reading response

Matt Waite! you are not alone in where your mind relates to math. If you were to read "Talent is Over-rated" then you would know that what you are doing is exactly what is recommended. Taking the bull by the horns so to say and making math something of a fun sport. Well that is all good for the accomplished journal writer who now teaches at a university, but not so much for the student who goes to that school. Yes you worried about how you did on the exams and maybe stressed a little but students who endure this just to get a degree i feel have more stressing. look I would love to say that reading an article or book on the subject makes a miraculous change in how well i do in the subject but that is not the case. Matt did what needed to be done however and buckled down and pressed forward and made the grade. That can be done if the aptitude or willingness exist or if there is no pressure to make the whole grade. The feeling of achieving an A in a math course would be an awesome feeling i can agree with that. Though Matt referring to people not being good at math as something that does not exist, Personal opinion there Matt. I know people who cannot walk and chew gum and in respect to that would never try and teach them derivatives. I will give credit to the professors who struggle with trying to apply knowledge to every individual in the class, I feel as though this would be the most challenging of jobs. The thought of trying to teach math even now makes me want to slam my head in the same drawer the test are kept in. I am one of those who are "not good at math" but it is not all math that I lack the ability to do. I can balance my checkbook, which is probably the most important skill to have. I can multiply and divide like none other, and equations as long as they are not Albert Enstien quality "easy". The problem exist when "what Ifs" come into play in my conceptual way of thinking thus earning me the right to use the "Im not good at math" badge of honor. The question of can I be taught to be good is answered by a simple "yes" but! will i like the subject more just becasue i know how to complete the problem? not likely. Matt good for you going back and teaching yourself things you didn't know! but the assumption that no one is bad at math, too far buddy too far.  

At the end of this course, we expect students to:

1. Understand sequences, limits, and continuity algebraically, numerically, visually, and verbally.
2. Understand derivatives algebraically, numerically, visually, and verbally.
3. Be able to model simple scenarios of change through either difference equations or differential equations.
4. Be able to apply principles of derivatives to optimization and relative change.
5. Recognize limits and derivatives in the practical and professional world, particularly in environmental and life science.
6. Be able to use a computer algebra system and spreadsheet system to investigate or evaluate given problems.
7. Work in groups to investigate problems and communicate solutions on an introductory level.
8. Practice time management and discipline in self-paced study.

This course is challenging and requires a lot of personal time to achieve goals. The understanding of the subjects has not come to me quite as quickly as I had hoped but moving forward i feel that more collaboration with class mates is key to the survival. My letter grade I do not feel is relevant to the effort put forth, though I can see that the need to put more time in studying is necessary. I am slightly grasping these concepts and go through moments where i feel as though i know whats going on then bam! mind blown. I will try and see where i get at the end.

chapt 10 prolouge

• How you would approach recommended and required homework in this class as it relates to Colvin’s idea of “deliberate practice” and the five key components to deliberate practice;
• How your approach to this class and other classes at Unity College may have changed after reading this book;
• Whether or not you view your past successes and failures in various endeavors in a new light after having read this book.
• Interestingly enough relating this book to class or any other instance in life can be achieved. Then again stapling a sheet of paper to a tree that says deforestation is bad is just as redundant. the advice for the class or myself in general is to just relax, practice and do your best. The homework is just as confusing as lectures and it may not all come at once but trying to talk it out will help. In fact explaining problems to others has helped in many ways that could not even be imagined. Pick a time, stick to that time, deliberately practicing and not getting too frustrated I feel are the most important factors to making it through this course. All classes have the same designation though stick with it and do your best. To me the letter grades are not important what is most important is the feeling of understanding that result from what I feel I need to achieve. Talking through problems helps and explaining them works even better. 

Past failures of mine I feel do not come from a lack of trying or practice but more so suitability. Over my life I feel as though I have been pretty successful in managing time and other people. The need for me to be good at what I do stems from the examples set by my parents and have driven me to this point in my life where things are narrowed down to pass/fail instead of succeed or don't. Success in my life is not solely attributed to my own personal doings, but that comprised from a group of individuals that made it work. The environment that people are in give them the drive to push forward or not to continue.

