In a musty and bleak portable classroom outside of Henry Clay High School, younger me sat and tried to understand the hardest foreign language of all, math. But this tutoring session was different, I was finally going to have a breakthrough and understand something in mathematics. “Alright Emily, we are going to work on multiplying positive and negative numbers” the short but intelligent Mrs. K-K questioned me, “What is negative two times positive seven?” “Umm… fourteen?” I squeaked out, I honestly had no clue what I was doing. I was in seventh grade year and my second year of Algebra One. I was ready to give up; I assumed since I wasn’t adept enough the first time that I’d never be. “Well that’s close” Mrs. K-K assured me. “But you’re …show more content…
missing something, do you have any idea what that could be?” “Um, no. A positive sign?” “No its going to be a negative fourteen. Do you understand why it is negative?” “Ya.. no, not at all.” And what Mrs. K-K said next has stuck with me to this day, 6 years later. “Well, if you multiply a positive and a positive it will be positive.” “Okay. I understand that.” “But when you multiply a negative and a negative that’s also positive. The only time you come up with a negative product is when you multiply…? “A positive and negative?!” “Yes Emily!” I felt so smart in that moment, and that confidence motivated me to keep understanding math through the rest of the year. Even though I didn’t get a one hundred in the class, I still passed Algebra One and got to move on to advanced geometry in 8th grade, and continued passing all my math classes in high school. But on March 1st, 2016 came the real test of how far I’d come, The ACT. The past month at school we had been studying and preparing for the ACT and I felt pretty confident I could get a solid 23, considering this was the first (and hopefully only) time I was going to take it.
I sit down in the class room beside my best friend at 8am, with whom I had been studying with all week, wish him good luck and prepare myself. “Quiet please” Mrs. Gill’s monotonous voice echoes through the room, and we all look up while she passes out the test that could change our lives. I felt fine on the reading and English sections, even though I’m not great at the subject. But when it came time for the math section, I was so confident I breezed right through it and didn’t check any of my answers. Though that probably wasn’t the best idea, I didn’t think about the horrid assessment again until the scores came out right before spring break. When I got home on that sunny spring day I ran to the mailbox, flung it open to see the ACT Student Services envelope in there with my name on it. Before I’m even inside I have already opened it to see a giant three zero looking at me. “Ahh dad, I got a 30!!” I screamed running into my house. “Congrats!!” My dad yawns while waking up from his nap. “And I got a 33 out of a possible 36 on the math
section!!” I couldn’t believe it, this was an amazing score and even better score for my math section. I immediately thought back to how just 5 years ago I hated math and was awful at it, but now it was (and still is) my favorite and one of my best subjects. If I had given up in 7th grade I would have never met the people and teachers that are in my life today. I also wouldn’t have had a score anywhere near 30 on my ACT nor be in an Advanced Calculus class today.
Taking a test is never easy. Especially if you’re like me and stress over everything. I can remember the time I had to retake the Algebra Regents Exam for the second time. There I was sitting in a classroom taking a test I had already taken two times before. I looked around and saw a few other people waiting for the exam to be given out, and I began to feel nervous. My mind is racing and all I can think is, What if I don’t pass? Failure is an inevitable part of life and we cannot be successful in everything that we do. I failed my Algebra Regents Exam in my freshman year of highschool the first time I took it and although this may sound too cliche, This failure was, without a doubt, the most significant moment in my life. It completely changed the way I approached not only my academics, but just life in general
...ett, S. (2008) . Young children’s access to powerful mathematical ideas, in English, Lyn D (ed), Handbook of international research in mathematics education, 2nd edn, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 75-108.
I sat in my fluffy white chair as I edited a paper for my US history class last semester. As i did this I thought about how I'd much rather be on pinterest gathering inspiration for fashion, art, and interior design. It was in this moment I took a nervous leap that had been shadowing me the entire semester : I undeclared myself.
