I’m a student currently attending FISD and I am forced to complete MATHia, a math program made to “help students learn and progress through their math career”, but unfortunately, this is not the case for most students. When I am working on MATHia, whether it be at school or at home, I always seem to struggle with it. There will be times where I get stuck in a continuous cycle of frustration and misery. I try my best to complete the problem at hand, yet when I do not understand a concept given to me, and I don’t have means of help, I feel lost, paralyzed, kept from escape to the next problem, just to repeat the same old joke. And before you saying, “well you have hints at your disposal”, let me tell you something. When a student uses a hint to try and grasp the problem, MATHia will add questions until you don’t make mistakes. Until you don’t use hints. This isn’t the curriculum I want given to me. I want to learn in a environment where mistakes are not looked upon as bad, but as a place for improvement. MATHia is here to tear you down. Tear you down to the last bit of hope. There are students, including me, who can’t just learn from a program telling them they’re wrong and to try again. They need face to face interaction. Now, you might be saying, “well since you’re already learning about this in class, shouldn’t you just be able to fly through it?”, if we’re already learning this in class, then what is the point of doing it over, and over, and over again? And trust me, I am not the only one who feels this way. I believe Jody K. a teacher at Cerritos High School said it best. “Mathia repeats it's lessons endlessly without keeping track of the students ACTUAL level of understanding. As teachers, we all know that different students have different methods of learning. Mathia just causes frustration in many students pushing them through question after question after question without helping them genuinely learn. My peers actually pay each other to finish their mathia for the week, and you don't know how much money you can make off doing another student's mathia. The students try their best to finish one workspace, but the disappointment that flows through your body after hitting one wrong button or making one small mistake and watching the progress bar drop, instantly creates anxiety and frustration. TEACHERS PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR STUDENTS. WHY ARE YOU A TEACHER IF YOU CAN'T TAKE CARE OF YOUR STUDENTS MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY WITHOUT GIVING THEM THE PROPER TOOLS AND ENVIRONMENT TO LEARN FOR THEIR FUTURE.”. So it’s not just students who don’t think MATHia is a good way to learn. Even teachers agree. Why must we live in a world where we’re pushed into the deep end with no one to guide us?