Name: Diana

Student-Led Comments / Growth and Development Reflection

Directions. Please use these prompts as a guide to write your reflection. Your responses should be in
complete sentences, with the question included within the response. (Example: This semester, I have grown
the most in the area of. . . ) Please share the document with me, and also post it on your DP under Growth
and Development Reflections
1. Reflect on the Standards of Mathematical Practice and the Growth and Development Goals that you set at
the beginning of the year or semester. Select the goal in which you have shown the most growth. Describe
exactly how you have grown. Use evidence to support your claims.

Of all the goals I set, I met most the goal I expected to meet the least. That goal was to better understand and
use mathematical tools strategically. The best example I can think of was when we were asked to find the
height of the slide in the elementary school playground. We hadnt yet had the lesson for the proof in class,
and I didnt want to be finished at the point each group was expected to reach, when we only had some angles
and a length. So I thought about what I had gone over in the SAT book and realized that it was likely the Law
of Sines or the Law of Cosines could apply to the problem. I wrote both in chalk at the center of the problem
and started setting them up when I realized the Law of Sines applied best. Then I had members in the group I
was in use the calculator they had on their cell phone (since I didnt have one with me) to solve for the
numbers I plugged in. The result was that the group was able to find the answer before we discussed it in class
the next day. Not only did I use a mathematical tool that was given to me before, I used educated guesses and
deductive reasoning to decide the steps that needed to be taken to continue to solve the problem. That, to me,
shows growth.
2. In which goal did you find the least growth this year? What kept you from growing in this area? What can
you do differently next year?

I did not grow in my goal to look for and express regularity in repeated patterns. I tried but to me I didnt
grow any in my abilities. No matter how hard I thought about it, I could never find any on my own, in
anything the class did. Next year Ill probably sit down with the teacher and ask them to spare me a few
moments to try to help me remind how to solve the functions of tables, or something like that. I used to be
good at this so maybe its just lack of review that has made this so hard for me this year.
3. Describe how you contributed to the learning environment in the classroom. Site examples of how
you contributed to whole-class discussions and small groups discussions. Describe how this has
affected your ability to learn and grow as a mathematician.
I contributed to the classroom environment on a number of occasions. A recent instance would involve the
lesson given on the Law of Sines. When proving that SinA / a = SinB / b = SinC / c, I went to the board to
help elaborate the work. While Im sure that everyone who had had the time given to work on the paper
understood the proof, I volunteered to exhibit the work. Also, as part of my honours work, I helped with class
questions after the TAs (and I) presented. I helped people answer the questions on the sheets related to the
topics the TAs taught by prompting them to try to get them to recall the lesson. I never once gave the answer,
but tried to nudge each person I helped through the work, getting them to do the work themselves. I helped
almost everyone in the class at one point or another throughout the lessons. As a mathematician, my ability to
learn in the case of explaining the Law of Sines has finally helped me to understand how to use a proof. Its
embarrassing but I never really understood how to even start looking for proofs before this worksheet and
now I have an idea.

4. What were the most significant things that you learned this semester? What did you learn about
Exponential Functions, Programming, Financial Planning and Trigonometry that you did not know at
the beginning of the year? How could these concepts or ideas be useful to you in real life? Explain
how/when you can use them.
At the beginning of the year, I knew absolutely nothing about programming. Now I can make a basic
calculator that calculates my taxes or just performs other calculations in general (and I have a book full of
notes to remind me how to program this, among other things, in case I forget). I still feel shaky with financial
planning, but that should be expected, I think, since I havent had years of experience behind my back, the
way one might hope to. My most significant moment of learning came in the Trigonometry unit, when using
Law of Sines and when solving for side lengths using sine, cosine, etc. I actually understand it, and thats a
feeling I dont usually have. Of course, Im not saying I have it under my thumb, but for me, just the thought
that I can comprehend math feels incredible. If Im feeling zealous I can use exponential functions to
calculate the compound interest of college loans so that, in case I need to take any out in the next year, I can
decide which ones will make for better investments in the long run.

5. Describe how your intelligence has grown through your efforts in the class this year.
My intelligence has grown in my analysis of problems and my utilization of class resources, such as other
students. I never used to want to ask questions, but now when Im unsure, Ive finally realized that by
bouncing my ideas off of others, it can either reinforce my ideas or help me develop new ones. I can also
work with a problem longer because I can assess the question sometimes differently. Having had the
opportunity to look through the SAT book, I now have the opportunity to look at problems from a variety of
angles. Though I probably wont see every angle, I can definitely use the questions/answers that Ive now
reviewed to train myself to look at problems in a new light.

6. Tell me about something that has challenged you or that you didnt understand in the last two
projects. What did you do to work through it and understand it? How did you show grit and how did
you persevere through it? What could you have done better during this time?
In each case, what I probably could have done better was ask questions sooner rather than later. I did not
understand investing, and to be honest, I still dont. Theres a point where stocks are just over my head, and
while Ive tried to understand them (read different pieces on them, etc.) I just cant understand how to choose
where to put money for the best return. I think I showed better grit and perseverance in this last project when
trying to understand the honours work related to it. I really tried to apply myself to each question in the book
and I spent several hours with it. While I obviously only got the first question right, I started to understand
some of them, and when I saw the final answer, I was then able to work out and understand why that was the
answer and not whatever it was I came up with.

7. What are you most proud of this semester/year and why? Be specific and use evidence if
possible.
I think Im most proud of having taken math honours this semester. It probably wasnt the smartest thing for

me to have done, and it certainly wasnt the easiest, but Im happy to have had the experience. The last time I
ever felt like I could attempt solving a problem Id never seen was when I was 11 years old. Sitting down with
the SAT book, sure, I almost never got the answer, but I was willing to try to solve it. Thats a huge
improvement over how I reacted to math the last six years, which was always a reaction like wanting to do
what I did when I was four and heard my first thunderstormthat is, hide under the table.