Personal Narrative: My Experience With Pre-Algebra

For the past three years of my high school career, and now my fourth, I have made it an obligation to continually expand my horizons in regards to math; when I cannot fully grasp an idea or concept, rather than giving up, I relentlessly pursue the idea until it is understood. During freshman year, math did not come easily to me. I was forced to go in early some days because, simply, I did not comprehend the concepts. However, taking initiative with my school work, and constantly working through problems that were difficult can be deemed one of the best decisions I have made. Although my final grade may not have been an

Van de Walle, J, Karp, K. S. & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2015). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Teaching Developmentally. (9th ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited.

My personal trainer saw how corpulent I was, so he decided to put me on a strong weight loss program.

such a bad situation right? when you don't know how to understand Math's solution. Even my mom she didn't understand why on earth I didn't understand these super easy solution then I ask teacher for helping me about this, She told me that "I HAVE TO MORE CONCENTRATE ON THIS SUBJECT". Everyone knows If we've got problem in which subjects we have to be more ambitious and study harder (But I can't)

Sixth grade the first year of middle school. Some think it will be really hard and some think it will be a piece of cake. For me the first few days are going pretty good. I’ve got all my classes down. There are no mean teachers. Plus, the homework is extremely easy and there is not a lot.

So freshman algebra rolled around and I loved it. After two weeks in the class I was three and one half chapters ahead of the teacher. He would only assign the odd problems for homework, but I’d do them all. Geometry was even cooler. But thinking back, not one of the teachers even commended me for doing so well. My father noticed I was good at it, but I thought he had to tell me I was good; he was my father.

A personal quality that I have is that I will never give up. During my first year of college, I took an Advanced Algebra class. I wasn’t doing very well, I tried my hardest in trying to get a C. I went to the tutoring center a lot more and I stayed at school for longer hours to study. I ended up not passing the class. When I went to talk to my professor to see what was the best course of action to take, she told me that maybe higher level math wasn’t for me and suggested that I take a business math class. Business Math consists of simple arithmetic. I had to prove to her that I could be good at math. When it was time to register for classes again, I proceeded to take another Advance Algebra class. My advanced algebra class started at 7AM everyday,

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

My first time taking the Math ACT, I received an adequate scaled score of 29. Of the 14 questions I missed, 35% of them were over Plane Geometry and another 35% were about Coordinate Geometry. One strategy I used this time taking the test was using my calculator after configuring the question in my test booklet. This was beneficial because it prevented me from wasting time using my calculator on mental math. Another helpful strategy was skipping over lengthy problems after reading them once. By skipping “time waster” problems I could go onto other problems I was more comfortable with and then possibly come back to the harder problems. Before this time taking the Math ACT, I did not study and look over old material I had learned in the past.

I once overdramatically complained in junior high about the impossibility of Algebra based on one atrocious test grade. I started comparing myself to others and my mom scolded me because I abandoned all hope. She reminded that I was in charge of my own journey and if I wanted something I could accomplish it. Throughout moments of my own self-doubt and discouragement, my mom was the one to motivate me through her independent and determined mindset.

In fourth grade, my school district accelerated me and a few classmate one year ahead in math, placing us in a fifth grade math class. Once i reached sixth grade, they accelerated me once again, placing me in Algebra I, instead of Sixth Grade Math or Pre-Algebra, like most of my peers were placed in. From this point on, my school district had an obligation to offer us advanced math classes to a select few of my peers an I, since they willingly accelerated us. However, once it was time to schedule classes for my senior year of high school, the school district decided to eliminate Advanced Calculus III, the course that two of my peers, that had remained accelerated, and I were expecting to take. Naturally, this came as a great shock and caused

Smack! I heard that sound five times before I knocked the bar over three times. Today was the day I learned that though I may be small but I sure am mighty. I also ran the 800m and the 4x100m dash. The 800 went excellent because I got 3rd place and was the first time I ran that race.

Miss Goforth taught me honors math three my sophomore year. Math has always been difficult for me and I was worried from the very beginning. I thought about not taking honors in this course. I even went so far as to try and drop the class after the first day because I felt like I would not be able to do the work. Fortunately for me Miss Goforth did not agree that I should drop her class and she encouraged me to continue in the class. This was one of the hardest classes I had during my high school career. I stayed in learning center and went to tutoring but in the end I was so proud that I faced my fear of honors math three. Miss Goforth pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and ask questions when I needed help. I believe this experience made

I stopped talking. I started listening. I listened to his advice. I followed his steps. I put the time in. I was tired, but everything I did, I tried my hardest. I worked as fast as I could. I wrote as fast as my hand could write. I finished more problems faster. I met a hard problem from Algebra which somehow wasn't that hard despite the exponents and fractions. We finished after half an hour passed. I was back to needing help on homework a week later. I told him - and myself - that we would one day stop these little tutor sessions soon, something we both wanted very much. But that day has yet to come.

Mathematics is a subject that either most people understand right away or have to put in a lot of effort. I have always been a student that has grasped the concepts relatively quick. This was true up until I entered my Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus class my senior year of high school. Before this class, I never had to study much for my math classes other than do the homework and skim the notes prior to a test. In high school, I was part of a math, science, and technology program for the students of Macomb County that was highly competitive and mainly consisted of independent study. This was a challenge when I first started because I had not done much studying my whole academic career. I was always accustomed to memorization and