Please reply to this post with a response of about 300 - 500 words. (This is due by Saturday, August 28th.) How do you identify or think about yourself as a mathematics learner, doer, and teacher? What experiences led you to think this way about yourself as a mathematician and teacher of mathematics?
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I personally think of myself as someone who is “mathematically challenged”. I think of people in two categories; those who are good at English and writing papers, and those who are good at math and other stem subjects. I’m pretty decent at science, but math has always throughout my life been my weakest subject, and so I would definitely classify myself as the person who is more geared towards English and writing papers. It is difficult for me to learn mathematical concepts because memorization of steps is hard for me, and I generally do better with more abstract concepts. Math is very much about memorization and formulas and equations and it simply is not my preference. In elementary and middle school I was fine with math and it never was very hard for me, but once I got to high school that all changed. As a math doer, I try to avoid it as much as possible, but when the time comes and I can’t avoid it then I do my best to try and learn it. College algebra was the one class that held me back for so long when I started, and I took it 3 times to the end and dropped it twice, so a total of 5 times before I finally got the grade I wanted. I started out with a D- and finished off with a B+, so if that says anything about me it’s that I’m persistent when I really need to be. I believe I’d be comfortable as an elementary math teacher because I understand the concepts well enough to be able to break them down in an organized and concise way, which would not necessarily be the case if it was anything after 9th grade algebra. I know that lots of students will be able to relate and also may not enjoy math, and so my personal experience will help me to understand them and to be able to think of more effective and creative ways to teach them.
As a mathematics learner and doer, I have always struggled within the subject of math. Growing up, I had math tutors and a father who would try to help me learn, understand, and grasp the concept of numbers and mathematics. I enjoy learning different equations and ways to solve them, but when trying to implement them into my own thoughts and answers it becomes difficult to do so. Numbers are not a strong suit for me, and I remember always having difficulty memorizing and remembering my times table answers in elementary school. Learning how to solve for and come up with correct answers within mathematics can be fun and exciting because it is a topic many children seem to struggle with alongside science which has many incorporations of mathematics. In my experience, it has been difficult to learn and understand math problems especially in high school and college, dealing with algebra and trigonometry. Surprisingly, within Queens College I had a very helpful and knowledgable statistic teacher who allowed for my though process in mathematics to be made simpler and able to be accomplished. As a mathematician and mathematics teacher, I hope to help my students come up with the best possible methods that allow them to understand and follow math at the same speed in which I am teaching it and be able to fully succeed within the subject matter. I will teach students a way to learn and solve problems the best way I know how, so that when I am helping them or grading math homework, mistakes can be easily spotted and helped in fixing their understanding and teachings. I am excited to explore a topic in which will help me to teach to the best of my abilities.
As a mathematics learner, I am actually not good at mathematics, but my favorite class in high school was mathematics. I like to study and explore the mysteries of mathematics. When I use my own method to complete a math problem, I will feel very happy. When I encounter a problem, I can concentrate on solving the problem. The process may be difficult, but I also enjoy the process of solving. If I get the answer through others, I might forget how to solve the same problem next time. Answer, but if the result is calculated by yourself step by step, then this type of question will be kept in mind. I think this is also the fun of learning mathematics.Learning mathematics is like climbing a big mountain. When we first start climbing, it feels very relaxed, but the higher we climb, the steeper the mountain becomes, which makes people feel scared and bored. At this time, only those who really love mathematics will have Courage continues to climb, so people who stand on the peak of mathematics love mathematics from the bottom of their hearts. The people standing at the foot of the mountain cannot see the summit. Mathematics knowledge is relatively abstract and boring, causing some lower grade students to be uninterested. However, the interest of lower grade students always arises in certain situations. Using multimedia methods for teaching, integrating images, texts, sounds, pictures, and animations, fully stimulates the various senses of students, and can effectively arouse the enthusiasm of students. Teachers can use modern educational media to provide image materials based on the content of the textbooks and children’s psychological characteristics to make boring knowledge fun and life-like, stimulate students’ curiosity, mobilize students’ interest in thinking, and promote students to proceed with the best mentality as soon as possible Learn.
As a mathematics learner, doer, and teacher I think of myself as someone who is willing to learn more about it. Math has never been my strong suit and I always find myself struggling with this subject. I am always open to finding new learning tactics when it comes to math because of the fact that it always took me longer than others to figure out math equations. From elementary school to high school to even currently in college I have always struggled and practicing the same problems over and over again often helped me learn. When I was younger I did not think math extra help after school would ever help me because I did not like math at all. I always refused to go and believed that I was just terrible at math and that is how it would be forever, until I had this teacher in highschool who changed my way of thinking. She taught us mathematics in a different way from my other teachers in the past and because of that I am grateful for her. Over the years I learned that there is not always one style of learning, but that there are multiple ways to learn and teach individuals.
