My Thoughts on Math

I have always loved math.  It has been my favorite subject since middle school, where I had a great math teacher who actually challenged us in math.  She taught us how to think on our own and come up with our own way of coming to a solution.  My freshman and sophomore year in high school our teachers were very procedural based which did frustrate me because I like things to make sense why I am doing it rather than just do what they are telling me to do.  Then my junior and senior year I had another great teacher who also challenged us to think on our own and it that it is okay to go outside of the box.  My only problem with math is I know how to do it in my head, but when I try to explain it to others I don't think it makes sense to them.  This class, however, is teaching easier ways to put what I am thinking into words for others to understand.  It was crazy that I have actually seen that this class has allowed me to express myself in math after only being in it for a short time.  The students in the youth group I help out with know that I love math, so they often ask for help; last week I was helping a girl with some advanced math and she was so confused.  Before I would just give them the answer because I didn't know how to explain it to them, but this time we actually had a discussion about it and it was like a light bulb went off in her head.  So it was encouraging to see, and I am looking forward to see how much more this class with help me stretch and grow in teaching.
April Buse

A new way of teaching math

Math has never been my strong point, however, this class has shown me a new outlook on teaching math. I have found that I have to focus and pay close attention at every single class period, however, I feel that I am feeling more comfortable about teaching math than I was at the beginning of the semester. I like the idea of teaching towards the common core standards; I feel that this will be very helpful for the students as well as us (the teachers!)
Miranda Chapman