Final Portfolio Reflection

Ashley Davies
As an individual, I have changed a lot over this year. I have grown, faltered and picked
myself back up again. Before spring break I was an efficient, hardworking student. I pushed
myself through challenges and looked for ways to grow and learn from my mistakes. I can
remember specifically working on the Warmups, working independently and pushing myself
to solve the puzzles or equations. If I needed help I wasnt afraid to ask my peers for help rather
than giving up, and offered them help and support in return. As the year progressed it became
harder and harder for me to focus in class, especially after our class was switched from first
period to last period and in another classroom. That was a really rough transition for me.
Persevering became less of a habit and more of a goal I didnt care to reach anymore. And it
showed in my work, homework was being turned in incomplete, such as the Exponential/
Logarithms Homework #2. In this assignment I didnt challenge myself, or look for help
when I didnt understand a problem, instead I left the problems blank. After I realized what was
happening, I had a meeting with my teacher, Judy, and discussed with her the challenges I had
in class. I decided it would then be best for me to attend the Math Support XBlock, and go to
Office Hours when I was able to. Since then it has helped me get myself back on track. In Math
Support, Ive worked with Judy on test prep and homework such as the Trigonometry
Homework #2, which was extremely helpful for me. Ive learned that I learn best by
collaborating with someone else. In class when we were learn the trigonometry material it flew
right over my head, but when working one on one or in a small group I was able to process and
understand the math much better. For example, I was having a hard time understanding
problem number 7 on the homework. The equation asks:
Find sin and cos if cot = 3/7
When I first read the problem my first reaction was what the heck is this and I wanted to skip
it but after Judy reminded me of the Pythagorean Theorem I realized that I needed to use a
right triangle and plug in the given information, cot = 3/7. Since cot is equal to adjacent/
opposite I was able to plug in 7^2+ 3^2= c^2 (or the hypotenuse squared). After I solved for the
c^2 we had the hypotenuse=

. Lastly I simply plugged in the numbers into the equation

for sin and cos . The whole time I understood what everything was and how to do it I just
needed to be reminded how to start it before I overthought it. Once I understood this I was able
to discover strategies to help me on tests. For the Trig Quiz #2, I worked really hard on my
own and in class to memorize the needed information like the unit circle and equations.

After I was able to get the support I needed and pick myself back up, I can say that I may
not be the student I wanted to be in June, but I am getting there. I need to work more on finding
what works best to keep me on task and remember equations. I also need to learn a better way to
balance my social life and academics.
Coming into senior year, Im hoping to be more refreshed and open to learning. On the
Exponential and Logarithms Quiz- the individual portion, I did so bad it completely
crushed my confidence. Hopefully next year I will be much more self motivated, efficient,
confident, and independent student like I was on the Trig Homework #1. Realistically, my
goals next year are to get to class on time and stay in class. I need to be more focused and willing
to go out of my way for the help I need, if that means staying after school more and attending
office hours or joining super support. I think it's important for my teachers to understand how
easily overwhelmed I am. It's something that developed this year and has made it really difficult
for me to focus on one thing, but hopefully will be overcomed.