First we all had a sheet of paper with questions on it, and we had to circle the right answers. I think the most interesting questions would have been the brain twisters. They really helped us to think and we had to communicate more with others.
Some questions didn’t have Chinese subtitles so the International students needed to communicate with the Local Stream students and explain.
Next we played the buzzer games, or at least that’s what I called it! Basically: two members of each house, (two from local stream and two from international stream) competed on a task and the first house to press the buzzer (and get it right) won.
I liked the question sheets the best, because I was in a group with people I didn’t know, and it gave me the opportunity to talk and make new friends. It was also a time to learn from others. I knew some things that they didn’t, and they knew some things that I didn’t, so we shared with each other and learnt from our peers- learning isn’t always from the teachers!
This competition was really useful it helped us to make new friends and know more about mathematics. I myself met a new friend from the Local stream during the competition. He was really smart and he could answer equations in just a few seconds. I asked him how he could calculate so fast, and he said,
‘you need to find a way that you can remember and always practise that way. Once you have mastered that way, try other ways.’
You learn something new every day! Talking to people like this can also help you to practise for speeches. If you’re too nervous to speak to a large amount of people, practice by simply talking to people in your school that you don’t know and that you would like to know.
I’m excited for the next cross stream math competition!
