My High School Experience

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.

Everest, and watching them achieve their goals. I was horrible at math as a child, and to this day I am sub-par. I had an algebra teacher in high school, Mrs. Castens, who was the most patient woman I have ever met. In the beginning of the semester, everything in her class made sense. There were simple equations, a little bit of chart graphing, and double digit multiplication. However, it went from zero to a hundred very quickly, and I was left in the dust. I started failing quizzes and falling behind my classmates once we got to the dreaded proofs. Mrs. Castens took notice of this, and set up times for me to come in after school 3 days a week to tutor with her. She also gave me notes that broke down the material step by step, and came up with little songs to remember each of the formulas. She went above and beyond to make sure that I could be successful in her class; and that is what being a teacher is all about I

For years, students are brought up and inspired by the adults in their lives. When thinking back on all the people that have helped me strive to be the person I am today, and the person I eventually want to be, I’m instantly reminded of all of the teachers that have left a mark on me. Specifically my eleventh grade algebra teacher, Mr. Hart. He showed me that there is nothing wrong with having a love of math. Ever since grade school I've enjoyed puzzles and numbers and the “ah ha” moment when it all finally came together, but anytime I tell someone I enjoy math, they look at me with a look of disgust. It seems to be known that math is supposed to me the “most hated subject” and I’d love to change the way students and even adults see it. Spending the majority of my life in the school systems I have seen that teachers have a societal responsibility to shape their students into who they will become in the real world, and that is what I am going to strive to achieve.

It is generally accepted that learning implies a multitude of factors meant to prepare the children for life and its challenges. Some of these factors are directly related to the level of knowledge of subject matter, but others are based on individual feelings, relationships, or capabilities of developing a sense of belonging and personal worth, confidence, or attitude toward a certain content area. All these elements together form the foundation of student’s future success. On many occasions, certain factors such as the teaching approaches, encouragement from family members and school personnel, or past experiences in learning mathematics are important in creating a positive view of mathematics. From basic arithmetic to the more advanced calculus courses in first years of college, students build

Besides personal time management and study schedules being extremely important, I witnessed first-hand how teachers have the ability to be the most excellent resource for success to students. In high school the core math classes are mandatory, so I realize that not every student is going to find the subject interesting or even want to do well. I want to be a teacher so that I can make whatever class I am teaching a class that students enjoy, are excited about, and want to do well. I have experience tutoring in math, both informal and formally. If I am helping a sibling, a friend, or another student, I love that transitional moment when an individual goes from being completely lost about a concept to understanding. There is even the rare moment when a student who professes to detest math can get so caught up in the beauty and straightforwardness of it. I was tutoring a ninth grader a couple months ago. When we first started going over problems the student mentioned that she “hated this stuff” and had no interest in the problems at hand. By the time the bell went off to signal the end of the class the student told me that she was upset she had to leave, and that she was having a lot of fun. Watching the transition of that student in only forty-five minutes makes me positive that this

Oftentimes, students see math class as a task to be completed to graduate from the 8th grade and move on to high-school, rather than an opportunity to build problem solving and quantitative reasoning skills useful in everyday life. This is true of my students. Many of my students believe that algebra and geometry will not be useful skills in their professional careers. This means that I have not framed my course well enough for students to grasp its importance. The result of this view is low academic engagement in class, where students may comply and feign on-task behavior; however, students are not truly grappling with the material in order to understand it. Consequently, on the first quiz of the year, the average score was a 50%. Due to my students’ underdeveloped view of math, they neither monitor nor evaluate their own academic growth and learning. Instead, they simply rely on me, their teacher, to provide them with an agenda, tasks to keep them busy, and then a final grade. Additionally, as a whole, my students struggle to create, track, and revise goals in order to achieve measures they set. I must provide more coaching and support for students to set their own goals and monitor their progress towards achieving them. Lastly, my students have trouble creating and later seeking answers to their own mathematical questions, which leaves them disengaged from the mental exercise of investigating real-world problems applicable to their everyday lives. I must provide more

Growing up, my parents had given me everything that any child ever wanted; a good home, loving parents, and lots of materialistic objects. I went to a private school, where on paper I looked very involved. Though I was very active during my time in high school there was always a disconnect, an empty feeling that I had within myself. Day in and day out I was just going through the motions of life, not looking or hearing what God 's will was for me. That empty feeling I had would all change when God put Fradwin in my life who had taught me a valuable lesson. Unknowingly, Fradwin helped me understand the value of hard work and how to become grateful; two important lessons that have been forever ingrained within my heart.

