Personal Concerns and Next Steps

I'm not sure when or why I lost interest in math, but when I left elementary school I feel that math became more challenging every year. When I was younger, every day after school I would sit at home and practice my math flash cards, not as punishment but for enjoyment. I loved the board races, "Around the World," and other forms of competition that our teacher would let us do to help us to remember math facts both quickly and correctly while having fun at the same time. I've always been someone who likes a little competition, and when I knew I would have to participate and race against my classmates, I would practice that much harder to make sure that I was the best in the class. When I started middle school, I feel like the fun was taken away from learning. Not many teachers would incorporate excitement into their daily lessons. Direct teaching was most certainly the top method of instruction, with the teacher writing the notes on the overhead as we copied them down before completing an assignment with twenty of the same types of problems over and over again.

When I lost interest in math, I would not try to fully understand the material, but simply memorize the steps so I could do well on the exams. I've always done fine in math, but it hasn't come easily. So far this semester I have realized how much deeper my understanding would be if I had been taught by the method of instruction we are learning in class now. To help me find my strengths again and to be successful in this class, I will need to participate in class by asking questions, push myself with every topic by reviewing the material daily, and really look at the big picture instead of just memorizing how to do the problems.