2nd Semester Skills
Generating Ideas
This semester has been filled with figuring out ways to get my school work done. When the semester started I was working three jobs and upholding decent grades, I had to spend a lot of time planning my days out weeks in advance. This became extremely hard when I was faced with choosing my work life over school. Now, that may seem bad but I do not regret the decision, I have struggled for two years to become the person I am. The end of another school year is coming to an end and I'm proud of the different ways I have approached problems that have been solved in and out of school.
Communicating thinking in a clear and accessible way
I am not a quiet or shy person (or at least I like to think I'm not). During this past semester I have tried really hard to turn in assignments and to speak up more in my classes, specifically in Algebra II. I like to help wherever I can and when we have seminars on homework (explorations) I make sure I try to answer/help my classmates with any of the problems I can. This small gesture has given me the encouragement to be more outgoing and with that I was able to apply to different summer programs that will help me further my education.
Recognizing and resolving errors
I believe that this habit should be one of my strongest qualities, but sadly I don't believe it is. I try to force "beautiful work" and half of the time I lose interest in the topic we are learning about. This can be seen in POW #10. POW #10 was an assignment that I never finished because I thought it was very repetitive and I chose not to see the significance it truly had. I regret not putting my all in a few of the assignments this semester but I also recognize and understand why I did that.
Reflecting and synthesizing
Overall, this year has been a really tough one. I know what my limits are and I know what type of student I am. I will continue to work on my time management skills because those are a necessity. I believe that all the projects we've done this year have given me a better understanding of how I want my future classes to be organized/taught.
Final Project Reflection
The beginning of this project was exciting. I enjoyed working with small groups and making plans with how extensive our work with our boats would be. When we actually started making our boat, I had to think "wow, I've never done a project like this in math". I started researching different types of boats, and in class we made cardboard boats that were a part of a test run in the creek next to our school. I was able to incorporate some of the research I found into our boat, we focused a lot on weight displacement, the capacity of the boat and how fast could it go. One of the biggest challenges for me was the transition from using cardboard for our boat to steaming and shaping the sides of our boat out of wood. I needed help with shaping the sides for our boat, we ended up bending one of the sides of our boat too much and had to problem solve to figure out how we can fix the side without having to re-make a side. I thought this project was a great way to bring the semester to an end. I felt challenged and had an opportunity to help strengthen my leadership skills.
1st Semester Skills
This past semester in Algebra two we have covered many new approaches to solving problems, inside and outside of Dan’s classroom. Two of the skills that I feel I have mastered this semester are
- Graphing exponential growth and decay
- Creating a system of inequalities
In exploration 12 problem one my process to work through the question was to graph the equations in desmos to show myself how exponential growth and decay begins. I now know how to differentiate growth and decay through exponential graphs.
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In exploration 10 problem one, the expectation was to create a system of equations that create a square without using horizontal or vertical lines. My process to get the correct answer was to create system of inequalities that showcased a square that didn't have horizontal or vertical lines.
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Habit of A Mathematician
The most important Habit of a Mathematician in my eyes is developing general rules. In Algebra ll, it is easy to get caught up in overthinking a problem or an exploration, and so by developing general rules, and showing the steps that I took personally feels that in developing general rules becomes way easier. In two different explorations that we completed recently, I was able to develop general rules with the help of tables and background information to actually solve the problem. These explorations being the few times that I actually felt confident that I am learning and growing in Algebra has helped me significantly.
Spreadsheet Workshop
This project shows different ways to make calculations within excel and spreadsheets via. google.