B.O.B.-Moment of Clarity

I think that most of us can agree that this unit was much better than the last unit.  The homework load was much more manageable, which was a relief (phew!),  and I even think that the material was very understandable.  In the beginning of the unit when we started completing the square, I was so happy that we were doing something that I understood right off the bat.  I also mostly understood how to complete the square when the "a" value wasn't 1.  However, after factoring out the "a" value, I would  always forget to multiply the new "c" value by the "a" value when adding it to the other side.  I would forget to do that step and then continue to work my way through the whole problem and get a completely different answer.  It was frustrating knowing that I would always miss that one silly step!  I wouldn't say that I had a single 'moment of clarity' where it just clicked for me, but after doing a lot of practice and double checking that I didn't miss that one step, I was able to have confidence when completing the square with an "a" value not equal to 1.

I also thought some of the price, profit, and revenue problems were challenging.  When we got the green sheet and packet of practice problems, I pretty much had no idea what I was doing.  I attempted a few of the problems but I was sure I was doing them all wrong.  My 'moment of clarity' for that was definitely when Mr. Jackson went through one of the problems in class the next day and explained each step separately. 

Overall, I found this unit much more enjoyable than the previous one, and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next!

~Libbey

5th hour