Importance Of My Experience With Mathematics

As a whole, my experience with mathematics has been a positive one. However, I came to this assumption largely based upon the good grades that I received and the positive feelings that came from seeing those good grades. I think the real reason I like math is because there is a right answer and you can always find out whether or not you reached that correct answer. I was affirmed time and time again for having reached correct answers. However, how deep of an understanding did I have of why the methods I used gave me the correct answers? I do not think my understanding was ever very deep. I do not remember very much about how I was taught math or other subjects, but I do have a few very distinct memories that I hope will help inform and prepare …show more content…
This club was not really anything but a group of students who got to put a cutout of a hand on the back of the classroom door. I was panicking slightly as my teacher went from student to student and slowly got closer to me. I listened to one of my smart friends count to 100, was greatly impressed, and continue to listen intently as a few other classmates made it to 100. By the time my teacher reached me, I thought I had it figured out, but she was about to test my theory. Surprisingly, I did it! I was so proud of myself, but if I had failed it would have crushed me. I think this story is telling of how pressure and competition with peers motivated me throughout my education. However, I understand that for some students such competition and comparison would instead leave them feeling …show more content…
I continued on in high school with geometry, a second year of algebra, precalculus, trigonometry, and calculus. Thus far, my math courses in college have also been easy for me. My least favorite teacher was my calculus teacher, and it was not solely because of the tough subject matter. He was an engineer who took up teaching after retirement. He very simply could not teach well. He would stand in front of the board and talk through the problem at a pace that was almost impossible to follow. I always ended up scribbling down the examples and trying to find patterns of solving the problems later that night. Many times it was just too hard to do. I resorted to memorizing steps, and therefore I really cannot tell you anything about what calculus solves. On the other hand, my favorite teacher was my second year algebra teacher. He was extremely sarcastic but a great teacher, especially if you were willing to approach him and ask