Perfect square

Completing the square was confusing at first because there are many steps in doing so. It really helped going through on Friday and doing some practice problems and making sure we thoroughly know what we are doing. 

What I learned

This week I learned about how to complete the square. At first it was hard but then I go the hang of it and it got really easy

The week seemed to start off slow after getting our tests back, but it slowly picked up. I like the fact that we're taking things a lot slower in class. I feel like I'm actually really understanding all of the material instead of just talking about it for 10 minutes and then moving on. I'm happy that Mr. Jackson actually accepted our feedback and changed some things during class time that seems to be helping a lot of us!

week 5

Im finding this unit much easier than the last.  The one problem I have is I feel like Mr. Jacksons moves on to the next thing right then i am staring to understand the first thing then I just get confused.

Muddy point

So after we got our test back and everyone was really bummed. At first I thought that I would never be able to come out of this feeling of dissatisfaction, but then we had a big group talk and went over a lot of the problems and I understood what I needed to work on to get a better grade. I think spending a little more time in class going over new content would really help me and other class members improve overall.

Clickity Clack!

Finally!! Things are clicking and working. Some help and tips from friends, have really helped me put all the pieces together. Completing the square??? More like get it done it 2 seconds and take a nap!!!

Progress!

When we began factoring the quadratics where the a value was not 1 were very difficult for me to grasp. But after trying the square and diamond technique it started to make sense and after I stayed after with Tara and talked about it with her it made complete sense to me. I also think that I'm getting this unit's material a lot easier due to the slower pace in class!

lets get this A baby!!!!!

Its weird and a long process for the completing the squares lesson. I havent ever done problems like this before. I woll eventually master however. When the "a" value isnt 1 I can do that with no problems. When "a" IS 1, I struggle. Although the practice packet for over this weekend has helped me TREMENDOUSLY because I challenged myself to do them without looking at the steps. Without the steps I wouldnt be able to get past the first problems. Thank you :)

Blog Post

This past week was stressful for many people, including me. After getting the test I think it was a wake up call for a lot of us. We were shocked with our results but after going over the test I started to learn from the small mistakes I made. As the week went I started to understand more. When we started learning the new material I really focused on understanding the material instead of just trying to memorize everything. Hopefully the next test will go better for all of us now that we learned from our mistakes!

Completing the square

In coordinate geometry we did a lot with completing the square to simplify, but I never realized that it can be used to find the solutions.  I thought it was really cool that completing the square can be used instead of the quadratic formula to find x values.

Something Cool

When we started to Complete the Square & Factor, I thought it was cool that I had learned how to do some of the simpler problems in Algebra 2A with Mrs. Bosman.  Knowing how to complete some of the problems from previous learning makes this part of the unit a lot easier for me to understand.  I thought it was cool how I remembered how to use the square to complete some of the problems. I also thought it was cool that I even remembered how to use the square because it feels like Algebra 2A was a bajillion years ago.

Progress

I feel like ever since we had the class conversation after receiving the tests back, everything is so much less stressful. now that weve all come to the group decision to slow things down, learning new material in this class will be so much easier to learn and retain. because of the heartwood trip Thursday however, the whole "perfect square" concept is a little difficult to me seeing as I didn't receive class time to learn it, but because of the new approach we established I feel as though ill be able to understand the material quickly.

Wow, that is too cool!

We started this new unit about quadratics and the very first assignment was the Fun with Quadratics! packet. The first couple of problems were a breeze! Then I got to the questions with an "A" value not equal to zero. The guess and check approach just wasn't efficient enough for me. As the class went on, Mr. Jackson demonstrated a new procedure. It was the "picture" process which the younger students learned. It blows my mind on how it works. I never heard of this way until now, but I love it!

Week 5

I think that the test kind of dampened some spirits but after going over parts I understand what I did wrong. The things we are learning now I find to be pretty complicated and would appreciate it if we did more examples in class before moving on to even harder concepts. I learn better when we do more examples with the class.

Muddy Point #5

I feel that our week started off hard with getting the test back, but once we had a class discussion and began to slow the pace down it's becoming easier to understand! I think when we take the time to talk about how to do a certain type of problem, it makes it easier and faster to do!!  The completing the square technique is really helpful for factoring out the quadratic a with A values more than 1

Blog post

My muddiest point would probably have to be when we got the tests back. There were a lot of things with finding inverse functions that I thought I did right but we're completely wrong, and I had no idea what was wrong.

week 5

This week has been pretty blurry for me. I feel like all my lightbulbs are being burned out. The whole factoring thing is fine but I really don't understand the factoring diamond thing. I would much rather guess and check because I already know how to do that.

My muddiest point this week was probably working with the diamond method.  It honestly reminds me of the forgiving method for division they taught us in elementary school which made absolutely no sense and in the long run had no effect on any part of my mathematical career.  "Guess and check" is also not something that makes sense to me because there is no set algorithm of how to get the correct answer.  Rough week I guess.

