Quarter 4

During the year, I know that I have grown greatly as a mathematics student and as an Algebra student. In the first quarter of the year, I had known only the basics of Algebra and the small concepts that the foundries of Algebra mostly rely on. Even at the exam that we took to test our basic skills I had gotten a C. After that C however, I have begun to study much harder and practice much more to achieve my best. After that C I have only started to rise in my math grades until I, finally achieving my goal, had gotten a full score: 100%. This I am extremely proud of but I believe that my goal has not been fully achieved yet. To fully achieve my goal, I must stay where I am and refrain from lowering my grades back down once more so that I know that I fully comprehend everything that is taught to me and I fully understand every single aspect that I have learned.

At the beginning of my year in the Algebra course, we were just reviewing the basics concepts and ideas. In Chapter 3, we reviewed how to solve equations and how to isolate the variable to find the solution of the equation. In Chapter 4, I learned for the first time what linear equations are and how it works. I have never used linear equations or functions and I have never learned to graph linear equations using the slope-intercept form: y=mx+b. Even though I had not learned any of these strikingly new concepts before, I strove to do my best so that I will not have to relive my memory of the first grade that I got in this Algebra course. We learned how to graph these linear equations and the rules of classifying linear equations as what they are.

In Chapter 5, we learned how to create linear equations of our own and how to solve word problems using linear equations and only linear equations. Linear equations can be used for many things in different careers. As a business man, it would be extremely helpful, for the sake of his company, that he knew how to create linear equations out of the figures he has. This is because he is able to calculate his revenue and visually represent it using a graph and then he is also able to calculate his expenses and losses to visually represent it as a graph. It would be very helpful for calculating how much he would need to sell to cover his losses and make a profit out of his expenses. These are vital abilities and tools for the future and Chapter 5 has given us a very good head start on how to use these tools of utmost importance.

From there, we continued to learn more and more about Algebra and the different aspects of Algebra. We learned how to solve systems of linear equations which can be put to similar use to the things we learned in Chapter 5. We learned how to work with exponents and using scientific notation to depict very large numbers or very small numbers. We learned how to understand quadratic equations and how to graph them in the form of parabolas. These are very important abilities to have for later on as we move onto Geometry Honors, Algebra 2 and so on.

Quarter 3

The activity that this reflection will be written about is the Chapter 7 Exam that we did in Quarter 3. Of all the tests that I took in the Algebra class, I had accomplished the most with this one because I have completed the test with a perfect score: 100%. Yet again, this has proven to me that I am able to achieve my goals in mathematics. In the Chapter 2 Exam, the first test I took at DEMS, I had gotten 76%, in the Chapter 5 Exam, I had gotten 97% and now I have gotten 100%. This inevitably proves that I have been improving in mathematics.

The purpose of the exam was to test our skills in solving systems of linear equations and inequalities. The purpose of this chapter is to be give you the ability to write and solve not one, but two linear equations. This is a neccessity because, in some jobs, life will be much easier if you can easily find out where the income passes the expenses so that the company or business of your job is gaining or losing money. This is exetremely useful because not very many companies will want to have a faulty employee who makes a mistake in the calculations and then the company suddenly finds out that they have lost vast sums of money.

In this chapter of Algebra, I have learned that the solution of a system of linear equations is actually the point at which the graphs of the two equations intersect. This means that if you take the x-coordinate and the y-coordinate of the point of the intersection, then substitute those two values into each of the two or more equations that formed the linear system, the statement will always be true. I have also learned of three ways to solve systems of linear equations. The first is by graphing. I do not hate graphing, though ithought least favorite way to solve system of linear equations and inequalities because it takes a very long time to draw and create and it is often inacurrate, even though it provides an excellent visual representation of the system. The second method is by susbstitution. To successfully use this method, you must substitute the value of x from one equation into another. Then you must substitute the value of y that you recieve from that an those two values are the x and y-coordinates of the solution. I like this method because it helps me uncover any careless mistakes since it also requires me to check the sulution with all of the original equations. Substitution is then my second favorite method. My favorite method out if the three is called linear combinations. When you use linear combinations, you must add the equations vertically and you must add and manipulate the equation so that only one of the variables will remain for the answer. You must then substitute the value of the variable that you have chosen to get the value of the second variable an that's it. This, in my opinion, is the best method because it is the easiest, fastest and overall, it is much more efficient than the other two methods.