reflection 7-9

Talent is overrated, to say the least it is overrated and so is practicing problems until you just want to throw a computer across the room at four in the morning. Why are we as a species so engulfed by "perfect" I mean, what is the point? In the book many interesting topics are discussed and models supplied(sports,mental,and chess) and even the drop of the name of Ben Franklin graced the black and white pages. It is no surprise that Ben is listed as a great man who indefinably altered the history of these great states, hell I bet he would say that perfect was never reached in his voyage. The ultimate gift that he and other great men gave was the inability to never quit, although I don't think calculus was in his study lessons. The obvious lessons the book lays out are good for people to think about and perhaps push them into the next portion of their lives, for me it just seems redundant. For most of us growing up our parents have taught us to "never quit" and through this motto these models are achieved without ever knowing there are such terms defining them. Sports model= practice, chess model = practice, and mental model well it equals practice. Things that seem so easily defined by the motto never give up or keep trying are displayed to us from our childhood and easily accepted or declined throughout our adult life. Why do we choose to quit? well I feel as though its like a person who is 100 lbs trying to play for major football teams. This particular person may be the fastest runner in the world but if he took one hit by a 300 lb linebacker, well he just might die! This is not particularly lack of practice, just a predisposition. That person however encouraged becomes discouraged because no matter how much he tries he cannot change genetics. Does this take on a form of talent? I don't think so. The fact relating to calculus in this whole rant is that though people practice, the way of learning is much different depending upon your predisposition. Take me for example, I am what some would call a conceptual learner, I am not stupid but feel that way in many instances when it comes to learning new math based concepts. I have always been more successful if I could visualize what was actually going on and if I can get that I can average out what the answer would be close too. This sort of conceptualization does not always give me the exact answer but most of the time I am not too far off.  This does not effect my ability to be creative and gives me some basics on economical values as listed in the book. I guess the coined term Practice makes perfect is overused and we can just simply narrow it down to practice, and do the best you can.

reflection 13

This semester has been very challenging to say the least. The use of calculus in my study field I have learned is detrimental to providing accurate information. I honestly have struggled this semester, trying to conceptualize what has been demonstrated. Through many hours of trying to understand, and numerous people showing different methods of calculating equations, I can say that the concepts have become much less cloudy. The problem still exist for me the actual calculations aspect but I feel that with practiced application in the wildlife biology field this will become easier. The challenge still remains however to apply multiple parameters still remains and now that my understanding is better, I feel is common within the community.

What would I do differently? Well there have been many times I wish that osmosis would occur if I slept with my head rested on my calculus book (it never happened). The challenge is definitely something that would change my view on how to proceed in further voyages in calculus. I have no question that if things were done differently I would be in a worse spot than I am because the feeling of giving up came on pretty quick. The drive however to stick with it has driven me to try and try again, stumbling across many steps but finally understanding concepts. I still feel that the math is vague but like I said before it will come with time. As far as spending more time studying, I have discovered that studying with others has been more beneficial. The ability to talk out problems with others and their understandings is far more helpful than just writing it down off of the board. Perhaps the change I would make is to allow class time for more of this.

The advice I would give future students is to “keep your head up”, just because the concept seems vague now, understanding comes with time.

The grade I would give myself! If effort were a grade I would say a high B, but effort does not sum up the grade in the class sadly. I have tried and have been unsuccessful but I did not give up and plan to never give up.

Walk or run in the rain?

James Armstrong

          Reflection 12 ask that we read the article “Walk or run in the Rain” and relate the information to class. The theory is interesting, and asks the question if one gets wetter by walking or running during a rain event. In fact the question is so popular that the Mythbusters team took on the scientific analysis. The first task in any calculus based problem is finding the independent variables that need to be put together to find the solution. The variables include the velocity of rain, distance needed to travel, and speed in which one runs. The calculations made the discovery that whether running or walking the subject still gets wet, running is more likely to get the front of the person wet and walking gets the top of the person wet.

          Calculations can be used to determine a number of questions like this. For instance you own a 16’ aluminum boat that weighs approximately 180lbs that we will define as B. The boat takes roughly 3min to travel 600ft B₃=600ft. Using this as a basis we can use 3min as a base calculation of B_t using this basis estimation of distance and time we can calculate how long it would take for the boat to travel a distance of 2400ft.

B_t= 600/2400=4 knowing that it takes 3min to travel 600ft we multiply 3*4=12min.

We can add other variables into this equation to better estimate the approximate time. If wind is a factor then this can inhibit time greatly. If wind speed is a slowing factor of 1min per 1mph the equation  can be estimated by taking the d/t and subtracting the windspeed from the answer.

D/t+Wmph so if the trip takes 12min and the wind speed is 4mph then the trip will take approximately 16min.

what is calculus?

Calculus was developed in the 1700's by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. Infinitesimal were unrigorous quantities. They have been used to express the idea of objects that there is no way to measure them. These were used to describe angle and slope. Limit is a fundamental concept concerning the behavior of that particular function close to a particular point.

stuggling?

