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I had good and bad experiences in math in Middle School. 6th and 8th grade were pretty smooth sailing. I made As and Bs just as I did in Elementary, and overall had minimal struggles with the concepts. Now, 7th grade was different. For some reason, I could not grasp 7th-grade math and had to go in for individual tutoring almost every single morning just because it wasn't clicking. It was incredibly frustrating when people tried to help me but only explained it in one way, which was a way I simply didn't understand and they subsequently became irritated because I wasn't grasping it. This experience has cemented the belief that math should be taught in multiple ways to address the various learning styles.

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I didn't feel any particular way about math in Elementary School. I made Bs and As consistently, and while some concepts were harder to grasp, for the most part, I didn't struggle too much. That being said, looking back, I realize they only taught math one kind of way, which didn't address the various learning needs in the classroom. This has shaped my attitudes towards teaching, and it's my strong belief that a math concept should be taught at LEAST two different ways.

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It wasn’t great. I didn’t have a true sense of highschool math in my late highschool years. I had no curriculum or textbook to teach myself with and had no mentor or teacher around to help.

It was difficult.

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Surprisingly at Arlington High School, I loved math! We did Algebra 1 & 2 and Pre cal with the best instructors I have ever experienced. Geometry was a rough patch for me maybe because I did not understand it well (everyone said they liked the teacher and it was easy.) This was by far the best math experience and all of these shaped my experiences to keep growing and be positive no matter what.

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In middle school I went to Bon Lin and Arlington. There we did most of our work on paper in 6th and 7th grade which I enjoyed alot. When I moved to Arlington for 8th grade math was terrible. I did not understand much and never used an iPad for learning.

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In elementary school the math was very difficult for me. I'm not sure the experiences that I was having at the time but I feel like I could not catch up with the other classmates in the classroom. I remember in the 2nd grade I purposely hid my fingers behind my back when answering questions so I could keep up with the other classmates. I loved most of the teachers but I just felt behind.

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In high school I had a horrible experience with math. Since then I’ve dreaded any kind of math course I’m required to take. Specifically one teacher had an impact on my experience. I fell behind in this class, and the teacher wasn’t any help with assisting me when it came to understanding the content. After I fell behind it was a constant cycle of not understanding what was being taught, and I had no motivation to even try. In this class, the teacher wrote every students test scores on the board, and knowing that mine was always in the lower score zone was very discouraging and embarrassing. Thinking back to how I felt in this class, I will ensure to always be there for my students, and do whatever it takes to make sure they succeed.

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Math in middle school caused my feelings towards math to change slowly. Since we started switching classes in middle school, the teachers have become less focused on getting to know us and helping us. It became more of a factory feel as they taught the content, and then we were tested.

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I loved learning multiplication in 3rd grade. My teacher made it fun for us to learn about and practice. I remember standing in two lines and racing to see who could solve the fact first. I enjoyed the competition as it encouraged me to want to get better at multiplying.

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In high school I loved math, I actually registered for AP calculus, but my counselor denied it and put me into culinary instead. I was still in math honors, and I loved every bit of it. Although I had some problems retaining some mathematical formulas, math felt very easy to me. Once you had mastered a problem, every other problem would look exactly like it. The key to being good at math in my eyes was that you just had to identify the pattern in which you solved the problem and apply how you solved it to the continuing problems. Math is just a game, you either get the correct answer or you don't, that's what I like so much about it. Unlike English where there's multiple perspectives to everything, math is a one way path. My experience in high school has given me the confidence and an overall positive outlook on math.

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In middle school, my love for math kind of faded. I felt like teachers were more focused on our performance rather than whether we actually mastered the math concepts at that time. There were no more fun stationaries and we purely learned from our desks. Looking back at my middle school experience, I want to use this to remind myself of the importance of interactive learning.

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In elementary school, I remember loving math. Besides dealing with fractions, I found multiplying and dividing to be fun. Whenever I was in math class, I was always eager to learn because mathematics felt like a game to me, either you win or lose. Knowing that there's only one correct answer made me feel safe, as I knew that I had to follow the correct instructions to receive the correct answer. My experience from elementary is what's making me want to become a math teacher, I want students to have the same positive outlook to math as I do.

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High school was also full of good experiences. There were a couple of bad experiences simply because of the teacher. She was a not nice lady. We all did good on a test, and she accused us of cheating and made us retake it. Pardon me? I could rant about her all day. She wasn't a good teacher. I was one of her best students and I forgot to do ONE online assignment. I went and apologized to her and she basically called me a bad student so that's nice. I will most definitely not be a teacher like her. Anyways, I was in honors all the way up to senior year where I took the hardest math class, AP Calculus BC. That made me feel good too since there were 4 other people in the class with me. I even managed to get best in calculus. I liked how that class was structured. We did homework, talked about the next day, learned something new, and repeat. It was scheduled. If we didn't understand the new topic, we would spend an extra day on it. It was my favorite way to learn and I liked the pace.

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In middle school, I had nothing but good experiences. I was a great student, I was placed in honors when I transferred schools. It was my favorite class just because I was a quick learner. I didn't have any difficulties understanding a single lesson, at least to my recollection. I felt proud to be a new student in a new school and be placed in the honors class. It was a little more difficult in group work, though. I still wanted to make friends but what's a nice way to tell another person their answer is incorrect while she argued back? There wasn't. But overall, great experience.

