Going Back in Time..

I am an Industrial and Operations Engineering student helping out Algebra and Geometry classes at Ypsilanti Highschool. My first day brought back so many memories as I parked my car and saw all of the students marching into school. As I walked to the cafeteria trying to find the classroom, it was obvious that I was an outsider and I could feel eyes on me as the students tried to survey a new face.

As the warning bell rang and students started filing into the classroom bright and early at 7:20 in the morning, their energy was off the charts and hard to contain. I don't remember being that energized so early in the morning, but its easy to feed off of their energy. I gave a brief introduction to the students and began observing the classroom and the students to get an idea of what to expect. My first day was more laid back since Ms. Mills and I are still trying to establish a routine and get into a groove.

I think that I will be able to contribute a lot to this classroom mostly with providing a new perspective and hopefully more motivation to understand the practical importance of Algebra and Geometry. During my second week, I was a little overwhelmed because we were scrambling to find substitute teachers and I ended up partially teaching the class by myself. Although it was a challenging task, I got an opportunity to interact more directly with the students. I had a run-in with one of the students because I discovered he was cheating on his homework, and had to rip it up and make him start over. I already have more admiration for the teachers who endure this challenge everyday. After talking to a few of the students and understanding various excuses and reasons as to why algebra / geometry is not important, I am going to think of a mini-presentation that integrates real life problems with their class material. I think that taking the time to explain the benefits of learning basic algebra are just as important as learning the material itself.