I’ve always loved math. It sort of runs in my blood, because all my family is very scientific and therefore mathematical. The reason that I like math is because it makes sense. There is just one right answer, maybe several ways to get it, but at the end you get where you wanted to be. For me, math isn’t confusing so this makes it more appealing. It’s very easy because if you know how to do it, if you know the procedure, then you’ll be able to do it.
The math classes I have taken during my life have never been that challenging. What I mean is that once I understand how to do it, everything becomes simple to do. Due to this, I have always liked math class. But, I must admit that in come math classes I learn more than in others. For example, in seventh grade with Ms, Tumoine I learned Pre-Algebra very well, she made us do huge amounts of homework, but at the end it was all worth it because that year I learned so much. Last year in Algebra with Ms. Graham I learned lots of things as well, and her class was lighter, because there wasn’t that much homework and she wasn’t as demanding as Ms. Tumoine, but she also was a great teacher. I think I’ve always done well in math class, because I enjoy learning and solving it.
At the start of this year’s ninth grade course, I didn’t have great expectations. Not because I thought the class was going to be awful, no, because it’s better to keep expectations low so then you don’t get disappointed (sad reality). So when I first saw my teacher dressed in his Star Wars costume I thought the class was going to be weird. And indeed it was. This course has been different form any I have taken before, because it takes the “Montessori approach”. Students can work on what they want, there are several assignments, quizzes, progress check, participation activities, etc. that need to be done so we can work on them at our own pace but we have to do them because they have a time limit. I really liked the way we learned math this year, because it’s more didactic. We can do what we want to do, as long as we are working, and I’m just fine with this because then it doesn’t get boring. We don’t stare at a board all day or read from our book until we want to fall asleep.
At first, it was hard to get used to this new teaching method. But after a few weeks I grew accustomed to it and worked perfectly at ease. It was also difficult when the grading policy changed. At first you could retake anything (except participation activities) you had gotten a low score in until you got a hundred or the activity closed. But when we came back from winter break everything was upside down because now we could only get two attempts on our activities and the score was averaged! It was very difficult at first, and I didn’t like this.
At first I wasn’t really noticing my progress in math. I thought that I was losing time in doing so many activities and quizzes, and that by not having homework I wasn’t learning. But I found out that I had actually learned so much without noticing because that is the Montessori way to do things. I was used to the way CAT teaches, with lectures in class, taking notes, and doing home works. But this new way of teaching helped me very much because when I got my MAP test scores back I improved so much, the whole generation did, it was extraordinary. This class helped me adapt to new situations as a student. Also I learned to work better as a team and as a class. Sometimes I prefer to work alone because then I don’t have to depend on others who might make mistakes. Like if I make mistakes it upsets me, but it upsets me more if someone else in my group does because I could have done it alone, maybe slower but then it would be my error and I’ll have just myself to blame. But now I learned that by working on a group, even if it is with people I don’t like, I can work quickly and if I’m still not sure that everything’s right, I can check it before turning it in.
I’m about to finish this course, and it makes me sad because I know that I’ll probably won’t have a class like this ever again. I’ll still like math and everything, but I’ll miss having an entertaining and independent class. I hope my future math courses will not be boring. I’d like to learn a lot, to fill my head with knew math knowledge form my next years’ classes and if I can do this in an independent and organized way it would be perfect.
The math classes I have taken during my life have never been that challenging. What I mean is that once I understand how to do it, everything becomes simple to do. Due to this, I have always liked math class. But, I must admit that in come math classes I learn more than in others. For example, in seventh grade with Ms, Tumoine I learned Pre-Algebra very well, she made us do huge amounts of homework, but at the end it was all worth it because that year I learned so much. Last year in Algebra with Ms. Graham I learned lots of things as well, and her class was lighter, because there wasn’t that much homework and she wasn’t as demanding as Ms. Tumoine, but she also was a great teacher. I think I’ve always done well in math class, because I enjoy learning and solving it.
At the start of this year’s ninth grade course, I didn’t have great expectations. Not because I thought the class was going to be awful, no, because it’s better to keep expectations low so then you don’t get disappointed (sad reality). So when I first saw my teacher dressed in his Star Wars costume I thought the class was going to be weird. And indeed it was. This course has been different form any I have taken before, because it takes the “Montessori approach”. Students can work on what they want, there are several assignments, quizzes, progress check, participation activities, etc. that need to be done so we can work on them at our own pace but we have to do them because they have a time limit. I really liked the way we learned math this year, because it’s more didactic. We can do what we want to do, as long as we are working, and I’m just fine with this because then it doesn’t get boring. We don’t stare at a board all day or read from our book until we want to fall asleep.
At first, it was hard to get used to this new teaching method. But after a few weeks I grew accustomed to it and worked perfectly at ease. It was also difficult when the grading policy changed. At first you could retake anything (except participation activities) you had gotten a low score in until you got a hundred or the activity closed. But when we came back from winter break everything was upside down because now we could only get two attempts on our activities and the score was averaged! It was very difficult at first, and I didn’t like this.
At first I wasn’t really noticing my progress in math. I thought that I was losing time in doing so many activities and quizzes, and that by not having homework I wasn’t learning. But I found out that I had actually learned so much without noticing because that is the Montessori way to do things. I was used to the way CAT teaches, with lectures in class, taking notes, and doing home works. But this new way of teaching helped me very much because when I got my MAP test scores back I improved so much, the whole generation did, it was extraordinary. This class helped me adapt to new situations as a student. Also I learned to work better as a team and as a class. Sometimes I prefer to work alone because then I don’t have to depend on others who might make mistakes. Like if I make mistakes it upsets me, but it upsets me more if someone else in my group does because I could have done it alone, maybe slower but then it would be my error and I’ll have just myself to blame. But now I learned that by working on a group, even if it is with people I don’t like, I can work quickly and if I’m still not sure that everything’s right, I can check it before turning it in.
I’m about to finish this course, and it makes me sad because I know that I’ll probably won’t have a class like this ever again. I’ll still like math and everything, but I’ll miss having an entertaining and independent class. I hope my future math courses will not be boring. I’d like to learn a lot, to fill my head with knew math knowledge form my next years’ classes and if I can do this in an independent and organized way it would be perfect.
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