If you are studying in a comfortable place, say your bed or couch, your body will be in a relaxed state of mind and prone to not recalling as much learned material come test time. You could also potentially end up falling asleep and not get your adequate study time. It is good to be in a comfortable place while studying so here’s a list good places to go and study efficiently. Number one would have to be the library. It is the quietest place you could probably find and it even has resources for you to use to help aid you in your studies. Next, you could go to your local coffee shop. There’s nothing bad about getting yourself a little pick me up to help keep you awake and focused. If you’re feeling like you have been cooped up for too long take it outside! Find a nice park with some sunlight to help waken up your mood. And last if you feel you need help understanding some of the topics to be studied head to tutoring center. It’s a great way to ask questions and further understand the
When I was fourteen years old, I learned algebra. My algebra teacher wasn’t the best. My mind didn’t connect with the teachers’ lessons and textbooks too well, and math was one of my weakest subjects. I would walk into my algebra class every afternoon wanting to run right back out. This was the first time I began struggling with math at a high level of difficulty. All my life I had been used to getting 0Bs and at times even As in my math class, however, all of this changed once I got into algebra in my eight grade year in middle school. I felt like I was the only person in my class hanging by the tip of the nail when it came to passing the class, meanwhile, everyone else was getting all the lessons and assignments
Math has always been one of my biggest struggles in school. Eighth Grade Math was probably the worst year of my Math career. Solving for “x” was tough, but I didn't give up and now it is much easier. Problems that require several steps sometimes takes longer than
The purpose of this essay is to form a deep understanding of three mathematical concepts, numeracy, number sense and place value. As a teacher understanding the definition of these concepts is vital to deliver an authentic math experience. Both numeracy and number sense are linked directly to place value, with place value giving deeper meaning to both. Thus a teacher of mathematics must seek out computational activities that build from student’s pre-base-ten cognitive development allowing them opportunities to bring their prior learning into the classroom to further investigate mathematical problems. Social context is also important to any teacher, but plays a multimodal role within the math classroom.
and I always passed with D’s. Even today when I sit down to take a math test I freak out and my mind goes blank. I have also developed an anxiety revolving around time, which Boaler (2012) states, “Timed math tests is the early onset for math anxiety.” This is the case for many other students that have trouble in the subject.
Skemp, R (2002). Mathematics in the Primary School. 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis .
For some reason when I first got the packet I just felt like giving up. I knew that I was going to mess up and the thought of not passing the test made it worst. As soon as the test began I read and tried to answer as many questions as possible and correctly. After turning in the test I felt like I could have possibly passed. All of my friends and I talked about the test at school and they all said English was the easiest section. I was afraid when they said this because I had struggled with most the reading and writing test, but I just
As a secondary subject, society often views mathematics a critical subject for students to learn in order to be successful. Often times, mathematics serves as a gatekeeper for higher learning and certain specific careers. Since the times of Plato, “mathematics was virtually the first thing everyone has to learn…common to all arts, science, and forms of thought” (Stinson, 2004). Plato argued that all students should learn arithmetic; the advanced mathematics was reserved for those that would serve as the “philosopher guardians” of the city (Stinson, 2004). By the 1900s in the United States, mathematics found itself as a cornerstone of curriculum for students. National reports throughout the 20th Century solidified the importance of mathematics in the success of our nation and its students (Stinson, 2004). As a mathematics teacher, my role to educate all students in mathematics is an important one. My personal philosophy of mathematics education – including the optimal learning environment and best practices teaching strategies – motivates my teaching strategies in my personal classroom.
I attended George Washington High School for four and that school has taught me that teachers get no respect. Every day I would go to class and I would see the students ruining around not listening to the teacher and trying to start fights with them. The teacher tried their best to teach the students but in the end noting worked. So in the end the teachers gave up as well and started caring less about the students and let them do whatever they wanted to. I saw it as unfair because their were some kids who wanted to learn but it got ruined by others. I would see kids walking around the halls instead of going to class or skip class to go out and eat. It was very unorganized and very unprofessional the way that school was run. Nothing was ever
A somewhat underused strategy for teaching mathematics is that of guided discovery. With this strategy, the student arrives at an understanding of a new mathematical concept on his or her own. An activity is given in which "students sequentially uncover layers of mathematical information one step at a time and learn new mathematics" (Gerver & Sgroi, 2003). This way, instead of simply being told the procedure for solving a problem, the student can develop the steps mainly on his own with only a little guidance from the teacher.
In earlier years, I’ve had mostly good experiences with math. During elementary school, math was one of the easiest subjects I had. Math came so easy to me back then because it was mostly simple addition and subtraction. In the third grade, I had a slight struggle with adding and subtracting fractions, but I mastered it by practicing more and getting extra help. This experience pushed me to do practice problems at young age. It helped me in a positive way by showing me what it feels like to accomplish something. Once high school came around, math started to get a little more difficult. As soon as I adjusted to the high school setting, it became easy again. The most rigorous course I took in high school was Pre-Calculus. I took
Throughout out this semester, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a better understanding when it comes to teaching Mathematics in the classroom. During the course of this semester, EDEL 440 has showed my classmates and myself the appropriate ways mathematics can be taught in an elementary classroom and how the students in the classroom may retrieve the information. During my years of school, mathematics has been my favorite subject. Over the years, math has challenged me on so many different levels. Having the opportunity to see the appropriate ways math should be taught in an Elementary classroom has giving me a