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SOLVE FOR X
baylee ahrens
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SOLVE FOR X
A MATH BLOG BY BAYLEE
AFRAID TO SAY I MADE A MISTAKE
One of the first things we did in math was the name challenge. Which is basically a challenge where you have to know everyones name. Being in a new class with kids I knew and kids I didn't, made this a true challenge. I made the same mistake 3 times, putting down the right names, for the wrong people. This felt like a failure, and made me feel embarresed to get the names mixed up. But after a few tries, I finally started to build up confidence and accomplished my goal. In the end I relized that it wasn't all about how well we did, it was about learning that we should have a growth mindset and be able to make mistakes. I am going to try and apply that to my own learning, and to this year as well as my entire life.
This week I tried the math problem Noah's Arc. It invloved using common since skills. At the beginning when I first tried the problem, I was over thinking it, and made the mistake of thinking some options, like the right answer, were not possible. After I opened up new ways to solve te problem, it became easier. The thing I really learned was that even if a problem is easy, you can always find ways to challenge yourself and think outside the box. Adam helped to get me thinking about how I could push my thinking, but a goal I have is to try and find ways to push myself on my own inside and out of school, as well as to find other ways to solve a problem.
BEING STUCK ON A NARROW PATH NOT TO SUCCESS
One of the things we are doing for the long now project is finding the math within our topics. My topic was gears, and for the math I compared ratios of gears and their machanical advantage. I made the mistake of thinking that our gears machanical advantage was affected by the middle gear. This was a problem because we wanted to put the ratio formulas on our model, but we had an incorrect formula. After rechecking my work, I relized that the ratio was not actually affected by the middle gear, My mistake was relying on one source, and not using multiple sources. I learned that I need to recheck my work and also to have an understanding of the why behind an equation. I have grown because I know now not to trust one source, and I also have grown the ability to recheck my work if i'm not completely certain it is correct.
GEAR RATIO EQUATION ACTUALLY WRONG
Lately I have been feeling unfocused and always trying to catch up with what we are doing. I feel this is because ofa mistake I made a while back. My mistake was thinking that I knew all of the stuff we were learning, and therefor didn't need to pay too much attention to mini lechures or project updates. At first it wasn't impacting me too much because most of the stuff we did was posted on classroom, etc. So it, not being entirely ideal, was okay if I missed a few things Adam said to the whole class. However, this impacted me in the long run. I had begun to create habits of zoning out during important class anouncments and relying on other sources to get information. Recently I have found myself needing to catch up on assignments that I simply didn't know about. My mistake was choosing not to focus, and allowing myself to do so. I learned that I need to prioritise things such as current assignments and projects before friends and social things. I have grown throughout this relization and have found solutions to help me stay focused. I know this mistake isn't super specific, but I wanted to be honest and lately I have been focusing a lot on not getting distracted and improving my focus.
ZONING OUT AND BEING PROUD OF IT?
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A NEW BRAND OF CATCH-UP
Over Thanks Giving break I went on a cruise to the Carribean, after the cruise I stayed in florida for a few days until my flight. This caused me to miss monday and tuesday back from break. When I came to school on wednesday I relized I had missed a lot, and needed to catch up. I thought I could catch up on the late work during a mini notes lechure, so I went into the commons. My mistake was thinking that it was the right time to catch up on work. I ended up missing more, and putting myself in a worse position. I learned when catching up on work, it should be done at home or during indivisual work time. I grew by not only learning when is the right time to catch up on work, but also how and where. I have recently been going to the resource room during work time, and I have found that it is a lot easier and faster to get things done. Currently I feel completely caught up and prepared for any new and upcoming assignments. A bonus, I am even writing this blog post in the resource room :)
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A DEAD LINE AND A DEAD COMPUTER
I have a personal computer, a mac book air, which I use instead of the school computers. And so, every night I charge my computer for it to be ready to take to school the next day. It seems pretty simple, plug in the power cord and charge. I made it a habit, everynight, but one night I just didn't plug it in. It didn't seem like that big of a deal, even if my computer did run out of battery during school I can always use a school computer. But what happens when you lose access to all of your saved work in which happens to be saved on that dead mac book? The assignment was looking at youtube videos and their stats. I was hitting my 10th video, stats all recorded on a spreadsheet. Then my computer died. So, not worried at all, and with the due date for the final spreadsheet coming up, the end of the semester, and thanksgiving break, I logged into another computer. Pulled up my spread sheet, went on to youtube and... Couldnt watch any of the videos, or look at their stats. The computer had a safety lock on it, preventing me from completing the assignment and turning it in on time. My mistake was not charging my computer all the way, and in the end it shouldn't have effected me too much, but it did. I learned that I need to be prepared for many different times of problems in school and life. I grew by problem solving and trying different solutions as well as keeping a positive out look and attitude. In the end the assignment did get turned in and I made a small mistake, but the important thing is that I learned and grew from it.
© 2015 by baylee ahrens - SOLVE FOR X
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