it while everyone else was already performing the necessary actions needed to solve the problems in their head. For quite a while, I was the …show more content…
My freshman year, I was placed in a math class that I learned nothing from. Honestly, it was more of a free period than an actual class. The teacher rarely taught the class, and when he did it was only for a few minutes before he retreated back to his desk. On occasion he’d give us worksheets that were full of simple math that even a second grader could do, and we weren’t challenged to learn anything in the class at all. Due to not learning anything in that class, the next year of math class was extremely difficult for me and a lot of my peers. We were extremely behind, and the a lot of my peers and I got assigned to that year refused to take the time to explain things for us due to the fact that we should have already learned all of it. Even after countless nights of studying and turning to the internet in a desperate search for a new way to figure out the solution to every problem I was stuck on, I never fully understood anything that I was learning at the time. By the end of that semester, I was almost two years behind in the subject and I began to dread any type of math class when I saw it on my schedule. I would sit in my math classes and feel completely clueless about the subject, not understanding anything that my teacher was saying. While the some of the kids in the class got high grades
All throughout the days I spent in school sitting in math class learning Algebra, Geometry, and the various other math courses I pondered whether or not I would ever even use these math skills in my life. The sad truth is that you will mostly likely use most of the math skills that you learned throughout high school in everyday life. There are honestly so many different ways you will use math in life like buying a car, your weekly trip to the grocery store, and even at home. It is honestly hurting you to not pay attention because you will in fact use math in your everyday life.
The article “The Myth of ‘I’m Bad at Math’” was written by Noah Smith and Miles
My other classmates were doing well in that class, but one thing distinguished me from them, they had a certified math teacher in the first semester. I was enrolled into a class with no teacher, stuck for the entire semester with a substitute. It is not uncommon for Banneker High School to have lots of substitute teachers, this problem comes when attending a poor performing school, and getting qualified teachers is part of the luck of the draw, unfortunately. My substitute teacher assigned us book work and worksheets to fill space and time, not to teach and learn. I should have been mastering the common core standards, but the only knowledge I garnered was that my former substitute did not appear happy with her career choices. I left first semester without learning anything about Math, but I did not know this at the time. I completed first semester of Ninth Grade Algebra with a “B.” I was satisfied.
I decided to take Chemistry and Calculus just to have classes with my friends. Unfortunately, I was not able to pass these classes. Failing these classes affected my education and it affected me. It affected me education wise because my GPA dropped immensely. Because of my GPA dropping I was not able to graduate out of high school with honors. I was really disappointed in myself because before taking these classes I was on track to graduate with honors. I still remember when I meet with my counselor and she told me I was no longer in track to graduate with honors. I remember breaking into tears because that was one of my high school goals. When I first decided to take this classes with my friends I never thought it was going to affect me as much as it did. All I wanted was to have classes with
Math anxiety is a negative emotional reaction to mathematics that can be debilitating, It has been defined as a feeling of tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in ordinary life and academic situations. Math anxiety often results in a lack of confidence in the subject, which impedes academic performance. It perilous hurdle for many children across all grade levels. Individuals with math anxiety often avoid studies in mathematics and therefore limit their career options (Hembree, 1990). Hence, interventions are imperative in order to prevent further affecting students success in both academic and life itself.
When I was in the sixth grade I started failing classes and I didn’t know how to fix it. I was to afraid to ask the teacher for help because I was far enough behind already. I didn’t have a lot of friends either, which decreased my chances farther from getting help. My mother was never good in school either, and my step-dad was always at work. So I realized I would have to get better on my own. At that moment I started paying a lot more attention to what was going on around me. I also had the privilege of a tutor in class, and math was her specialty.
At first, failure was none of my business: I did not really care how high or low my grades were. But when I suddenly experienced what failure was like, I did not like it one bit. In fact, a fear started to grow within me. It was like a hideous, chupacabra-like alien had landed on my territory and I felt I had to do everything to get rid of it. I studied mathematics very hard: harder than I ever had before. I studied how to divide 9 by 3 and 8 by 4, even if I so despised numbers to my very core. I did not like them because they made things abstract to me. Things which I knew became unknown w...
