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Lauren Martin

TEAC 403B

Josh Males

February 3, 2017

Mathematics Autobiography

Ding! There went the test timer again. I flipped my quiz over and

laid my pencil down. This time I felt accomplished. I had finally finished

quiz level V before the buzzer went off. I was so excited, now all I had

to do was wait to see if I answered all of the problems correctly to

move on to level W. This meant I only had to pass four more quizzes to

finish my alphabet-coloring rocket and move on to division. I was so

excited. Why? Im not quite sure. I loved that I was good at this thing

called math. I loved how systematic it was and how it had worked my

brain unlike any other subjects I had experienced.

This was one of my first memorable experiences with math in

elementary school that I can remember. This memory is the earliest I

can recall of when I started to enjoy mathematics. This was critical to

my mathematics future because this is the point were I began to like

the subject as well as take it a little more seriously. I was excited to see

what more there was to learn in my next couple of years.

I can recall a time in middle school where I had asked my teacher

what the highest level of math that I could take in high school was and

she had told me that it was calculus. For five years, I was bound and
determined to find out what this calculus was. I could not wait to finally

find out. It sounded like something that was impossible to get to. I

thought, How could math go beyond the basic algebra that I was

learning? Calculus sounds like a mixture of calculator and cuticles.

This is a serious thought I had for a few years until about my

sophomore year of high school.

I came to learn that high school was different. Math was still

systematic, but there were also pieces of it that were not. I learned

that geometry was not my favorite of the math topics. At first, I did not

prefer the different kinds of proofs we had to do, but it all still seemed

easy to me.

Later on down the lengthy road of high school, I was finally able

to become a calculus student. I had passed pre-calculus with flying

colors and I loved the materials that we covered. Calculus started off

as a breeze, but this is where life became hard. For the first time in my

mathematics career, I needed help with simple homework problems. I

received my first F on an assignment in this class. I think my F was the

motivation I needed to change my study and note taking habits. I will

not lie; this was a hard task for me. I still received a B in the course,

but I think this course was a critical point that pushed me to continue

with a math career. It was this course that made me want to teach

math. I always knew that I would do something in the mathematics


field, but this course was fun and it was a challenge and I dreamt of

doing it everyday.

In college my struggle in the math field became a lot more

difficult. I failed a class. Not just an assignment this time, I flat out

failed. I failed not because I did not try but because it took me time to

adjust to different ways of preparing and studying. This failure was not

going to stop me from achieving the degree that I wanted to receive. I

pushed through and learned that whether or not it took me a couple of

tries, I could still achieve my goals.

When I was in school, I loved math. It was one of my favorite

subjects. A lot of my friends hated math because it was a struggle for

them. I know a lot of them saw math as a drag and would try every

possible way to get out of math. But I was never in math class with my

friends. I was always in the upper level math where the students

wanted to learn math. So the vibe of the classroom I was in was a little

different than the vibe of the class they were in Im sure. In the upper

level courses, there were a lot of positive ideas floating around about

math, which made it a fun environment to be in. Im sure there were

not many positive ideas rolling around in their classrooms, which could

be a little of the reasoning for their dreading of the class.

Looking back on my teachers, I think the ones that made the

work relevant and could explain the why factor were some of the best

teachers. These teachers were not necessarily my favorite teachers at


the time, but now I can look back and truly understand why they did

things the way that they did. The aspects of these teachers are what

lines up with what I have learned to be a good math teacher.

Also in reflection of all of my K-12 experiences, it seems as if we

did learn a lot of facts, compared to in college where we learned a lot

of the why and were doing more math. This may have been a reason

why I struggled so badly in my college courses. I was not properly

prepared with the tools to do the mathematics, instead I was taught a

lot of rote memorization and facts.

In conjunction with these past experiences, this is what is

shaping the kind of math teacher that I want to be. I want to be that

teacher that can find a way to motivate all her students and to not

make math class a drag and the last place that these students want to

be. I want to be the teacher that teaches the whys and hows, not the

teacher that teaches the students rote memorization of facts. I want to

be the teacher that inspires kids to learn.

I think my biggest influence/motivation in math was not a person

or one thing, but I think it was definitely the wonder of why

mathematical things happened the way that they did. How is it

possible that we can get to ideas and concepts such as calculus

especially when what we seemed to be doing at the time was

extremely difficult like factoring polynomials.


To make sure that I get to where I want to be as a teacher, I

remind myself everyday of the experiences I had while I was in K-12

and how it was a majority of rote memorization of facts and how this

failed me when I entered my senior year of high school and my

freshmen year of college. I want to be a teacher that creates

meaningful learning and through this I will use my college coursework

as a basis for the kind of teacher I aspire to be. I will strive to find a

way to make mathematics meaningful for all students because the

goal is to set them up to succeed in all aspects of life and not just the

memorization of facts.

And if at first I dont succeed, I will try again and again. This few

years of my mathematical career has truly been my motivation and I

hope that one day I can achieve the mathematical career that I want

and instill this motivation in every one of the people/students that I get

to work with.

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