Intermediate Secondary Mathematics

Artifact 1: Summative Assessment on Linear Equations

Description:

This unit focused on system of equations. I understand how math works in English and knew what part of difficulty I should improve in. I also solved a lot of difficult word questions in English which I never did before.

School Values: Critical Thinking – Identification of Changes 

I have several ways to improve my future work in mind, such as double-checking my works from making mistakes because there are a lot of fractions and memorizing vocabulary of specific math topic we use a lot in class. These steps will make me get more use to math in English since I always learnt math in Chinese.

Critical Thinking – Connection to Other Classwork

I connected this assignment with some real life word questions which is very much helpful other than just calculating numbers. It covers science in physics, speed and distance. It also covers in some reading, since you have to read very carefully to make sure you have the right idea in what you are going to solve.

Global Citizenship – Appreciation of Difference 

I can see that a lot of my classmates have different ways in solving the exact same questions, which made me a little surprised because in my old school, all of my classmates learn and use same solutions. I understand that there are a lot of different ways while facing math.

Growth – Vertical Growth

This unit extended my knowledge of a deeper understanding of equations. I was able to solve word questions with the skills I have learnt in class which is a little hard for me. I have many practices in class and even some at home so I don't forget the things I have learnt today. I remembered the solutions and the vocabularies so I can do well in the quiz by solving the word problems I practiced a lot in class and the calculating problems I also did a lot in class.

Growth – Work/Study Habits 

I continued practice solving problems and also have many time to practice the lessons after my teacher's explanation and teaching of today's class. I made some notes by parts I don't know and the ones I already understand, and also some vocabulary of difficult math problems with Chinese by the side so I can review those word quickly. These ways helped me to get more used to VIS math class.

Global Citizenship – Identification of Local/Regional Issue 

I connected some of the linear equations I see in the quiz to real life scenario, such as renting a place and you compare many different prices you see in different venues. This helped me see how things I learn in math class are actually useful in everyday planning. It made math feel more connected to my daily life.

Growth – Collaboration/Feedback 

Teacher's feedback helped me understand that, during solving a math problem, especially for word questions and real life questions like this food truck project, you should explain the equation and tell what X and Y means in the equation. I started to write down those information on my food truck project.

Global Citizenship – Identification of Global Issue

I would like to make my food truck environment friendly. It could be energy using or the amount of it that should be limited or controlled.

Growth – Connection to Future Plans 

Understanding the system of equations leads to using them in future math units, such as linear equations, slopes, and intercepts.

Class-Specific 1: Conceptual Understanding of Mathematics 

I understand how to represent objects of people in math problems into X and Y, choosing them wisely also decides whether it is easier or not in solving the problem.

Class-Specific 2: Application & Problem Solving 

I used equations in many word problems and it is a tool that is easy to use when you understand it fully. In the food truck project especially, I think that I have improved a lot in solving questions and using the equations properly.

Class-Specific 3: Mathematical Communication 

I believe that I list my equations and solutions clear and neat, I always do that because it is also easier for me to check my own work. I give information I found out from the word problems and list the explanation of X and Y.

Conventions & Polish 

My answers and reflections are clear and I check them to make sure I don't make mistakes. I am a little uncareful usually, which is something I have noticed and wish to make a change in.

In this test, it was a little more challenging than the one last time. Last test covered some lessons I learnt before in my old school so it wasn't that hard for me to understand them. However, the range of this test was all Taiwanese senior level math so none of them was easy for me to learn. 

I tried my best to practice as much as I can in class and also did some in my free time because math is one of my favorite subjects; I want them to be better and I also have high expectations for myself.  I didn't choose the advanced test because I had too less confident in myself, but now I know I should have more confidence  because I know I practiced a lot and is able to do more challenging questions to prove I did well!

I believe that my calculating skill have improved since there are a lot of big numbers in this test and I had to practice. I also found out that organizing my steps are super important for me because I get confused so easily. 

During practicing, I wrote my steps out clearly and listed what I need properly for me and my teachers to see. It helped a lot and I also knew more clearly and is able to do the practices and problems smoothly in the end.

This is our road trip project. I did it with my teammate Emerald. This is the first time ever for me to calculate the distance of city to city and states to states. It was super hard to do with such big numbers.

It was also quite difficult for me to choose the place because I don't know any of them and I had to plan an entire road trip. I used the distance formula for all of them to calculate the exact distance from places in USA.

We choose all of the shortest distance to save time and energy and protect the environment and to improve the global warming situation.

If I had time and I visit the USA again, I would definitely try this road trip I designed with my teammate out and travel around the USA. I believe it would be very fun and entertaining to go to places I have never been to.

Every single team in the class choose their own place to visit and calculate so all of our project looks very different. This is a well-design assignment for me to improve my math and also in calculation. This makes all of our project unique and nobody's project looks the same.

In this road trip project, we also compared the distance we calculated to the exact distance on google map so we can know how much difference we made.

Honestly, this test was quite difficult for me. I studied for a long while before the test and still got problems wrong. I went through all of my mistakes and fixed them to avoid this from happening again. The test covered everything I have learned in this semester.

I did some practices at home the day before the test with some textbook questions our teacher, Mr. Weinberg, listed out for us. This is very different than the tests I used to have in my old school since in the old school, I had many tests to review for the big quiz, however, for VIS, it is just me. I worked on this semester's math class quite hard because I am new to this school and I am not really used to the way the teachers teach and using English to learn new math. 

I believe that I have improved in math class and knows how this class works better. I am looking forward to the next semester and learn more fun math with my classmates and teacher!