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In elementary school, the only memory of math I had was the timed multiplication tables. Math has always been my best and favorite subject. I was able to easily excel and understood everything quickly. The timed quizzes were what stressed me beyond belief. I knew all the answers, I just couldn't handle the thought of possibly not finishing the whole page in the time allotted. Little Tessa was a perfectionist. What if she didn't write down 9x1=9 fast enough? She would cry. It felt like unnecessary stress on my still growing brain. Otherwise, I felt good about my math experience.

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By high school, I had become very biased against math. I knew it was my weakest subject and everyone around me knew it as well. I finally dropped the honors math courses and stayed in gen. ed math courses throughout high school. While they were still a struggle, I found a community within these students. They did not hold me to the same expectations and we were a community of learners. I still hated math, but I didn't hate myself for not being good at it anymore. I'm still biased towards math and it's still my least favorite thing to think about, but I now know that it isn't a personal attack on me.

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After struggling through my K-5 math classes, it just got worse with middle school. I was still an "advanced" student with math courses even though it did not come naturally or easy to me. I had to work 10x harder than the rest of the class to keep up in my honors math courses. Other students knew I was the weakest link and didn't think I deserved to be in the same class as them. I was constantly told this by my peers. It was a very difficult experience and made me resent math in a more personal way. I always tried my best and did well, but it was a constant struggle to keep my head above water.

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In elementary school, I was in an APEX and a general ed. math class. Because I was great at reading, teachers assumed I was great at math. (This was not the case) I struggled through my K-5 math classes because I kept getting pulled between regular and advanced math, both I was awful at. I remember crying through IXL and other math activities but teachers still held me to that higher expectation even though I clearly needed more one-on-one instruction.

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I had a great time with math in high school. By this point, I had accepted that maybe math was not my best subject and it could be a little boring. However, I enjoyed it. Disciplines like algebra and geometry made me feel like I was solving a puzzle. Every time I solved a problem, it brought me real joy. As all my classes like history and English because more subjective, math was still black and white. I found that if I paid attention and asked for help, everything made so much more sense. The teachers taught me in a way I understood and could apply. They were positive and helped me believe that I was capable. I had high confidence in math at the standard level and my grades reflected it. I now have a more positive attitude towards math due to my high school experience. -Keira Williams

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Math in middle school was a nightmare. The concepts I didn't understand were being built upon. Students were divided based on our scores and abilities. My friends were in higher level classes and some were even taking high school classes in middle school. Developmentally, I thought that everyone paid attention to me. In my mind, everyone knew I was in a remedial class with a co teacher. Even with these resources, I was still struggling. For me, it brought a sense of shame. I think being so self centered, comparitive, and hard on myself affirmed that I was not "good" at math.

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My experience with math in elementary school was pretty neutral. It made me happy when I understood and it made me upset when I did not. My teachers were kind but I never really felt a connection for them or math. In every grade I got a new math work book. We would crack it open and use it every single day for the entire year unless it was a test day. We are talking math notes, math worksheets, and homework all from the same workbook. There was not very much creativity or variation. However, my experience was neutral because I was not good or bad at math. I did not see myself as a mathematician but I also did not think that I couldn't do math. My feelings for math heavily aligned with my performance. -Keira Williams

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In high school, I had fully embraced the transition from hands on to more traditional math. I was used to learning from textbooks and lectures and still did well in the subject. I noticed, though, that I enjoyed it more when teachers made it enjoyable. This experience taught me that even as math gets harder, it’s important to keep it interesting and show students why it matters so they will be motivated.

-Hannah Pankey

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My love for math did begin to transition in middle school. The hands on element was beginning to be eliminated and that transition was a bit difficult for me. I still enjoyed math and excelled in it. However, my success required more self discipline and studying outside of the classroom. Most of my math teachers in middle school were decent but lacked the excitement factor in their delivery. This experience shaped my beliefs about teaching math because it has inspired me to always teach math in a way that my students remain excited even as concepts become more complex.

-Hannah Pankey

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I LOVED math in elementary school. My teachers were amazing and they made math very interesting. There were several days where math was a hands on practice whether we were learning addition through counting bears or learning measurement using rulers and blocks. These experiences took math out of the traditional scope for me and made it more digestible and fun. My experience with elementary math is my goal as a future teacher. I want math to be just as exciting for my students as it was for me!

-Hannah Pankey

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I honestly don't remember much of my high school math courses. I do know many classes were taught differently because of the different teachers. I would sit through math lectures, and the next year I would have math projects that allowed me to connect math to my real life. I definitely enjoyed the teachers who seemed to cater to every different learner and their needs. Math didn't feel impossible when I had teachers who understood that students learn through different methods. This is a belief I will carry in my future career.

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I struggled with math, especially in middle school. Math was taught more mundanely; it was purely teacher-oriented. We would sit in our seats and be told how to solve problems. I personally do not learn this way, so I struggled to grasp the concepts, unlike some of my peers. With how math was taught to me in middle school, I dreaded math altogether. If it incorporated some of the hands-on learning from earlier years, many more students, including me, would have enjoyed and understood math more.

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In elementary math classes, I was excited to learn and understand numbers. My teachers made learning math fun. Manipulatives were used, such as apples, counters, and cars. Learning math this way made me feel confident in my skills for when I reached higher grade levels.