March 22, 2007

BOB

BOB,

To be completely honest, I do not understand this unit. I hear everything that's being said in class, and during that time, I think I understand. When I leave the class, WHOOSH, it's all gone. Why? Maybe it's because in calculus class, you have to think about it, so you understand it. It's fresh in my mind. When I leave the room, I walk into a world where you have to think about many other things and all that calculus knowledge is pushed back into the dark corner of a filing cabinet...which MAY or MAY NOT come back. This unit is supposed to be the fun part of calculus but I'm really not enjoying it. It could be because I don't understand it, I can't picture what the graphs look like. The paper towel and washer analogies are helpful, but to me, it doesn't have a purpose.

I wish, like many of my fellow classmates, that we had more time to study. It's late in the year, we're tired. We need to recharge our batteries. Tomorrow is the test and honest to goodness, I am more afraid of this test than the AP exam. I really am. There are bits and pieces that I do understand, but I just can't use them to get the whole picture.

Good luck to my classmates. After this test, we could relax, Spring Break is so near, I can feel it. I wish we had more time to study x 2. Tests are supposed to show how well you understand a topic...but if we really don't understand, I don't think it's beneficial to have one. If we don't understand this unit, we will struggle in the next unit. Spring break, spring break, spring break.

1 comment:

rlodan01 said...

Wow! Great BOB. I think being able to voice the trouble with visualizing the different graphs is a very typical issue for some people, and the other point about not having a 'purpose' is another common problem. We know that when students are able to make connections or have purpose for learning a concept, they are more successful. The reason I bring this up is to let you know that your thinking about what is important has, in fact, been proven through research to be very important learning issues/problems. It may not mean much to you for this test, but it means that you are a very insightful thinker and that bodes well for your learning in the future.

Thanks for sharing!