Personally I think I am good at math however I tend to second guess myself which tends in me getting the wrong answer. I am a quick learner since math is all about visually seeing the problems, however there is a lot of work and thought that has to go into it. Since I am a visual learner that has helped me be as good as I am in math, even though I question seeing myself as a teacher. I think once I stop overthinking an answer I will be abele to move on quickly with being a good math teacher. Teaching math scares me because I have had math teachers who just completely ignored us and wrote notes, which I don’t think if correct. Math is about learning new things so you have to make it fun, it is important to see that as little kids they like to do hands on activities rather than just writing notes on equations. As an educator teaching young children it is important to teach them about math in a way that they will understand but also enjoy because we are creating the baseline of wether they like math or not.
When thinking of myself as a mathematics learner, for the most part it has come easily to me while growing up. The only time I really struggled with math was in high school with trigonometry and Advanced Algebra which thankfully was the last two levels of math I had to take in High school and college, I am positive I would’ve struggled with pre-calc and calculus. I think I always liked doing math because it was left up to me and it was very rule driven, as in there were certain steps, I had to follow in order to get the right answer and understand the concept being taught. I am a very organized and detail-oriented person so math and all its small intricate parts working together always made more sense in my head than reading and writing being left up to my interpretation. I believe that many students struggle with learning math, but I see myself working well as a math teacher. My main focus would be to teach my students a variety of strategies that can apply to many problem-solving questions, so they had the confidence in many strategies and multiple attempts of going about solving a problem. I think that having math teachers that were so motivating while I was growing up is what contributed to the way I think of mathematics and being able to challenge myself. I also remember fun creative real-world projects and tasks that were assigned to me to test my math skills, and this really showed me how valuable having math is and how flexible of a subject it is. As a teacher I will resort to challenging, creative tasks where students see the usefulness of math and have a purpose to using it and will lead to them being more engaged in learning and taking initiative in their further discovery. If I strive to encourage my students, provide them with multiple strategies for them to master to boost their confidence and I progressively increase the challenge to give them something exciting to work for and achieve I think it will make my teaching methods effective in math.
As a math learner, I believe that most important part is to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it the way you are doing it, because working without understand is a big no no, when you know the steps of doing something because you understand why you are doing it is a lot better then just remembering the steps for the test, or for solving a problem, and you will end up forgetting everything you know. What I like about math is that we can use more than one strategy to solve a problem and this makes things a lot easier. There is no one way to get to an answer. Teaching students different strategies will help the students who are not comfortable with one strategy to work with another one. I want to teach students that it’s okay to not get things right the first time. And that math needs practice. ( practice makes perfect) this is what I will be telling them. It’s also important to know all my students what they need and where they are struggling ….. and give them the extra support they need. Also not to rush through the lesson just because I wanted to get done with it, or because I feel that I gave enough time on that lesson. It’s better to spend more time on a lesson and make sure they understand it, rather than spending less time and there are lots of students who do not understand…… Not all students learn at the same time. Also not to ask if everyone understands the lesson. That is not a great way to ask because all students will say that they understand the subject being taught, or they will be scared to speak up and say that they did not understand it……. Some students need more time which is completely fine.
As a mathematics learner, I loved learning math formulas and enjoyed learning how to use them. The reason I enjoyed studying math was because it had a definite answer to the question. But I had to create a sentences and paragraphs for other subjects when math only required a number answer. Therefore, when it comes to identifying myself as a mathematics learner, I would see myself as a ‘ready to enjoy and accept the difficult challenges using number’ person. When it comes to a mathematics doer, I think it is extremely important to build a strong basic skills of math. I believe that when you have a strong math skills, you tend to understand difficult math theorems better. I cannot identify as what kind of mathematics teacher I am, but I want myself to be patience and diligent when it comes to teaching this subject. The reason how I got enjoy mathematics was because due to the teachers who were patience and helpful. I think I was able to understand faster because teachers were not lazy, and they went over every single step with us to get the answer. They wrote all the steps on the board so we can see it and follow along. This process is also connected with building a strong math skill because if you just give the students a theorem, they will not know how to use it. I remember one of the teachers who went over all the students’ wrong answers on the exam after grading it to see where her students were at. She tried to understand what kind of mistakes her students were making instead of just assuming student’s lack of participation in the class. This would be the type of mathematics teacher I want to become who is willing to understand and help the individual. I want to make mathematics easy and enjoyable to my students by starting from where they are at.