Lately I’ve been having a lot of small, reflective moments when life calms into a soft, background noise. I keep remembering things that I never thought could be forgotten in the first place. I’m still a senior in high school and nostalgia, coupled with intense anxiety for the future, leads to these memories resurfacing. Some are silly or fun, and others are overwhelmingly emotional. Particularly, the night where I decided to keep living and moving forward. I truly am who I am today because of a heartfelt conversation in the middle of a country field.

Almost 9 years ago, I was just an average teenager fresh out of high school, just living life with no responsibilities other than the mediocre restaurant job I obtained during my high school years and a girlfriend I have been with since the 11th grade. After my senior year of high school, things took a drastic change in my life, which took a toll on how I can live my life. I found out that I was going to be a father!

I remember being in elementary school watching, “That’s So Raven,” on Disney Channel, wishing I was already in high school like Raven so I can have the same pleasurable experiences as she did. As I grew older and wiser, I realized “That’s So Raven,” was a fantasy and life is not that easy. Although I had challenges throughout my academic journey; my successes did outweigh my failures.

Each year of school you meet new people and experience new lessons. The school year comes with many hardships and downfalls, but it also comes with some good times. For me personally, freshman year was the not only the toughest year of school to get good grades, it also had some of my most traumatizing life experiences and lessons. Freshman year was not all bad though. For example, I met many new people that I cherish dearly in life and made solid relationships with new friends, teachers, and coaches. Ninth grade is the foundation for the rest of your high school career, so I tried my best to succeed not only inside the classroom, but also outside of the classroom, and I think I achieved my goal.

Since around my Junior year of high school, I became extremely involved in community service. I started by going on a Junior Service Retreat to Camden, New Jersey where I learned a lot about the city, and heard stories on drug and alcohol addiction. It started to open my eyes to what could really go on only 45 mins away from my hometown that seemed so innocent. I then continued serving and traveled to El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico where I studied immigrants. This is so far the best experience of my life. I entered into these stranger’s culture and life to try to help them, and hopefully impact their life. They went from strangers to friends and they didn’t realize it but they were helping me and impacting my life significantly. When, coming to The Catholic University I expected nothing less than the best service opportunities and that is what I received. I attended the Little Sisters of the Poor on Tuesday at 6:45-8:00 and that is when my love for service was re-sparked. After reading Lumen Fidei, the concept of “light” resembling faith and grace meaning life really stood out to me. While helping out at Little Sisters of the poor, I saw Lumen FIdei’s “light” in Mariam.

High school can be a difficult journey in one’s life. Teenagers create drama, teachers stress out students with an abundance of homework, and sometimes procrastination defeats the high schooler's will to get work done. Despite all of that, high school is great; one must look at the little moments, the fun times, and the friends throughout. Arnold Spirit, Jr. had an atypical freshman year in Sherman Alexie’s novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” and taught many lessons throughout the story. Arnold’s high school experience and my high school experience are different in the fact that he used his drawings for his words, and I used photography and music for mine; but our experiences are similar in the sense that we both began

I started high school in September of 2014 and I was still trying to adjust country because I had moved from Guyana to the U.S.A. I faced many challenges when starting new school but nothing could be compared to my experiences with Algebra. I remembered I had Algebra 1 (5th period). As I walked down the long, noisy hallway decorated with posters that held announcements surrounded by white and purple walls, all I can think of is going to my class. I was nervous and I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead and shivers running up my spine like the speed of light. I stop for a minute. I have arrived at the Algebra and slowly walked into the class to the back debating if I should just run out of class and go to the counselor. However, I decided to stay today and I headed to the back of the class where no one will notice me. I call the back of my class the “safe place” because it is where I can drown out reality for 45 minutes. I started the do now and it was talking about equations, I tried to do it but I couldn’t. It was time to exchange our do now’s to be graded by our partners . I got back my grade and I was upset because I couldn’t even get 1 question right. I began to wonder if I will ever be successful in this class and I was even thinking about whether or not it was a good choice to come to America to become a failure. Looking around at my classmates I saw that they were understanding the teacher and passing with good grades but I wasn’t. I remember back in my

Despite my best efforts of encouraging students to love learning, I know that not every student will enjoy learning in my class – mostly because of the subject that I plan to teach. My major is AYA Math and every time I tell some this, the first thing out of their mouth usually has something to do with hating math when they were (or are) in school. Just the mere mention of the word “math” seems to strike fear and hatred into a good majority of the United States’ population. Due to the negative connotation which some people have associated with the word, it is incredibly important that students not only learn it, but master it as well. Thus, it will be my job and my number one goal to push my students towards a love of learning and using math. In order to accomplish this when I am a teacher, I will need to do things such as build on the math they already know, be excited when I