OVERALL:
My math experience this year has been different to what I am used to coming from a traditional public school. To be honest, I was not challenged at all in the first half of the semester. Then I began to really challenge myself by doing more topics in ALEKS. As well as that, I refreshed/re-learned a lot of new things that I did not have a complete understanding in. It's been a big change for math this year. Even though it has been a big change, I think I adapted to it well and became increasingly more comfortable throughout the course of the year.
ALEKS:
ALEKS is definitely benefiting my math skills because I'm being introduced to a lot of things I had no idea of. ALEKS is really creating an environment in which I can go at my own pace. Since I tend to be slow, I can gather all the information without having to quickly jot down notes and not understand.It's also nice that I don't have to be at home or at school to work on ALEKS, I just have to have my computer. ALEKS is also good for reviewing things that I already learned so that I can master them. Overall, ALEKS helps me review past math topics whenever and wherever I want and at my own pace. Something I struggle with in ALEKS is always understanding the explanation and understanding what ALEKS is saying. This is because, if you don't understand a problem right away, and you need an explanation, the explanation ALEKS gives you can be confusing. Without a person there to help you it's hard to understand. Another thing that is sometimes hard is really remembering what you've learned. Therefore instead of learning something for the sake of it, learn it because you want to utilize it for the future. One way I do try to help my self learn these topics is by taking notes so that I can go back and review them on my own. I also always try to do ALEKS whenever it is assigned. One way I can improve on utilizing ALEKS to the best of my abilities is by not always picking the easy topic. I tend to try to always go for the easy things instead of going for the challenging and harder aspects. However, I have been getting a lot better at that as the year has passed.
TEST/QUIZZES:
A lot of the things that we are doing this year in math, I have learned before. However, a lot of things Marra has taught has been refreshed in my mind; now that I think about it, I didn't know a lot of these things. Therefore, I have had to study a significant amount to guarantee that I get an A. In the beginning of the year, the material was relatively easy. As the year has passed, I have had to study if I want to get an A. Throughout studies/quizzes, I push myself to go faster because I want to be the first one done in the class. I have noticed I have lost a significant amount of points for doing that. My next steps to start studying and getting the best out of math at all times. I want to feel challenged with these tests and quizzes and sophomore year, I will take advantage of that,
EXAMPLE MATH PROBLEM:
*This a type of problem I haven't understood in past years that I completely understand now.
PROBLEM: Find equation of a parallel line to the line, y=6x-8 with slope (3,5)
SOLVE: 5=6(3)+b
5=18+b
-18 to both sides.
b=-13
ANSWER: y=6x-13
My math experience this year has been different to what I am used to coming from a traditional public school. To be honest, I was not challenged at all in the first half of the semester. Then I began to really challenge myself by doing more topics in ALEKS. As well as that, I refreshed/re-learned a lot of new things that I did not have a complete understanding in. It's been a big change for math this year. Even though it has been a big change, I think I adapted to it well and became increasingly more comfortable throughout the course of the year.
ALEKS:
ALEKS is definitely benefiting my math skills because I'm being introduced to a lot of things I had no idea of. ALEKS is really creating an environment in which I can go at my own pace. Since I tend to be slow, I can gather all the information without having to quickly jot down notes and not understand.It's also nice that I don't have to be at home or at school to work on ALEKS, I just have to have my computer. ALEKS is also good for reviewing things that I already learned so that I can master them. Overall, ALEKS helps me review past math topics whenever and wherever I want and at my own pace. Something I struggle with in ALEKS is always understanding the explanation and understanding what ALEKS is saying. This is because, if you don't understand a problem right away, and you need an explanation, the explanation ALEKS gives you can be confusing. Without a person there to help you it's hard to understand. Another thing that is sometimes hard is really remembering what you've learned. Therefore instead of learning something for the sake of it, learn it because you want to utilize it for the future. One way I do try to help my self learn these topics is by taking notes so that I can go back and review them on my own. I also always try to do ALEKS whenever it is assigned. One way I can improve on utilizing ALEKS to the best of my abilities is by not always picking the easy topic. I tend to try to always go for the easy things instead of going for the challenging and harder aspects. However, I have been getting a lot better at that as the year has passed.
TEST/QUIZZES:
A lot of the things that we are doing this year in math, I have learned before. However, a lot of things Marra has taught has been refreshed in my mind; now that I think about it, I didn't know a lot of these things. Therefore, I have had to study a significant amount to guarantee that I get an A. In the beginning of the year, the material was relatively easy. As the year has passed, I have had to study if I want to get an A. Throughout studies/quizzes, I push myself to go faster because I want to be the first one done in the class. I have noticed I have lost a significant amount of points for doing that. My next steps to start studying and getting the best out of math at all times. I want to feel challenged with these tests and quizzes and sophomore year, I will take advantage of that,
EXAMPLE MATH PROBLEM:
*This a type of problem I haven't understood in past years that I completely understand now.
PROBLEM: Find equation of a parallel line to the line, y=6x-8 with slope (3,5)
SOLVE: 5=6(3)+b
5=18+b
-18 to both sides.
b=-13
ANSWER: y=6x-13
Below is a picture of a Mini-Project we did called paint the ceiling. I was assigned the Quadratic Formula! Take a peek:
After we created the ceiling tile we had to make a stop motion animation of our equation using SAM Animation. This is my video.