When it comes to Math I am not the best at it. I was good in Math when I was in Elementary school maybe because Math was a little easier, but as middle school came and high school, my math wasn’t the best. I personally identify myself as a person who has had a hard time with math problems. Even when my teachers thought math concepts in many different easy ways I would still have a hard time following them. I would try and try and somehow I would still struggle. There are multiple ways in teaching math, I know, but I haven’t found that one concept that I love and understand. Yes, in a way though I love Math because math is unique and there are so many different techniques that you can use in order to solve math problems. As a mathematician teacher I am just scared because I want to make my future students to love math and understand math no matter how hard it might be. I know that many students might not love math but I want them to leave my class with the love for math, and not panic with math like I did. I might not be so great in Math but I will try my very best in order to make math fun for my future students.
I identify myself as a person who has always struggled with mathematics. I don’t understand concepts quickly. I have also struggled because I don’t ask questions when I should. Some mathematical problems require prior knowledge and sometimes I have prior knowledge on that topic but sometimes I forget key signs or steps. Math has always been confusing and therefore I do not enjoy it as much as other subjects. I know I have to teach the subject and as a math teacher I want to make sure I teach math in a fun way and Implement in my students love for math. I know that math is not all bad as long as I know what I want my students to learn. There can be different ways on how to teach and solve problems.
The experiences that made me feel like I wasn’t good at math was when I took my statistics class. I had a hard time because I was not at the same pace that everyone else in the class. I do not feel confident teaching it because of my own insecurities. I also had teachers that had patience and I learned a lot from those but there were others who moved on different topics way too quickly. They also gave too much assignments and tests and made you feel like if you did not pass that test it would be the end of the world the pressure to learn and do well was very intimidating. I also had teachers that explained the topics in detail. They focused on the student understanding and tried to get everyone to participate and enjoy what they were teaching. They taught us by using physical objects to count or playing game. This interactive learning helped me a lot. The reason why is because it was not just numbers on paper. I also like when the Professor would ask us what we already
Knew about a topic and they took the time to focus on what we were all struggling with. Relating the problems to real life also helps for instance how much money a person spends on coffee in a day a week and a year. This was very insightful because it makes you reflect on your life and the decisions you make everyday.
As a mathematics learner and doer, I have always tried my best to completely understand the different topics and stay on track. I know that during elementary and middle school I loved math, but that started to change during high school. The experiences that led to this change was that the teachers in high school were not as patient or comprehensible. Hence, if I didn’t understand something, then instead of going to my teacher, I would have to find ways to solve the problem on my own. Luckily, in high school, I managed to find helpful resources, there was a math center where teachers and fellow students helped students with any math work and during my freshman year I went there for help. The math center provided me with the help I needed, but it also provided me with new friendships and a new sense of confidence towards math. As a mathematics teacher, I was able to experience some of that in high school because during my senior year, I became one of the helpers at the math center. It was such a beautiful experience because I was able to help those who struggled, and it would always remind me of the time I was in their shoes. Also, in my current job, I’ve had the opportunity to work with elementary school children and help them with any subject they need, which in most cases is math. It’s really something special to teach them something new or help them with a certain math topic, because I’ve come to learn that even though it can be a struggle, at the end it’s worth it and it’s so rewarding! Although, not all my math experiences have been positive ones, I’ve used the negatives one to push me to become better as a mathematics learner and doer. By doing this, I hope to become the mathematics teacher that I want to be. I want my students to know that math can get challenging, but that just because it does, it shouldn’t stop them from trying and that I will be there to help them in any way possible.
Growing up, learning and doing math was fun and I enjoyed it. However, as soon as I entered high school, those feelings began to change. I started resenting math and dreaded the times I had math classes. Having teachers that didn’t care whether you did well or not didn’t help either. At some point, I was doing fairly well in math but the enjoyment I felt when I was younger still wasn’t there. It became clear to me as to why I felt the way I did. The teachers I had were constantly bombarding us with tests and quizzes without giving us a chance to improve on the topics we were struggling with. Instead of looking into what we needed help with and why, they would move on from one topic to another, leaving those who struggled overwhelmed and hopeless. It’s sad to say that I had teachers like this for all four years of high school. I graduated not feeling confident in doing math which made me fear how I would do once I began my college math courses. Fortunately, I had a few great professors and I was able to gain some confidence back. These professors took the time to make sure we were all ready to move on to each topic and made sure we were confident in taking the tests. They made it interesting by incorporating things we can relate to and by just making it fun overall. If it wasn’t for the experience I had in my college classes, I believe I would have carried on the mindset I had in high school which would have affected the way I viewed going into the education field. Although I am still not 100% confident in teaching (and sometimes doing) math, I have a better attitude towards it and I think I am capable of learning to be better at it. I know what it’s like to have a great math teacher, or professor in my case, and I can use their teaching styles and methods as inspiration when I teach my own students. I want my students to be able to feel confident when doing math and I want them to view it as something fun, not a chore. I also want them to know that it’s okay if they don’t get it right away or make mistakes because that’s why I am there, to help and guide them.