There is not much that I can do to differ the way I learned the chapter so as to improve it because I had gotten a full score on the test. The one thing that I can strive for is to maintain this score on all of the other tests that I take in the future.

This has affected my goal in such a way, that I have almost accomplished it fully. This is because I have finished with no careless mistakes for me to grieve about so now I must continue what I did in this chapter so that I will be able to refrain from lowering the full score by allowing any careless mistakes to get into my tests.

Quarter 2

The activity that I will be doing this reflection on is the Chapter 5 Exam. I did very well on this test and my final percetnage was 97%. I an very proud of this grade because it has proven to me that I have improved in math very much since the Chapter 2 Exam where I had gotten 76%, a C.

The purpose of this exam was to test our skill in creating and writing linear equations using what we learned during the course of this chapter. This would help us better in life if engineering is to become our profession. Using linear equations can help us greatly so that we will be able to map and plan out blueprints of what the thing that we are engineering is.

I have learned a great many things during Chapter 5, but the main idea or concept that I have learned is how to write linear equations of our own, a subject that I had never come across before. At first it was quite hard for me to grasp the idea of the slope of a line which is "rise over run". "Rise being the amount in which the line rises, and "run" being the amount in which the lines travels (to the right). Although we had learned this two chapters before this, it still played a huge role when it came to writing linear equalities in slope-intercept form. The slope intercept form is y=mx+b. Where y is the y-coordinate, x is the x-coordinate, b is the y-intercept and m is the slope of the line. We learned to use this but in Chapter 5, we learned how to write them using word problems and other forms of questions. Once you know how to write a linear equation, you are able to model real-life situations like the revenue of a business how much time it would need to complete a certain task.

As with all other situations, there is always room for improvement, even if I get a hundred percent on a test. Achieving the same scores with other tests will be a hard task and it is the only form of improvement one can make if they are near perfect. Although I am very close to being perfect, I still have much room for improvement as I have gotten 97% where I could have gotten a hundred. This is what I will strive for in the next chapters in Algebra.

My goal this year in mathematics is to excel and be able to avoid any mistakes that are just made through my carelessness. I have improved much since my last test so I believe that I have actually followed my goal very well. The best thing I can do to avoid any careless mistakes is to check my work frequently during any tests I take. It is also useful that I check my homework as that contributes to my goal greatly because I become accustomed to checking my work.

Quarter 1

The activity that I will be writing this reflection about is the Chapter 2 Exam, the first test that I took in DEMS since I am a new student. This chapter, Chapter 2, was about the properties of real numbers and it is basically a review of what I had learned in seventh grade as well as sixth grade. When I had taken this exam, I had not felt completely confident in my ability to take the test and I soon found out that I had not gotten too much of a good score. I actually got 76%, a C. This, for me, is a very, very bad score because it is far from perfect.

The purpose of the Chapter 2 Exam was to test our skills that we had learned in the chapter and these skills included the real number line, addition and subtraction of real numbers the distributive propert and much more. Chapter 2 was a very important chapter because it started out the year of Algebra for us by reviewing what we had learned before in Pre-Algebra. Chapter 2 and Chapter 1, in my opinion, were just the basics of Algebra and they mastering them fully is required to move on to the next chapters.

In Chapter 2, I have not learned much but I have renewed my memory and my understanding of a lot of the things that I already learned. Since I came late to the start of the school year because of problems creating my visa and the family's visa, I had forgotten a lot of the basic concepts during the 4 month summer vacation since I had not taken too much of a liberty to actually review what I knew about Algebra and study more about it. For this reason, and the reason that I came in the middle of Chapter 2, I feel that I can do much, much better in the coming chapters. It pains me to know that I already knew all of Chapter 2 before I came here and now what I have to show for it is a C. The chapter contained very basic things such as solving expressions, using the real number line, adding and subtracting matrixes and the basics and all the concepts of which are almost like the pillars of Algebra, and without them, Algebra will be all the more harder and possibly the most hardest subject in the years to come. The fact that I had gotten a C invigorates me to to work even harder and do better than my former best so that I may succeed and get grades such as A+'s or A's.