Anyone can be a math genius. An individual that puts in all their hard work and effort could acquire the same abilities as someone who is “naturally good” at math. I have a growth mindset. Although I may not be a mathematical genius, I believe I can excel to a great extent if I strive to expand my knowledge. In order to achieve my goal of expanding my knowledge and remembering everything I learn, hard work and focus would need to be put in. Hard work means effort, persistence, endurance, focus, and commitment. This is shown a lot in those who take a bit more practice and explanation to understand a concept. It is also shown in those who make huge progress throughout the year. I understand that math doesn’t come easily to everyone, but those
Towers, J., Martin, L., & Pirie, S. (2000). Growing mathematical understanding: Layered observations. In M.L. Fernandez (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Meetings of North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Tucson, AZ, 225-230.
Once in the sixth grade the year was coming to an end and all the top people that did good in english and literature were getting letters so get into spanish for seventh and eighth grade and i waited and waited and never got an invite to be put into that class. I was so frustrated and confused because I didn't understand why i dint get into that class and i felt like the school thought i was stupid and could get into the class i was really angry and resented school for awhile because I knew my potential, and I worked hard my whole sixth grade year in all of my classes to get A’s which i did and still didn't get into Spanish. What I should have done instead of getting angry and resenting the school and thinking i was stupide was confront the
Fluency in math class speaks to the ability of a student to recall applicable math knowledge necessary for solving problems with little to no brain effort. In the primary grades, fluency is limited to addition and subtraction facts. Once students enter Middle School or Junior High, fluency encompasses addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Fluency of these facts allows students the ability to build on their previous knowledge of numbers and tackle more challenging concepts.
Math is probably one of the only subjects that I have really struggled my whole life or more accurately, all my years being in school. Math has been such trouble and really challenging because I cannot really remember mathematical formulas and problem solving methods. It is actually a real struggle when taking a math test or exam, especially a final exam. Trying to remember all those methods and formulas, it makes it hard to think and focus on finishing up all the problems on time. Even though I am often am
I used to struggle with multiplication tables to the point where I would fail all of the in class quizzes. With plenty of practice and help from my grandmother, I have improved greatly in that area. This helps me complete more difficult math problems much faster. I have learned the concepts behind math as well as the math itself. In my calculus class, my teacher would always explain how a formula was created and why it works before he explained how it was used. This has helped me see the deeper purpose of math instead of just the surface, where we are told to do a problem without really knowing why. Another specific math topic that I have struggled with in the past is factoring. When the concept was first introduced to me, I was so confused that I got every single problem wrong. I asked for help every time but I just did not understand how someone could figure out the numbers off the top of their head. Since then, I have done hundreds of factoring problems in order to practice. Now, I get almost every problem right. I purposefully did these problems so that I could improve my skills, since I knew I would need them in the future. Overall, I think I have also improved my patient with math. I am able to think critically about a problem and figure out why I’m getting it wrong instead of instantly getting angry and giving up. That’s also a good skill to
The Nature of Mathematics Mathematics relies on both logic and creativity, and it is pursued both for a variety of practical purposes and for its basic interest. The essence of mathematics lies in its beauty and its intellectual challenge. This essay is divided into three sections, which are patterns and relationships, mathematics, science and technology and mathematical inquiry. Firstly, Mathematics is the science of patterns and relationships. As a theoretical order, mathematics explores the possible relationships among abstractions without concern for whether those abstractions have counterparts in the real world.
Some children find that mathematics is too abstract and does not connect to their daily life. They may find mathematics boring and irrelevant. Children who are forced to learn mathematics through rote memorization might find that they do not understand mathematical concepts and are unable to solve problems at a higher level as their foundation and grasp of basic math concepts are weak. Children who are forced to sit still and learn math by doing many worksheets may develop math anxiety and an aversion to numbers.