I should say I absolutely loved solving math problems, especially the ones with numbers and operations only. I immigrated from Korea without knowing a word of English and the only academic subject I was able to catch up to was mathematics. Not that I learned much of it from Korea, but just because other subjects were strongly connected to literature. As a young mathematics learner, one example was just enough for me to solve rest of the problems on my own and even help my friends who were in need. My passion on this subject continued until I had an opportunity to take AP Calculus class in my senior year of high school. At the end, I was able to do well on the exam, but it is when I realized I shouldn’t be arrogant about math. I have also taken many math courses in college which were not so easy either. Ever since then, I have thought that elementary school is where I should teach because I lost so much confidence with higher level math.
However, I think I really enjoy teaching elementary math and solving those math problems. There are different ways to solve math problems and people solve them at their preference. When I worked as an after-school and summer-school teacher, math was the most dynamic subject to teach. Some students solved them in completely different method but still got the correct answers. However, as a future teacher, I think I would like to have my students solve certain math problems the way I solve it, unless there is a school, grade-level, or district standard of teaching. I would have better understanding of where the students made a mistake and easily see if they really understood it or not.
When it comes to math I love the entire subject. Yes, I have had classes in the past that were very challenging, especially when I started college, but I am always up for a challenge. My favorite part of math class will be solving problems because of the many different strategies you can use to get to the same answer. My least favorite part of math would be decimals, fractions and percentages. Although I may be able to answer some questions surrounding those three topics, I still struggle till this day. My past math teachers compared to my teachers in college were very helpful and took their time explaining certain concepts and lessons, but I guess that’s because they have more time (180 days) to teach certain topics compared to college professors who only have four months. I know that being an early childhood teacher, I will be teaching the majority of all subjects, but if I had to focus in one area math would be my first pick because I feel most confident and comfortable teaching the subject.
I remember back in my junior year of high school in order for me to get my advanced regents diploma I had to take trigonometry. On the very first day my math teacher gave us a 100 question test which we had to complete within the class period. I remembered being overwhelmed with the amount of questions, the fact that I didn’t finish in time and especially since it was the first day, but after we finished she dismissed us saying “if you get less than 80 questions correct you might as well drop the class now”. Some of the questions were very hard and new to my knowledge so I already had the mindset that I failed and that discouraged me and rather than getting a bad grade in the class I dropped it. This same teacher was ironically, my teacher for another math class that year and without me knowing she would give me the trigonometry exams and I would pass them. She later on asked me why I dropped the class when I managed to still pass the test, and it was because I felt discouraged and all the math that I thought I knew just went out of the window once I had that 100 question exam in my face. This experience taught me two things: if something is hard or challenging just don’t give up, especially not on the first day because with time comes understanding and just because you fail or stumble on one thing doesn’t mean you’re a failure. These two points will allow me as a math teacher to encourage students to always try and never be afraid to make mistakes because as they’ll see from my past experience I allowed one entry exam to discourage my math skills to the point where I dropped out of a class.
I feel that at this point in my education in Mathematics I have learned so much, but as i started taking math courses at QC i have felt less confident in the more difficult courses. Previous to college courses i enjoyed and excelled in math, but now i feel more comfortable with elementary to high school math. I had a teacher a few semesters ago that did not make their class experience and good one. This professor knew i was struggling, and i did not feel supported. I think that changed my view on the more challenging math courses, but i still enjoy subjects like trigonometry and algebra. I may not be a math genius, but i have always enjoyed it somewhat. In high school i remember when my teacher had taught us something that some of the students were not comprehending. All i could think of was “I wish i could get up and show the class an alternative that is easier.” That made me think I could someday be good at teaching.
As a math learner and doer, I think that I understand concepts better when given numbers to work with and/or some sort of visual representation. What I mean by that is, it’s harder for me when I have to only hear what is being taught or conveyed and am forced to mentally picture what is going on. It helps me process when I have concrete examples, visualizations and numbers to work with. I also think that as a math doer, I tend to speed through the math to find the solution or problem and have an urge to finish everything to the best I can. I think this “rush” comes from the speed tests that I had growing up in elementary school. The nature of my class and schooling that I went through put pressure on me to get things done quickly. As a competitive person by nature, I enjoyed that contest-mindset and have since always tried to process things quickly in my head. I find that the old adage of “work smarter, not harder” is a mindset that I like to apply, especially so when it comes to mathematics. I want to find the most efficient way to solve the problem and not waste time or energy on methods that might be unnecessary. Something that I always experienced in many math classes growing up was that my teachers almost always were able to present solutions as simple as possible when I had done too much to try to get it. I saw that and it motivated me to try to think more critically about the situations and problems so that I can understand how to tackle it. I think this translates to how I am as a math teacher as well. I have the mindset that I want to teach my students to think efficiently about problems and math, and not have to over work themselves. However, I know that not all students may think or understand things in the same way, so I try to understand the multiple ways to reach a solution.