Week: 5 option 5

Okay, well I had a hard time understanding the whole concept of quadratics and the factoring or distributing by guessing.  I kept thinking over and over that there must be some other way, some structured way to do it but turns out, there really isn't.  I mean there is that strategy that the younger generations use, but to me it doesn't always make sense and it still is mostly guessing.  I guess it wasn't just one little spark that I was able to recognize this fact, but happened over the gradual time we were learning this in class.  For me it feels confusing since usually there are structured ways on how something can be done and not simply left to guessing, but I have learned to accept that for this instance there simply is not a rule by rule way to follow.

Week 5

 My muddiest point this week was probably when Mr. Jackson was explaining the diamond method for factoring. That made no sense to me. I was only able to factor when the guessing and checking method finally clicked.

5th post

I thought I did pretty well on the test but it turns out that I didn't. I still feel like I understand the material though. I realized that there were a few little mistakes I made that I caught when I was looking back over the test. I definitely could have fixed these mistakes if I paid closer attention. 

Blog post

I would just like to say that today went very well. I feel like the way you taught today was very helpful and I was able to retain the information given to us. You definitely listened to what we had to say yesterday and you applied it into today's class. I was extremely disappointed and shocked with my test score when I got it back considering I had thought I understood the material and got help on the only part i thought I was struggling with. However, after today's class I am feeling better about my future in this class and I feel as though this unit will be a turn around for me as I really need to raise my grade to an A. Thank you for a good class today, I have gained back a little confidence and am ready to move past the last test. 

Today Went Well

Yesterday, we received our tests back and I did absolutely terrible which is not how I felt I did while taking the test. That is perfectly fine because since then I have went to math labs and gotten help to further my understanding of the course. I would just like to say, that today, you (referring to Mr. Jackson) taught a little different than you normally do. You listened to what we had to say yesterday and applied it while in class today and I wasn't confused once the entire hour today. I'm not too sure this counts as my blog post because it isn't really about how I've progressed or whatever but I just wanted to say thank you. You slowed down the lesson and I understood everything at more than just a surface level. So again, thank you. 

Week 5 - Reflection on Thursday, Oct. 2

I thought today was very productive and went at a pace that was comfortable for most (if not all) of the class. I thought having the step-by-step directions on the 'Completing the Square' worksheet was really helpful. Then, going over the questions in class helped solidify those new ideas in my mind and I really liked how the pace wasn't too fast but it also wasn't too slow.

I think today was a very beneficial day because everyone (both Mr. Jackson and students alike) made an effort in the classroom. From my observations, Mr. Jackson slowed down in his explanations and had us really look at what was happening in the problems we were doing. I also noticed that students were really trying to understand the concepts in class by asking questions and asking for clarification when needed.

Overall, I thought that today was very productive. I feel like I learned a lot today. I feel confident in the material we're learning and I hope there will be more days like this one!

That first test though...

Oh man.  I really messed up big time on our first test.  I don't think I've ever done quite so bad in a math course before.  My parents really expect a lot from me, so I thought I was going to really get it when the news reached them.  I did a little, but not as bad as I had envisioned.  So now, my plan of action is probably going to re-take this failure, and lock down for the following tests so this doesn't happen again.

When you're me, you tend to keep your real thoughts and opinions locked away where nobody ever finds them.  But at the same time, I'm screaming for some kind of outlet to release them.  I guess I'm able to let a little bit of them out through this blog.  I just wish I was able to let everything I think out at once and show the world.

But I can't.

Something like that will get me nowhere.  All I'd probably get is "you can't talk to me like that" or something.  That's how this world works nowadays.  Submission to those above you, and anything else gets you in trouble with the man.

Oh man, listen to me ramble, right?

Week 5 blog post-first test

I am extremely disappointed with my test grade. I studied very hard and worked really hard and didn't get the outcome I wanted at all. It would really benefit me if we could learn at a slower pace so we can thoroughly learn things. It would also benefit me if we had more steps to solve problems and modeled a problem or two. I don't feel that I am learning or retaining information when we are learning something new everyday. I think it would help everyone if we spent 2-3 days perfecting and really learning a single topic rather than spending one day on it and then just going on to the next thing when we aren't ready to move on. I know that this class has a reputation to be more difficult but I think there are ways that could make it much easier and we should figure out what that is and execute those plans. 

Light Bulb/Struggling Point

Yesterday in class I really understood what we are doing with the factoring of quadratics and other exponentials. I took really good notes to aid me while doing the homework and they really helped. The test was not so pretty but that just means I have to work hard this unit and bring my grade back up. 

the struggle is real

I have never struggled in a math class in my entire life but right now I am struggling. I think I'm doing it right and I think I'm actually learning the information but when it comes to the test it feels like completely different questions then what we have learned. I ask my partners and they either A. explain it too me in their own method beside the one that is taught or B. they tell me they didn't know either. When I ask a question it is explained in a way that I have no idea what was just said. It's not because I'm unintelligent or I'm not paying attention it's just that I learn through steps and I feel like this math class is a lot of jumping around and chaos.

First Test

I didn't have a lot of trouble on the first test. The worst part was putting the inverse function into the original function. I don't think I practiced that enough before the test.

3rd Blog post-The First test!

I felt pretty good going into the first test. I feel that I preformed well also! The only thing I wasn't confident about was turning a given domain back into a function!