Math autobiography

My first mathematical memories are of the counting rhymes “One, two, buckle my shoe….” and “Ten little, nine little, eight little Indians”. I do not know who taught these to me but I do remember chanting them as a young child of 4 or 5 years old.  I am glad to see that I was exposed to both counting forward and back at an early age.

What I remember most about primary school mathematics is doing many pages of written work which I did enjoy. Teachers did a few examples on the chalkboard each day and students did many examples of the same concept in their exercises copied from the math text book. All work not completed in class was assigned for homework. Correct answers were called out in class the next day and we corrected our own books. Story problems were present at the end of most text book pages. I recall disliking them. At the end of each chapter we had a test.

Elementary school was a repeat of more of the same. For the most part I did enjoy math and achieved high grades. I grasped new concepts easily and loved doing the written practice.  To study for tests I always redid many examples of calculations from the current unit of study.

In grade 8 I continued to do very well in math, but many of my classmates found it difficult. I am not sure if the concepts became more difficult or if the teacher was unable to explain them adequately. After the usual chalkboard demonstrations and assignment of seatwork I set about helping my peers understand  the day’s math lesson. (I think the teacher counted on me for this! As I recall it being a daily occurrence and I was somehow labeled as “the brain” in the class. )  I listened and practiced and already seemed to have a knack for teaching! When I relay my on an individual basis Grade 9 experience you will see I was not the “math brain”.

In Grade 9 I was automatically placed in what was then called Honors Math. I got 60% in the first test and was demoted immediately to the regular stream.  It was a little blow to my ego, but I continued to listen to math instruction in class and practice the necessary skills daily and nightly.  I also continued to help my peers on occasion and enjoyed the work. Thus I continued to do well in math, always achieving A’s.

Onto university where I had my career as a primary school teacher all planned, therefore I needed only one math course … it was maybe something like Teaching Math in Primary Grades. I recall making absolutely no connections with math or anything else during this course.   The instructor was a male in his 50’s who did not speak English clearly. I recall only being so grateful that I did not have to do the brutal math courses that my friends had to do in first year as they pursued studies in Engineering and Commerce. It always bothered me that students were so ill prepared for university’s introductory math courses.

As a Grade One teacher I love teaching mathematics. I can have a lot of fun with it and so easily incorporate it into everything I do. I spend a lot of time connecting math to their everyday lives. We count how many days we’ve been in school, who is tallest, who has the longest and shortest names and so much more. I enjoy doing hands on activities with my students, they learn so much from each other. I spend a lot of time trying to have them explain how they know things and encouraging them that it is okay to have strategies to find out what we do not know. I am trying to bring my little students beyond answering that they know something “because”.  I give my students lots of praise and call them “Great Mathematicians” when they solve problems
One of the most valuable mathematical experiences I have had as a teacher has been conducting individual math interviews with my students. I have used observation and paper pencil activities as forms of assessment in the past, but the clearest picture of what  a student really knows is best seen when you get to talk to them on an individual basis about math and how they do things and know things.