Isabel Garcia

January 28, 2013

Math- 207
Professor Franden
Mathography
Hello my name is Isabel Garcia. I dont really have any nicknames, so everyone just calls
me Isabel. I was born and raised here in Southern California, but my parents were born in
Mexico, so I speak both English and Spanish. Music wise I like to listen to both Spanish and
English music, but my favorite is Spanish music. One of my hobbies is dancing Mexican
Folklorico. Mexican Folklorico is the traditional regional Mexican dances with the big dresses
and hair pieces. I have been dancing for about 13 years and I love it. I have been able to
participate in many competitions here in the U.S. as well as in different states of Mexico. I like to
watch T.V. but I mostly like to listen to music. One of my favorite television shows is Seinfeld. I
think Ive seen every episode. I love watching movies too; one of my favorite is Back to the
Future.
Growing up I somehow always knew I wanted to become a teacher. When I was in high
school during my junior year, different colleges and Cal-States came to speak to us. From that
conference I learned that Cal State Dominguez Hills was the best school for teachers and that it
had a great Liberal Studies program. That is one of the main reasons why I decided to attend
here. CSUDH is always pretty close to my housed too, so that is very convenient. When I was in
elementary school I do not remember learning the basics that teachers emphasize on now. I went
to school in Compton from kindergarten to 9th grade and I did not learn much. When I switched
to Bellflower high I learned the basics and improved completely in all areas. When I first came
to CSUDH I was ready. I have not received a grade lower than a B throughout my three years

here. Changing schools was the best decision I ever made because Bellflower prepared me well
for CSUDH.
One of my biggest weaknesses is procrastination. My procrastination is what makes me
struggle because since I wait to the last minute to do things I feel pressured. I believe I do fairly
well in all areas of school. Even though I really dont like to write essays I usually always do
well on them. I do not hate math, but it is not my favorite. I dont hate math because I dont suck
at it anymore ever since I changed high school. I have only taken two math courses here at
CSUDH. My first course was Math 195 and my second was Math 107. I passed both courses
with an A, so hopefully I can pass this class with an A too. Hopefully in ten years I have a great
teaching career, perhaps working with children with special needs. I havent decided if I want to
work in that area, but there is a big chance I will.
From what I can remember, as I mentioned before I dont remember learning my basic
math skills. I think it is because I wasnt taught well; the Compton school district is not very
good. I learned how to solve things because teachers told me how to solve problems with rules
that were never explained why and how they worked. I had never understood our base ten
number system well until last semester when I took Math 107. Math 107 was my last math
course I took and I loved it. My professor always made us think outside the box and answered
questions with questions. I felt comfortable and I wasnt scared to ask him questions. I really
liked that he made us and taught us how to work in different number bases like 5, 12, and 60.
This is what helped me understand place value better. I learned many things all over again the
right way, like why when you multiple a negative times a positive is a negative.
Honestly I was worried about this class because I am really not good at geometry. When I
was first taught geometry in 9th grade I did not learn anything. My teacher sucked, no one paid

attention and my teacher never had control of the class. We always just did pointless worksheets
or played card games in class. I hope I succeed and really learn geometry this time. I do not mind
writing assignments in a math class. It is a bit unusual, but its doable. It is really true that
English is always cut off from math, when English and understanding vocabulary has a lot to do
with math. I think elementary teacher have to be prepared for everything. The first schooling
years are going to be the basic building blocks for young child. If the future children dont have a
good math structure then they are going to struggle like I did, but perhaps they will not have a
second chance to learn it before it is too late. Students and teacher should know how to solve
problems the paper and pencil way before they can take advantage of all these awesome
technological advances. This way they know why and how math problems are solved and can
spot a mistakes with answers do not make sense. I think I am going to learn many things from
this math class that are going to help me succeed in the future.