Growth & Development Reflection
Semester 2
I feel that I have grown in my confidence, problem-solving, and self-advocacy in math class. I have become more vocal, participated more in each lesson, and have tried harder to ask for help from peers or Mrs. GC. My most significant accomplishment from this year was my honors work. I learned a great deal from the SAT prep book and I enjoyed creating my own honors project because I was able to research something that I was interested in. I contributed to the learning environment through my willingness to lead/help others. I struggled with procrastination sometimes this year because I would put off my math work when I had a lot due for other classes. I never turned in anything late, but I stressed myself out and could have prevented this by managing my time better. Otherwise, I think that I had a successful year in math and I have grown significantly. Everything I learned was relevant to my life and I will be able to apply it as I finish high school and begin college.
I am most proud of my honors work from this semester because I think that it is a good display of my work and abilities. I spent a very long time during the semester studying my topic and gathering research, and I think that my effort showed during my final presentation. I am proud of the binder that I compiled because it shows the vast amount of research and work that I completed over the course of the year. Also, I think that I was able to articulate what I learned clearly when I presented it to the class, showing that I truly understood my topic. Since the beginning of the year, I believe that I have improved the most upon my goal to “Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.” We have done a lot of group projects and discussions throughout the year, and I have grown a lot in my ability to justify my choices and explain my math. I have learned the importance of understanding a concept fully before using it or explaining it. Through peer discussions, I have been able to share ideas and work on constructing reasonable arguments. Overall, the classroom environment has fostered my ability to think creatively, justify my actions, and have respectful discussions or arguments with others. A few of the most significant concepts that I learned this year were from the college planning project when we learned about loans, taxes, and salaries. It was very important for me to learn as I will soon be finishing high school and entering college and the work force. Additionally, I enjoyed the last project that we completed, “Sine City,” because we were able to bring mathematics and community interest together to create a piece of art that related to our own city and current events. In my opinion, all of the projects that we have done have been very beneficial to me and I believe that the concepts are important foundations for what I will learn Senior year and in college.
Over the course of the semester, I have tried very hard to contribute more to class discussion as well take on leadership roles in group projects. I think that I have been much more involved in math class this year than I have in the past. For example, I took on a leadership role during “Sine City” and was able to coordinate our participation in the Youth Commission meeting. Through my small roles in group projects to larger roles in exhibitions, I have improved during this year and I think that my higher level of participation and confidence has had a positive effect on my performance and growth. In the “Sine City” project, as I mentioned earlier, I was able to take on a leadership role and handle more responsibilities. In my group of three, I took the lead in creating the Illustrator files which was very helpful to my group. I was very proud that I was able to remain organized and on task while handling multiple jobs during the project. Overall, I think that I have changed this year in a positive way because of my contributions to class, projects, and exhibitions.
One thing that challenged me this year was the SAT prep book that I had to complete for honors. While I did learn a lot about a variety of mathematical concepts, there were many that were confusing that I did not fully understand. I spent a lot of time working through different problems and trying to understand certain concepts, but there were many times when I was frustrated with my inability to grasp the topic. However, I always found friends to discuss the problems with and I found that many other people were struggling as well. I learned about the value of group work and discussions because we were able to solve problems together because we had different minds and ideas. One thing that I wanted to improve on that I was not as successful in was my ability to “Reason abstractly and quantitatively.” I do believe that I showed some improvement, but I found that I still struggle with solving problems that are formatted or phrased in a way that is unfamiliar to me. I am not always able to understand what a problem is asking or how to solve it when it is given to me, but I have tried to get better this year by practicing different styles of math problems. As I move on into Senior year, my goal is to expand my ability to reason through multiple types of problems. I want to be able to analyze problems in order to understand exactly what I need to do. Overall, I have really enjoyed math class this year and I think that I have grown in significant ways. As I finish high school and begin college and a career, I hope to continue to grow and apply my knowledge in order to be as successful as possible.
I am most proud of my honors work from this semester because I think that it is a good display of my work and abilities. I spent a very long time during the semester studying my topic and gathering research, and I think that my effort showed during my final presentation. I am proud of the binder that I compiled because it shows the vast amount of research and work that I completed over the course of the year. Also, I think that I was able to articulate what I learned clearly when I presented it to the class, showing that I truly understood my topic. Since the beginning of the year, I believe that I have improved the most upon my goal to “Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.” We have done a lot of group projects and discussions throughout the year, and I have grown a lot in my ability to justify my choices and explain my math. I have learned the importance of understanding a concept fully before using it or explaining it. Through peer discussions, I have been able to share ideas and work on constructing reasonable arguments. Overall, the classroom environment has fostered my ability to think creatively, justify my actions, and have respectful discussions or arguments with others. A few of the most significant concepts that I learned this year were from the college planning project when we learned about loans, taxes, and salaries. It was very important for me to learn as I will soon be finishing high school and entering college and the work force. Additionally, I enjoyed the last project that we completed, “Sine City,” because we were able to bring mathematics and community interest together to create a piece of art that related to our own city and current events. In my opinion, all of the projects that we have done have been very beneficial to me and I believe that the concepts are important foundations for what I will learn Senior year and in college.
Over the course of the semester, I have tried very hard to contribute more to class discussion as well take on leadership roles in group projects. I think that I have been much more involved in math class this year than I have in the past. For example, I took on a leadership role during “Sine City” and was able to coordinate our participation in the Youth Commission meeting. Through my small roles in group projects to larger roles in exhibitions, I have improved during this year and I think that my higher level of participation and confidence has had a positive effect on my performance and growth. In the “Sine City” project, as I mentioned earlier, I was able to take on a leadership role and handle more responsibilities. In my group of three, I took the lead in creating the Illustrator files which was very helpful to my group. I was very proud that I was able to remain organized and on task while handling multiple jobs during the project. Overall, I think that I have changed this year in a positive way because of my contributions to class, projects, and exhibitions.
One thing that challenged me this year was the SAT prep book that I had to complete for honors. While I did learn a lot about a variety of mathematical concepts, there were many that were confusing that I did not fully understand. I spent a lot of time working through different problems and trying to understand certain concepts, but there were many times when I was frustrated with my inability to grasp the topic. However, I always found friends to discuss the problems with and I found that many other people were struggling as well. I learned about the value of group work and discussions because we were able to solve problems together because we had different minds and ideas. One thing that I wanted to improve on that I was not as successful in was my ability to “Reason abstractly and quantitatively.” I do believe that I showed some improvement, but I found that I still struggle with solving problems that are formatted or phrased in a way that is unfamiliar to me. I am not always able to understand what a problem is asking or how to solve it when it is given to me, but I have tried to get better this year by practicing different styles of math problems. As I move on into Senior year, my goal is to expand my ability to reason through multiple types of problems. I want to be able to analyze problems in order to understand exactly what I need to do. Overall, I have really enjoyed math class this year and I think that I have grown in significant ways. As I finish high school and begin college and a career, I hope to continue to grow and apply my knowledge in order to be as successful as possible.