The Purpose: The purpose of this week's inspirational math week was to teach us all about how it's okay to struggle in math and how anyone can be a math person. We watched videos all about things such as how when you count with your fingers it actually does things in your brain and how your brain grows more when you get a question wrong compared to when you answer a question correctly and move on. We also learned about how time and when you are stressed can close parts of your brain when you are stressed. I personally connected the most to this lesson because I stress myself out very often and it makes it difficult to focus and be calm when you are stressed out. We built towers in class out of thin spaghetti noodles, tape, and a marshmallow and almost everyone failed. This was an example of how it's okay to make mistakes in math it is very important because sometimes I also forget these types of lessons and get down on myself and that I am just bad in math when I struggle. But in reality it is good to struggle sometimes it can mean your brain is learning something new. A lot of times when I get overwhelmed with the pressure of school and doing well so I can get into a good college and etc. It can make it difficult to just think in the present and take some breaths and stop what I am doing. Sometimes school can be hard with family life, extracurriculars, and other things but it is always a good reminder that getting an education is a privilege and when you struggle or make a mistake it doesn't mean you are not a "Math Person" or even that you are just bad at math because absolutely anyone can be good math.
Tiling an 11x13 rectangle At the beginning of this week, Dr.Drew assigned an assignment to try and fit the least amount of squares we could into an 11x13 rectangle. My first attempt was an 11x11 square which was the biggest possible square you could create. Then I kept trying with different types of sqaures like 6x6 and 8x8. Then with my team, we team up together to keep trying to find a fewer amount of squares than eight. Eventually, one of my table group members Dominick came up with an idea that you could fit only six squares inside. At first, I had a little bit of a hard time trying to get all of the same dimensions for each square that he got. But we he presented in front of the class I also understood how you got six squares much easier. I learned a lot about trying to eliminate options that have lots of small squares and try and find the most efficient ways to try and use the fewest number of squares in the space given to us. My peers and I tried as many different ways to find the smallest answer even fewer than six but six was the smallest number our class got. One habit of a mathematician I used during this assignment was being able to start small and take the problem apart and put it back together. We started with the smallest step and a guess of how many boxes could fit the first try. As we continued to take the problem apart and collaborate and bounce off of each other's ideas the number decreased down to our final answer six. Collaboration is also essential during group work like this because you can bounce off of each other ideas and lift each other up and push each other to success. I really value the time I get to spend working my peers and this assignment also helped bring me closer to some I had never even really got to meet because it was one of our very first assignments together in this specific class.
Reflection: I have learned a lot this week and I feel like now I have a strong base to start and finish tenth grade strong. I've learned all about how it's okay to struggle and make mistakes and I think this will greatly impact how I view myself in math and not giving up when I don't understand something.