Chapter 7 by

Andrea Gaucin

andreagauc213 — 2024-10-05 21:06:50 UTC

As a student I remember being one of the shy ones in class. This led me to never ask questions unless it was necessary. I remember never really even talking to my teachers because I had nothing to say. I think part of that was me being shy and the other was not feeling comfortable enough to reach out to them. I was affected by this because it was almost like a cycle where I never tried to reach out to actually understand the material unless I was doing a big project and did not want to do bad on it. One thing they could've done to make me feel more comfortable was having a welcoming attitude. Most math teachers I've had are never really happy or chirpy, but instead they just hand you a worksheet and expect you to turn it in.

Kayleigh Collins

2024-10-06 20:53:51 UTC

When I was a student, I felt very comfortable asking questions in math class. Math always came very natural to me and I only seemed to really struggle when Geometry class came along. Being comfortable with math and comfortable asking my teachers questions when I had them, allowed me to understand what I was learning better. Looking back, I appreciate my teachers making it a comfortable learning environment. I don't think there is anything my teachers could have done to make me more comfortable, but when teachers would use sticks to draw names to answer questions, I honestly was thinking more about if my name was going to be picked rather than listening to what was being said or taught.

Ellie Steele

2024-10-06 21:20:56 UTC

As a student, I felt very comfortable about asking questions. I have always been a talkative person and that didn't stop when it came to math. If I was confused I was very quick to ask for clarification. I think my teachers made me feel comfortable with doing so by being open and receptive to all questions and taking the time to re-explain something. I also remember my teachers saying a lot "if your confused, chances are someone else is too". I think this helped me a lot to know that it most likely wasn't only me

Emma Sutton

2024-10-06 22:22:56 UTC

As a student I would say it depended on the teacher if I felt super comfortable asking questions. The teachers I had that made class fun and comfortable I felt comfortable to ask questions, and my grades reflected that I knew what I was doing. If I had a teacher that I didn't feel very comfortable with I didn't ask as many questions and it did effect my learning

Maggie Washington

2024-10-06 23:21:33 UTC

When I was a student, I was afraid to ask questions, because I didn't want my classmates/teachers to think my question was dumb or unimportant (i still feel this way lol). I'm also a very shy person, so it took a lot of courage for me to speak up for myself in class. I was fine asking questions when it was just me and my teacher, or one of my friends, because I felt less judgement. I think this effected my learning a little bit, because I never have grown out of that shyness.

Anastasia Israelson

anastasiaisraelson — 2024-10-07 01:01:10 UTC

As a student, I would rarely raise my hand in class. I felt very uncomfortable speaking in front of my classmates out of a fear of sounding like I didn't know what I was doing or being judged. This was not necessarily because of my teachers, they were very supportive, I was just a shy kid. Because of that, it was difficult to get me to raise my hand. My teachers always emphasized the importance of asking questions, specifically how the smartest people asked the most questions. Despite this, I was unwilling to ask questions in front of my class. If I had an opportunity to ask my teacher one on one or in private, I was more likely to do so, but this still did not happen often. I learned to be comfortable asking questions around middle school or high school, simply because I came out of my shell more. My teachers likely could not have done anything to get me to ask more questions, other than provide more time for one on one questions, which is not always possible.

Jadyn Renth

2024-10-07 01:43:43 UTC

When I was a student in elementary, middle school, and high school I had a really hard time asking questions in math class. So, most of the time I did not ask questions and I believe this halted my overall understanding and learning of concepts. It was not that I was bad at math, but that I just wanted to make sure I was moving in the right direction. When I did ask questions in elementary or middle school, I always felt a sense of stupidity and this led me never to ask questions in high school. I believe because I did not feel comfortable asking questions I would sometimes get so lost I thought I was helpless. I believe if my teachers created a more open environment where students felt comfortable to ask questions, students would. Making the class collaborative and less lecture-based is a start because this instantly creates a more engaging class where students want to interact with the class and concepts.

