Math Autobiography

My experience with mathematics in elementary school was what Schoenfeld defines as very traditional in its approaches. I attended Bonne Bay Academy, a small rural school with a population of approximately 80 students. Many, if not all of the classes were multi-grade. The responsibilities of teachers were vast- they were responsible for teaching numerous courses, often outside discipline areas. Mathematics class was no exception to the multi-grade classroom. This meant that a 50 minute period often resulted in only 20 minutes of instructional time allotted to each grade.

My teachers were firm believers in “drill & practice” methodologies. Student success was measured by how well students could reiterate concepts in the form of worksheets, assigned/homework problems and the end of year assessment- most common being the CRT’s administered at the end of grade 3, 6 and 9. Teachers believed a measure of their ability to deliver the curriculum was based on our performance on such assessment. Teachers were of the mindset that if the students did well, the teachers did a good job delivering the curriculum, however if the students did poorly it was because of their students’ lack of interest or ambition to do well.

Although the classroom walls were covered with displays of student work, none of these displays were math based. There were colourful depictions of proper construction of sentences, grammar rules, and the like, but none pertaining to mathematics. As a teacher, I encourage the display of work from all discipline areas, including math. At the beginning of each unit I encourage students to display information pertaining to the subject matter to be covered in that section, as well as any questions they may have pertaining to that particular unit (as we progress through the unit students are then able to answer the questions). This may range from influential persons in mathematics, to rhymes to help remember formulas, to the display of mathematical rules.

Many of my teachers in primary/elementary school were seasoned teachers. They had been in the profession for more than 20 years, and most were nearing retirement age. They were set in their ways of teaching, and viewed new approaches with poor attitudes and viewed them as being too time consuming. They spent a small fraction of instructional time outlining important concepts, with the remainder of the class spent working independently on assigned problems. Very rarely were we permitted to work in groups, and strongly encouraged from “thinking outside the box”. A portion of each class was spent reviewing the previous night’s homework, where the teacher would call out the correct answer, and only when a student asked, would he review the procedure used to obtain the correct answer. When asked why a procedure was the way it was, the teacher would respond with something like “because I said so”.

This attitude towards math changed in grade 5 when a new teacher was assigned to our school. He was young, and taught math using new and varying approaches. The manipulatives, which up to this point were on the shelf collecting dust, were taken down, and math became fun. Finally, someone to share my enthusiasm! This teacher has greatly influenced my teaching of mathematics. Whenever I find myself using traditional methods of teaching, I reflect back on my learning experiences, and what learning math meant to me. I try to use various methods of teaching rather than the expected norm of demonstration on the board, followed by assignment of exercises from the textbook. (It should be noted that all my math teachers from grade 3 to level III were male. This is much different from the trend we see today, with the majority of math/science teachers being female)

My best memory of math comes from the 5th or 6th grade. As previously stated, I had a math teacher who was young and vibrant. I remember the feeling of being able to deduce for myself some of the major concepts in the units rather than simply being told this is what you need to know and this is how to apply it. Some of my worst memories of math come from my earlier experiences in math class, where the teacher simply stated the objective, demonstrated at the blackboard the appropriate “steps” in solving the problem and then assigning a large quantity of questions. If questions were not completed during class time the remainder were to be completed for homework. This was mentally draining because each problem was the same as the last, with the exception of the numbers involved. Another memory that stands out is that of the feeling of anxiety when called to the front of the class to demonstrate an answer. There was always the fear of being wrong and being ridiculed by the other students in my class or looked down upon by the teacher for not knowing the concepts which he had previously “taught”.

Report cards and teacher comments indicated I was good at math. It was an area in which I excelled, and one which was of interest. In high school, I was enrolled in advanced math and calculus courses, and did quite well in all. Reflecting back, I believe I was good at math for the simple reason that I had the ability to reproduce what the teacher wanted. I never once asked why or how a particular theorem was derived, I simply developed the skills necessary to know when and how to apply it when the time came. For this, some may disagree and say I was not good at math rather I was good at providing the teacher with the answer he/she wanted.
As part of my undergraduate degree, I completed 9 courses in mathematics. These ranged from Calculus, to linear algebra, to statistics, Euclidian geometry, and numerous others.

I think the learning and understanding of mathematics is a very integral part of the curriculum in schools. Basic math operations are applicable and required to excel in many other parts of the curriculum. No matter how well you understand the concepts taught in physics, chemistry, and other sciences in order to be successful you need basic math skills. As well, without the basic concepts developed at a young age, and the continual expansion on such concepts, many everyday tasks such as the calculation of interest rates, or the measuring of materials for carpentry become difficult.