Math Autobiography

What did Math look like in the younger days of my school career from grades Kindergarten to six? To be honest, I have the worst memory and have poor memories of many things that happened while I was in primary school. However, I do remember in Kindergarten we would often sing songs or a few lines relating to math, either for the correct way to write a number or for counting from one to ten. In grades one and two, I had a teacher that was fabulous and I continue to refer to her as my favourite teacher from my schooling career. She made all subjects fun and interesting, including math, and I can remember that we would bring home math worksheets for homework to complete with our parents. I also can remember the classroom being decorated with lots of numbers and a counting line around the room as a border. I can remember my experiences with math in elementary grades in much greater detail, whereby we spent half the class having a lecture on a specific math concept, then the second half, working on problems in our textbook relating to that concept. 

My worst possible memory surrounding mathematics occurred while I was in elementary school and had the same teacher for two years in a row (grades 5 & 6) who was absolutely horrible.  He had almost reached the end of his teaching career, about to retire, and we could tell no longer enjoyed his occupation. He would come into the classroom in a very grumpy mood every single class, teach us a new topic in less than ten minutes, and then assign questions from the textbook to complete. If we had questions, he would get upset and often scream out unnecessary names to the students. We would then resort to asking questions amongst ourselves and helping one another get through a tough problem. This has affected my views, as an adult, about math by knowing that I will NEVER conduct my math class in this manner and will strive to helping my students learn each day. In the end, this horrible experience turned into a deep learning one for me. 

I feel like I was "good" at math since I done well on the exams and assignments that I completed during school. I never struggled with any of the topics that were taught and often helped my friends who were having problems. My parents also would ask me to help my younger brother with his math homework once I got in elementary and could not only get the answer, but teach him how to do so as well. I think this is how I realized I wanted to become a teacher myself with not only helping my younger brother with his math homework, but along with other subjects as well. 

The role of the math teacher is to provide life long learning lessons relating to mathematics in an engaging manner to all students. My teachers in primary definitely appeared enthusiastic about the teaching of math and I think they feel math was very important to make fun for students to learn. However, in my elementary years, I do feel like they still thought of math an important tool to teach students but did not think that they needed to make it exciting and interesting. The only assessment tools that I can remember being used in elementary grades was tests given at the end of each unit, along with assignments that were both done in class and outside of class throughout each unit. In primary, we completed worksheets and tests didn't begin until grade three, therefore I assume that teachers completed assessment through observation, record keeping, work completed, and portfolios.

Math classes in high school was almost like math class in elementary school (except for content), whereby the teacher spent a great deal of time lecturing about a specific topic while the students took notes for future reference, and then assigned questions. Often, there was not enough time to complete all the questions so there was usually homework in math each school night. There were only tests and assignments given as forms of assessments. I completed advanced math courses up through high school and the calculus course in grade 12. In university, I was advised to take Math 1000 and 1001, in which I did not enjoy. I found the professor extremely hard to understand and a much higher level math skills required. These experiences affected me negatively which by I avoided math courses at university from then on. 

I do engage with math in my daily life whether figuring out the best buys at the grocery store or taking into account time differences when I communicate with my family members in a different time zone. I have to admit that since I have not be directly involved in math, in a course for example, or depend on the calculator on my iPhone too much, my skills of multiplying and adding are slowly becoming weak! However, I do have a 2-year-old daughter who is growing up and I enjoy teaching her to count to ten. (My fiancé says I am not doing a great job since she counts in this order now: 1-2-3-7-8 but I am working on that!)

How do I feel about math now? I enjoy math and being able to solve a problem, but if it gets too messy, I will admit that I do not feel that confident in my skills to continue. I do look forward to teaching my daughter all about mathematics and I especially look forward to teaching my own students one day!