Warning: you might start to like math!
It might not be a 7th grader’s favorite thing ever, and perhaps he does not embark on a lifetime of deep diving into numbers,
Perhaps he will not get excited about finding Fibonacci sequences or developing a corollary to Gödel numbering,
Perhaps his heart will not aflutter at the idea of mapping the universe like Galileo or building better optics like one of his namesakes Keppler,
Perhaps Pascal’s interest in probability theory will disinterest him, maybe his life’s pursuit will not be collaborating with a Lovelace, like Chuck Babbage, to lay the groundwork for modern computers,
Perhaps he will not further Euclid’s explorations into geometry, or Descartes’ dual forays into coordinate systems and Rationalism, or Archimedes’ study of spheres and area and screw pumps,
Perhaps he will not be considered a father of countless numerical concepts like Pythagoras, or have a theorem named after him,
And perhaps he will not make breakthroughs in computer science and artificial intelligence that will literally shorten an entire World War like Turing,
Or perhaps he will not someday teach university or high school or middle school or elementary…math!
And yet…perhaps he will. Perhaps he does. Those paths should be open.
Those may not be paths he takes. Or they might. The choice of path should be because he chooses at some point not to go down that road. Not because he is not capable. You don’t have to be great or even good at everything you do.
But there is a huge amount to be said for learning the basic concepts of something and feeling that you have the ability to keep up and understand the fundamentals in any particular discipline.
For a lot of kids and students, mathematics is a great example. Something that’s hard, that can seem boring and irrelevant and difficult and pointless and all those other pejorative words math teachers have likely heard about the discipline they’ve chosen to teach.
A quality math teacher is like a drummer in a great band. Oftentimes they might not get the credit or the fame or the center spot at awards ceremonies, but what they teach and perhaps even more importantly how they teach it, is incalculably* valuable.
*or perhaps a great mathematician could place a value on it, heh heh 😂
There are so many life lessons and character traits to be taught and learned from a middle school math class.
Perhaps it is pursuing the difficult with resilience, pursuing with a confident attitude and learning spirit, perhaps that is the operative minimum goal,
Perhaps, perhaps like me, he will discover the joy of embracing numbers and the beautiful logic of mathematics as…an artist…
…the joy of finding patterns, the joy of seeing how nature and numbers are interwoven, the joy of connecting worlds most people keep distinctly separated post-Renaissance,
Perhaps he will love mathematics and perhaps he won’t, but perhaps most of all, as a wonderful teacher, Mrs B———- said on the first day of this school year:
You might not love math. But I hope that, especially if you are feeling behind or not so confident, if you feel that you’re having trouble grasping concepts, I hope that soon, soon you will be able to at least say: ‘I like math.’
‘I like math.’ It’s a simple statement, and what does it mean to say aloud?
Our daughter had her for two years and has strong and positive words for her teaching methods and style; much of which revolve around a patient spirit, an empathetic attitude, and a genuine interest in trying to help each student get to a point where they can say:
I like math.
I love that.
I love that there are teachers who are willing to empathize, to care, to practice patience, and to look for ways to connect the effective learning of challenging concepts with each individual student.
Thank you, Mrs B———-.