This article has many things in common with talent is overrated. The notion of practice makes perfect vs natural born talent is heavily weighed. Throughout life there are many things that a person needs to take head on, and some things that need to be avoided like the plague. Most of us are not born with the supernatural abilities of computation or common sense but can these things be learned with practice? History has shown that studying can increase ones sense of understanding but life does not always seem to help people with common sense. The article places two different techniques into action and finds the one that has less interaction with the students to be the most effective. This concept is dangerous and can blow up on educators. Why? because self confidence is a huge part of understanding and when we take away confidence students will not learn or become frustrated in the goals they are trying to achieve. The frustration will impact the levels of confidence, then the expectations of the instructor remain the same. Practice is important and works on most but everyone learns differently and maybe one day we will be able to accommodate those as well.

chapters 3-6

The daily battle of trying to stay current on the readings have once again struck ultimate darkness into my daily thinking. Once again my mind is riddled with the basic knowledge of success building skills Geoff lays out. In the book the issue of "Smarts" in relation to memory and IQ in relation to meaningless intelligence. The fact of truth displayed is that yes not always is IQ related to a successful life and just cause your memory is good does not always mean that person is in anyway smart. I can remember what happened to me in fifth grade but that does not help me at all in calculus.  High repetitions of practice is a good source but it has to be deliberate.  Yes I know that this is not fun and the fact I have to read it makes it better Geoff.
In daily situations it can be said that top performers always strive or that average performers don't even notice. In the book these things are said to incite a sense of enthusiasm to the reader but what about those who work hard and  never succeed? Maybe luck or communication skills has something to do with it.
And yes Geoff what made Reggie Rice so good? Speed, Athleticism, Coaches, Knowledge, or good old fashioned practice? Honestly I know 500 people who could be put through the same training as Rice and still fall about 100yds short of perfect. So maybe it is not all practice and patience but there may be an aspect of genetics involved to help with his success. Perhaps the talented are not predisposed to vouch any sort of genetics into their personal abilities on sports fields but history tells us otherwise. Maybe Geoff never studied how in the slave era the owners would breed the strongest with the strongest in order to create a "super slave", facts that is still witnessed today through athletic ability in African American culture. True these strengths can be honed in with hours of intense training but the mold still has to be there to create a masterpiece.
Calculus I feel has the same principal of practice vs Talent. The fact that others pick up on numerical logarithms and have a keen eye for numbers exist. The talent has to be there for them to be perfect practice has to be there for them to excel but not everyone I am afraid truly "gets it".

Talent is over rated chapter 1-3

This week we started reading Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin, for calculus. Initially this process of reading literature and blogging for a math class seems to be quite different. The book however does make some decent points about success though I am not quite sure why people would need to read books on how to be successful in daily situations. The self-help qualities stream from the pages almost in a cliche like manor. The favorite so far "Great performance is in our hands far more than ever accepted" well of course it is good sir! I mean honestly if we wait for others to ensure our success then the process can never be duplicated by our own hands. The need for people to succeed is only measured by others success in the same areas of life. This seems to me like an easy out or a way to pass failure off on personal attributes.
       Just a few more quotes from the pages that I would like to elaborate on.

"natural talent doesn't explain top level performance if talent doesn't exist" ? how much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck couldn't chuck wood; see I can do it too.

"Deliberate Practice is key"  Well first off who the hell is practicing anything on accident? Yes a major key to success in any area of life is practice. You cannot walk onto a football field never have played the game expecting to throw like Tom Brady, I am sure that even he has had to practice a few times in his life. I can however see Geoff's point on practice being exhausting and mental, but then again what practice have you ever done that wasn't the least bit mental or physical? Think about it! i'll wait. Too exhausting? yeah should have practiced.

"with practice good memories are developed" well with practice bad memories can be developed too. I appreciate the enthusiasm Geoff I really do but really?

"no correlation between IQ and success" Yes! finally a statement I can totally agree with, I mean look at our last two presidents. No need to further elaborate I am sure. Tiger may have the skills but in the IQ level even he fell short. In life its more of who you know than what you know. I can teach a kid to design erosion control designs and only that, hell he could be a complete moron in his older age but his designs would be flawless. With this we can assume that the kid would be successful in designing erosion control plans and the rest of his life would suck but even he could be in what Geoff would label as successful.

"practice should designed to work on specific skills" Oh boy! I would have never known this if I didn't just see it in black an white. Listen I am not trying to take the cynical approach here just trying to understand what others train of thoughts would be on this same statement. Lets break this down a little further "practice should be designed" ok well yes Geoff it should otherwise what would it really be? But not just designed but "designed to work on specific skills" that goes hand in hand with "deliberate practice is key" funny how they sound different but mean almost the same thing. Also just to kick that thought process a little further "if you are behind it is hard to catch up" well I have news for anyone who may read this further that is the definition of being behind. There has never been anyone who says being ahead is easier than being behind because honestly who the hell gets caught up in the first place.
I cannot wait to see what the next chapters bring to the table and though this is for a grade I am pretty sure I will not be the favorite in class tomorrow with the teacher. I am pretty comfortable with who I am as a person and frankly where I have been and what I have done. There have been successes in my life that I have to attribute to hard work and knowledge, but to be frank the most success has come from communication and willingness to learn. Anyone can do a certain job with a little practice but most of the knowledge stems from on the job learning. I hope you enjoy this post and Carrie I apologize in advance.

Here is the new blog. I still have no idea what blogs have to do with math but I am trying to stay positive. The internet issues seemed to hold most of the work week up for most of us so once again this week is looking brighter. Calculus is by far going to be the most confusing this year/ week and minute. Office hours seem to be good so all set there