Growth mindset project
In this project, we were assigned to complete something that we thought we couldn't before. I decided to attempt to bake the perfect souffle because I love baking and I knew that this was one of the most difficult and temperamental items to bake, so why not try it?! The impact of this project helped me in math class realize that although things may seem difficult at first, try another method or change things up a bit. After the two weeks were over, I did not try to perfect my souffle recipe because I already perfected it during this project. This project helped me realize that I can achieve success on things I deem as difficult at first. I was able to see that if I put enough time and effort into whatever I am doing, I can do well.
Struggling with The cow problem
This problem was a really big struggle for me. At first, the concept is easy but the further we got into solving it, the more complicated it got.
Here is the problem we were given: There is a square barn that is 10x10ft. A cow is attached to one corner of the barn on a rope that is 100ft long. What is the area that the cow can graze? We started by drawing a diagram that helped us visualize the area the cow can graze. If we imagine the cow is attached to the bottom right corner, we can see the ways the cow can easily wrap around 3/4 of the barn. In the top left fourth of the circle, there is a dip. This dip represents the spot where the cow cannot reach. This dip will be apparent, even if you increase the barn size or decrease the rope length. Our task was to find the area of the whole circle, including the area with the dip. I really struggled when it came to the SOHCAHTOA and radicals aspect. I learned trig in freshman year but I did not remember anything from it going into the unit. I also have not had much experience with radical numbers. I was not able to really grasp SOHCAHTOA or anything to do with radicals until the day before the cow problem exam, when I reached out to my peers for help. They were able to explain it to me in simpler terms, and work with me step by step. |
Loving geometry
This last semester, I really enjoyed exploring more complicated areas of geometry. Because I am a really visual learner, it was easy for me to pick up geometry rules quickly. I honestly liked studying for the geometry part of the final because it was really interesting to me, and I improved upon the skills I learned last year to succeed in the geometry section of the final. The geometry concepts that we focused on were finding missing side lengths or angles, identifying angles, classifying triangles, finding the area of shapes, and identifying similarity.
how have I grown?
This year, I was able to expand the skills I had previously acquired for preparing for a test. Taking online college classes, I had a brief understanding of how to succeed in a final. The classes I took were pretty easy subjects for me to understand, but I still needed to study a lot to pass. In math on the other hand, I need to devote at least an hour a day for two weeks leading up to any test. Math is not my strongest subject, and it rarely is easy for me to understand at first pass. This year, the tests and quizzes were what brought my grade down, but as the year progressed, I was able to understand more and more what I needed to do to be really prepared for a math test. At the end of the year, I was able to master the study process that worked best for me.
what math class am i taking next year?
It was a long and stressful decision to take pre-college algebra. At first, when Mr.B brought in the seniors to talk to us about their experience taking math class senior year, I was pretty set on taking calculus. I knew that both classes would be a challenge, and that I would have to put in extra time outside of school to go to tutoring or study on Khan Academy. I thought that it would be a good idea before I chose what class to take, to look on the course requirements for my major at the colleges I want to apply to, just to see if I would actually use calculus in college. Turns out, I would only need to be taking one math course, throughout my whole college career. I was still a bit apprehensive about choosing which class because I did not want to set myself up to fail. I set up a conversation with Mr.Carter to get his opinion on my current skills in math and which class I would succeed the most in. He told me that he believe I would succeed in any class I chose, and that the only obstacle would be myself. In the end, I chose pre- college algebra because I felt like strengthening my algebra skills would help me in the long run, throughout whatever math class I take in college.
How am i going to be SUCCESSFUL next year?
I know that the math class is going to be challenging next year, and to prepare for that I already have a tutor that helped me with the math portion of the SAT, that I am planning to help me more next year. I also know that I need at least an hour of solid math study time a day when preparing for a test, so I am relying on the packets from the class and Khan Academy to help me really get familiar with the concepts we are learning. In class, I plan to take really detailed (and color coded) notes to help me look back on when I am studying for finals.
honors
Honors this year was manageable, but I felt like if I chose not to take honors my grade would be a lot better than it is currently. Like I mentioned earlier, the tests brought my grade down, because if you were in honors you had to subtract the final test score by 10. This year, I learned a lot about how to manage my study time in order to be successful in math honors, and I know that these skills will help carry on into college. During the honors project this year, I was able to improve upon my knowledge of logarithms. This has a great impact on my learning because creating the video, I was the one writing and I needed to understand the different properties in order to draw them on the whiteboard.
The only suggestion to improve honors next year is to change something about how the tests are graded. I feel like honors students were put at a bit of a disadvantage because if one were to get 100/100 on the regular portion of the test but get only half credit on the honors portion, then their grade in Powerschool would not reflect the actual grade of the test. Personally, this brought my grade down significantly and although it helped me improve upon my work ethic, my effort on the majority of the test does not reflect the grade in the grade book.
The only suggestion to improve honors next year is to change something about how the tests are graded. I feel like honors students were put at a bit of a disadvantage because if one were to get 100/100 on the regular portion of the test but get only half credit on the honors portion, then their grade in Powerschool would not reflect the actual grade of the test. Personally, this brought my grade down significantly and although it helped me improve upon my work ethic, my effort on the majority of the test does not reflect the grade in the grade book.