High School Math Personal Statement

The general belief around the country (or perhaps even the world) is that math classes will be beneficial to a well rounded student. In some cases, such as the author argued, this might be true as a recent high school graduate who hasn't had the life experiences that someone later in their life might have. The author continues to explain that in their line of previous work and general experience, they already have the general math knowledge that their degree will need.

My passion for mathematics was fixed at the age of ten, on the morning that my mathematics teacher told I would be sitting the Junior Maths Challenge, 'as practice for when you are older'. As I nervously started to answer the questions, a whole world began to open before me. I revelled in the problem solving, answering questions of a nature I had not seen before. My teachers were delighted when I emerged from the exam hungry for more. Since then I have consistently demonstrated my aptitude, achieving gold awards through to senior level, and scoring highly in the European Kangaroo.

Observing the current global economic climate, it is easily noticed that the changes within the financial sector has greatly influenced our lives on an everyday basis. This influence has encouraged me to develop a greater understanding of how the flow of capital affects individuals globally. Being logical and having a practical way of thinking are the key characteristics involved in Maths which are also mirrored in other fields such as Accounting and Finance. Having found an interest in Mathematics due to the involvement of probability, differentials/integrals of curves and logarithms, I believe that this course will enable me to express my current skills and provide me with the ability to further my understanding allowing me to pursue a career

A classroom with a critical and creative thinking environment provides opportunities for higher-level thinking within authentic and meaningful contexts, complex problem solving, open-ended responses, and cooperation and interaction. Many students see math as right or wrong and they don’t question or explore more. As a future math teacher, I want students to learn to question, be critical, and be creative. I want my future students to feel engage in exploration and investigation. I want to equip my students with higher levels of thinking and engagement and make mathematics more relevant and meaningful.

When I asked myself what I was I going to be when I got older, I had no answer. This made me realize that I had to make a decision and I had to make one fast. An area of study I have always been interested in is business. My dreams as a child have always been to become the President of The United States or an owner of a business. Working for a business would be intresting, but owning one would be more fulfilling. I would be able to expand my imagination by coming up with new ideas and control the company as a whole. I love designing and creating different things that make people happy, and if one day I became an owner of a company that produced products that satisfied people, that would make me happy. I soon came to the conclusion that in

Geometry and Algebra are so crucial to the development of the world it is taught to every public high school in the United States, around 14.8 million teenagers each year (National Center for Education Statistics). Mathematics is the engine powering our world; our stocks, economy, technology, and science are all based off from math. Math is our universal and definite language “I was especially delighted with the mathematics, on account of the certitude and evidence of their reasonings.” (Rene Descartes, 1637).

As an African-American, many prejudice have befallen me, but the experience that I can remember vividly and shaped my life is the prejudice my 8th grade math teacher had against me. The preconceived opinion that she had about me is that I was a goof, unfocused student who did not deserve to be in her highest class. She really did not know me nor did she have real experience or reason to think this way. She just knew that I was the best friend of her favorite student and she thought I would drag him down. When it came time to move on to the 8th grade and be placed in a level of Algebra, despite my grade in Math 7 Advanced being high enough, she decided to place me in regular Algebra I. I was in the class for little while, but when the higher

Deficits in math proficiency are a matter of national concern (Beal, Walles, Arroyo, & Woolf, 2007). Students are struggling to pass statewide subject-area tests, reach suitable ACT scores, and/or enter college without enrolling in remediation classes in math. According to the American Institutes for Research, American students score well below comparable students in other countries (Phillips, 2009). Deficiencies in math scores tend to slip as students progress from one grade to the next. This chain of events creates students who select non-based math studies as they enter high school and college which can create real voids in our work force.

Problem solving is a skill that students will continue to develop all throughout their lives. In mathematics, problem solving is a skill that required the student to use prior knowledge in order to learn a new concept. Imagine a child’s brain full of red and blue dots. The learners new ideas (blue dots) need to connect with existing ideas (red dots) in order for students become successful in mathematics (Van De Walle et al., 2013, p. 20). By being able to problem solve, students are showing that they have math proficiency that includes conceptual understand, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and productive disposition. In order to achieve math proficiency we have to encourage children to problem solve to the best of their ability, and then help guide them into looking at

College freshmen usually struggle with math because they aren’t prepared. A lot of them tend to have their high school habits. A math course is a very important subject for most majors and to pass college it’s one of the required courses to take. “Math Requirement Fulfilment” by Wang and others discusses how math is a very important core subject. According to Wang and others, “of all course subjects at the college level, math is arguably one of the most critical, given its foundational role in shaping future academic success.” This means that math is one of the most important subjects

Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes.

In the article “Is Algebra necessary?” Andrew Hacker, an emeritus professor at Queens College, explains the immense amount of time and resources that are wasted to teach high school students higher level math that will likely never be used. Hacker expands on

Mathematics is a type of reasoning. Thinking mathematically includes thinking in a rational way, developing and checking conjectures, understanding things, and forming and validating judgments, reasoning, and conclusions. We show mathematical habits when we acknowledge and explain patterns, build physical and theoretical models of sensations, develop sign systems to assist us stand for, control, and review concepts, and create treatments to address issues (Battista, 1999).

Challenges The main challenge here is to break the stereotype that females are not as good at mathematics as males are. Even though this stereotype is not as strong as other stereotypes out there, there is still a misconception that men are better at certain subjects and women need to focus on what they are supposed to be better at. What we have to do here is show those who doubt students like Jamie Peterson that the stereotypes are wrong and why they are wrong. The challenge also comes with dealing with teachers and counselors that try to guide students like her into fields that they believe that the student want to do. They want to make sure that the student is in the most successful situation. But, if the student is not happy in that field, they might end up being

“Mathematics” is a polarizing word for many people and very often it evokes numerous personal reactions, commonly an anxiety reaction. Surprisingly, I am not speaking here only about students, but more importantly about the people who teach mathematics. As the study done by Alan B. Bates, Nancy I. Latham, and Jin-ah Kim indicated, many teachers have fears about teaching mathematics and how teachers’ fears influence students, their learning outcomes, and how mathematics has impacted them in their years of teaching. These finding are also relevant to how I felt about teaching math due to lack confidence in my teaching abilities of mathematical content knowledge. However, as I am reflecting on this past semester that I spent learning about math trajectories as well as math content knowledge, I feel much more confident in exposing my students to math. I think that mathematics is not an easy concept to teach and it requires good strategies to be a successful teacher, but if we do not try to teach it, we will never gain confidence in it.