There are thousands of things that I could have done differently in this chapter but the one thing that I know I must focus on is studying harder and reviewing the things that I have done before. I believe that most of my failure on this test is due to the fact I had not been studying very much during the course of the summer vacation and therefore I had created the perfect recipe to forget all of my studies and everything that I have learned throughout my years of Pre-Algebra, though I know that I had not forgotten them completely; to my relief. After getting this grade, I now have reason to work harder and become much more industrious into my next tests. This I guarantee I will do to the best of my abilities and if they are not what I need, then I will improve the best of my abilities.

This relates to my goal this year in mathematics very much because most of the mistakes that I made on the exam were due to careless mistakes and me not taking the time and liberty to check for them and protect my grade from them. To follow my goal and accomplish it, I must achieve more in the field of checking my work for any mistakes that I might have made and I am sure that it would save countless times.

Quarter 3

The activity that I will be doing this reflection on is the DEMS Around the World project that our class, 8Z, organized. Each year, DEMS (Dhahran Elementary Middle School), conducts a walk-a-thon. Kids and teachers would walk around a mile long track as many times as possible while counting the number of laps that they did. For DEMS Around the World, we transfer the number of laps that everyone made into miles and kilometers. Then we would measure the total on a map and we would see how far we went from Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The reason it is called DEMS Around the World is because the goal is to travel all the way around the world and back to Al-Khobar.

The purpose of the DEMS Around the World is to get all the way around the world as I have said above, but not only that, I think, that it is also there for everyone in school to look forward to as they come. Instead of simply coming to school and having nothing to look forward to except for our studies, we can now look forward to finding out whether we made it to China or not. This helps enhance our learning experience and we can therefore have much more fun. In high school and then in college, there will be very little time for any play because we will be so busy with our studies and our future. When we are having fun in middle school and in elementary school, we won't be wasting our time, on the contrary, we will be making the most of our precious time.

As part of the class that was organizing the DEMS Around the World project, I have learned many things. The most important thing that I have learned, however, is synergy. Synergy means team work or cooperation. This was one of the biggest aspects in organizing this project because we had to work together as a team to put everything together including the Chinese dances, the making of the Chinese dragon, the making of the Chinese backboard. This list is only from the actual assembly, behind the scenes we did even more things including: gathering all the data from all the students and teachers, creating the certificates and awards, taking videos during the walk-a-thon, taking pictures during the walk-a-thon, interviewing people during the walk-a-thon and so much more. Each and every one of these parts of this project required the utmost synergy. The four guys in our class did a Kung Fu dance which required each of us to give ideas and listen to others' ideas about what moves we should do, this was needed because we wanted it to be in harmony and together, not everyone on a different moves at different times. The same thing went for all the girls' dances.

I honestly don't think that we could have changed anything because, from my perspective, the DEMS Around the World that we did this year was utterly and nothing falling below pure awesome. The only thing that did harm the project slightly was the weather. On one Wednesday, we decided to do the walk-a-thon but then it started to rain and we were intending to do it outside on the mile track. The next Wednesday it also rained so we weren't able to do it outside, instead of postponing once again, the principal was flexible enough to say that we should do it inside the large gym. So instead of making laps outdoors, we made them indoors. This presented us with a slight setback because it was hard to keep track of the number of laps that each person did. Sometimes kids would do less than they would have done normally and sometimes kids would do more than they would have done normally. Also, we weren't allowed to run or jog, we could only walk which made it that much harder to make it farther than China.

My goal this year in science is to enhance my understanding of anything science. This project may seem like it does not relate to academic goal but I know it does. The main thing that I have learned helping organizing this project is synergy. Synergy is a huge aspect of one of the branches of science which is psychology. Psychology is the study of the humand mind and its behavior, including when around others. Some people are not good synergizers because they do not listen to others' thoughts and opinions. Others are very good synergizers because they know how to work well with others by listening to others' thoughts and opinions.