This year in my math class we learned a lot of new things, throughout the learning I grew in new skills. One skill I think I grew in understanding how equations work and knowing how to solve them. I think it is important to know how equations work because we are going to be using equations all the rest of high school. I know I will also be using equations in my future depending on what job I decide to have.

I know I grew in these because at the beginning of the year I was getting lost in how equations work and would not know what methods to use but after we did our first grid I knew exactly what to do. The grid method was when we had a grid of boxes; each box had a task in it we had to complete. After you complete each task you get it marked off and keep doing it till every box is done. You could not move to the next box unless you got an eighty-five percent or higher, if you got lower than that you would have to try again until you pass. In this grid we did a lot with different equations and learned different ways to solve each one. These many different methods of solving equations gave us a bunch of different ways to go about an equation. One way I learned to solve equations was with the substitution method; this method was when you would substitute one equation into another and then solve it. Another way I learned was elimination, when you would eliminate things that would cancel each other out and then solve the equation.  Those different ways of solving equations helped me but I also learned how to solve equations with graphs. The graphing method is when you graph an equation and see where lines intersect. I know I got better because on my exit slip assessment for my grid I saw that after trying a few times I finally got how to use all methods efficiently. In that box on the grid I had to take an assessment that tested if I knew which equation solving method to use for different equations and then had to solve the equation with that method. The first time I took that assessment I thought I understood but the second time I took it I realized I had a few mistakes like using the wrong method; I looked at the equations closer that next time and got it mostly right.  I think knowing how to solve equations is important for high school since will be using it a lot then.

I’m glad I grew in this because I could not always move on with algebra because I did not get how to solve every equation that I had to and would need extra help. Now I can do it on my own most of the time. This can help me in the future because if I wanted to possibly have a job like an accountant I would need to know how to do math well.