Mathematical Autobiography

After talking to several of my classmates, family members, roommates and friends, it is clear to me that everybody has a different math experience in school. My father was a physics teacher, and I remember at a young age (pre-school) sitting at our dining room table and solving simple math equations (1+1=2) for fun! I had a good beginning to my mathematical career, as I had a supportive home environment. I think that this was key to my success in math from K-8, but the downfall of my math experience in high school.

Mathematics: K-6

To be entirely honest, there is very little that I remember about mathematics in grades K-6. I do not remember a whole lot about Kindergarten as a whole, although I do remember my teacher not allowing me to play with the toys even though I had all of my seat work finished! I think that in Kindergarten and Grade one, our math classroom mostly consisted of us completing worksheets or workbooks at our tables with our classmates. Some manipulatives were used in our classroom, such as three-dimensional blocks, and counting pieces that looked like small, clear circles.

Although technology was not as advanced as it is today, I remember technology being a big part of our math classroom. At least once per week, we would have a chance to play Math Blaster in the computer lab. There were several other math games that we were encouraged to play, as well. 

Memories Surrounding Math

My best memory of Math was in the second grade. It was the first time that I had a male teacher, Mr. Giles. One day, he got us all to bring in a pair of socks. I cannot remember the exact point of the lesson, but I remember being incredibly excited that we all had our socks, and we were putting them on a clothesline that he had strung across the classroom. 

In K-6, I was very engaged and excited about math. One day, in grade six, the gym teacher covered a class for our regular classroom teacher, and he taught us about algebra. I remember that I had heard about it on television and in books, but had never known what algebra was. It was something that clicked instantly for me, I felt really smart when I figured out the value of 'x' for the first time. 

The only bad memory I have about math is when we had to learn our times tables. As hard as I tried, I could not bring myself to memorize the 6,7 or 8 times tables. I remember sitting in the classroom during our quick multiplication tests and just writing down random numbers.

I think that my overall positive experience in mathematics has opened a lot of doors for me as an adult. Although I was not necessarily a strong math student in high school, I feel that my background is strong enough that if I was required to do  a higher-level math course, I would be able to do it with a lot of hard work.

Math Skills

In K-6, Math came easily for me, so it often a subject that I typically enjoyed, or felt bored with when we would have to go over the same concepts several times. The one thing I remember really disliking about math was that we would have to copy down the whole equation into our notebooks instead of just writing an answer. Looking back on it, this was a silly thing to dislike. My dislike for such a small issue indicates to me that Math was a positive experience, because other people that I have spoken to indicated much bigger issues that they faced in the K-6 math classroom.

Role of the Teacher

Last semester, we learned a lot about the teacher being the facilitator of learning instead of an instructor. That the teacher should ask questions and encourage inquiry-based learning. Although I think that this approach would have been effective in our classroom, it was not employed to my knowledge. All of my math teachers were great, and I think that they provided an encouraging environment. However, I feel that a lot of what we learned was straight from a text book, with very little hands-on instruction.

Assessment

 Assessment in math was typically in the form of a test or assignment. Although this is a very concrete way to test students' learning, it can be quite unfair to students that have difficulty writing tests, or take longer to learn certain materials. 

High School Math

In high school, math went downhill very quickly for me. Although I was still a strong math student in comparison to my peers, the looming date of graduation brought a lot of pressure on me to get a good grade in math so that I could 

a) get into any math course that I needed in University

b) get an entrance scholarship into Memorial University.

This was a lot of pressure for me, which was oddly the opposite of motivating. My parents insisted that I take advanced mathematics, because I was capable of doing the work. I did not mind it in grade 11, but I was not at all comfortable with Math 3207, an introduction to calculus in grade 12. While I did pretty well in 3205 (our required course to graduate), 3207 was completely optional, and as such, the homework piled up and up and up, and I failed every test, and every assignment. This was completely out-of-character for me, as I was an honours student in every other class. This course made me feel completely overwhelmed, which made me shut down entirely, and really ended math on a sour note at the end of high school. 

University Math

I enjoyed completing Math 1050 and 1051. I did not do any electives.

Mathematics in Real-Life

On a day-to-day basis, I do not incorporate mathematics in a major way. I use it as anybody else does; to split bills with my roommates, to calculate the price of an item on sale, or to add the weight or measurements of my food. Although I did have a bad experience in one of my high school math courses, I do feel that I am a scientific/mathematical thinker, so I probably do use math a lot more than I consciously think. 

Feelings about Mathematics

Today, I feel pretty positive about math. It is not something that scares me, as it does a lot of people I know. I think that it is a necessary component of being a functional and successful adult, and I think that it is important for teachers to provide an encouraging environment in which students can learn math so that they do not feel intimidated when learning math as they get older.