Grace Wunsch

gwunsch6 — 2024-10-07 03:25:04 UTC

When I was a student, I really didn't like asking questions in front of the class. Most of the time, I felt confused about the material, and that made me hesitant to speak up. I also worried that my questions might seem "stupid" or that I would be embarrassed in front of the class. As a result, I often ended up teaching myself the material outside of class. It was hard feeling confused while others seemed to understand. If teachers had created a more welcoming environment where asking questions was encouraged and mistakes were seen as part of learning, I might have felt more comfortable seeking help. Also, I think having anonymous ways to ask questions or opportunities for small group discussions would have made it easier for me to get the support I needed.

Caroline Crutchfield

2024-10-07 22:27:38 UTC

When I was a student in math class, I did not like to ask questions. Mainly because I never felt confident in my work so I wanted to save myself from any embarrassment. I tended to only ask questions if a friend next to me had the same question. This affected my learning because if I was struggling, I just sat there and struggled, or told myself I would figure it out later. Most of the time I would figure it out later either by asking the teacher during tutoring hours or asking my parents to help me once I got to the homework assignment. I don't think my fear of asking questions was on the teacher, it was more of me not being confident in myself. I know every math teacher says there's no such thing as a stupid question, but on the off chance that I would ask a question, I felt like the teacher thought it was stupid. I think if teachers changed their responses to even the simplest of questions, students would be more encouraged to ask questions to improve their own learning.

Ryland Boes

2024-10-08 00:42:38 UTC

As a student my comfortably asking questions was all based on whether the teacher was encouraging or not. I was a very outgoing child and that continued all throughout school but if there was a teacher in my life that would make me feel dumb or tell me I was not good at something that would cause me to place a wall up. It would cause me to not want to try anymore, however, when there was a teacher who made me feel safe I would ask any question I wanted to.

Lizzie Thom

2024-10-08 02:06:37 UTC

When I was a student, I really struggled to feel comfortable to ask questions in math class. Something that always made it difficult was when I would ask a question and my teacher would ask me something back in front of the whole class and my mind would completely blank and I just felt embarrassed. I also had a lot of math teachers who were also coaches and so a lot of the times I could tell that they did not have any passion towards math as a whole and that was reflected in the way that they spoke about math and just spoke to students in general. There was no enthusiasm at all, which made me lack motivation in the class so I just never wanted to ask questions. I always felt like math had no importance to me and that it didn't apply to my life in the real world in any way possible because they never connected it to any real experiences outside of the classroom. I wish my math teachers would have taught with more enthusiasm and taught us the importance of math and connected it to the real world. That would have made me more comfortable.

Allie Newton

2024-10-08 02:20:21 UTC

When I was a student, I used to really enjoy math until I got into 3rd grade. I started to lose my confidence in math as it got more complex and watching my friends progress only made me feel worse. I stopped speaking up after a multiplication ice cream sundae party where I was embarrassed of how bad I was at my times tables. Many of my teachers struggled to understand my learning style and I never wanted to check my answers/work in fear of being wrong, so I never knew how I was doing until I would receive my work back. In high school though I had a algebra teacher who was the best math teacher. I quickly excelled in that class and even grew the confidence to help my students. I had never felt so smart in a math class and even enjoyed going to it. She was a great teacher who took her time explaining why things worked that way and showing multiple ways to solve it. She helped me whenever I needed it and I was not afraid to ask for help in her class because of how comfortable she made me feel.

Kinley Bates

2024-10-08 13:40:34 UTC

As a student, I have never felt comfortable asking questions in front of a class. The only time I would ever ask a question is during independent work or after class when I could talk to the teacher one-on-one. This affected my learning because sometimes, I would never get the opportunity to ask questions. This led to lots of confusion in my classes, and sometimes, I never figured out the answer to my problem. To make me feel more comfortable, I have always loved the idea of "question in a hat." I was introduced to this idea when I was a summer camp counselor. If there was a place where I could put my question anonymously and it could still be answered, I would have been more inclined to ask questions.

Michael Dennis

2024-10-08 21:59:39 UTC

I never struggled with asking questions in math. I was always an extrovert and never shyed away from asking for help when I was confused. Sometimes asking questions would help, while other times I needed one on one instruction to understand a concept. Sometimes I'd ask a question that the teacher already explained and the teacher would get frustrated. If a teacher was open and understanding to all questions asked, that would make students a lot more comfortable asking questions in the classroom.