Math Teacher

Growing up I knew that I wanted to do something that involved helping people because I always felt great about myself whenever I helped somebody. I know what you’re thinking right now “there are over hundred that involve helping people other than being a math teacher” and your right. What really pushed me to wanted to become a teacher was my grandma watching her teach English to her third-grade students was moments where I could picture myself teaching a class. The reason I choose math is because it’s always been my subject in school and just the feeling of working though a equation and the excitement you get when you finally get the answer.

Throughout this paper I will tell you about the history of Mathematics and some great mathematicians. What is a mathematician and what it takes to be one. Also, I will argue, to claim an education means to put the effort, research and time into learning with the purpose of being able to create a better future not just for myself but also for the education of other. Also, with the information acquired, especially in my specific interest in becoming a math teacher I will also argue to claim membership within the discourse community of mathematics. Which will also require effort, time and research into the expectations that must be met to fulfil the purpose in creating a better future.

If I’m going to do a research paper about mathematics first, we must talk about what mathematics is. “Mathematics is a science, like physics or astronomy; it constitutes a body of established facts, achieved by a reliable method, verified by practice, and agreed on by a consensus of qualified experts; its subject matter is ideas, concepts, which exist only in the shared consciousness of human beings. Thus, it is both a science and a “humanity.” It is about mental objects with reproducible properties” – Reuben Hersh.

Nobody really knows who created math, but Pythagoras of Samos is credited for the discovery of mathematics. Pythagoras was an Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of the Pythagoreanism movement. His teachings influenced great philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle and they are still used today also the Pythagorean theorem is named after him. “Pythagoreanism is the philosophy of the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras (ca. 570 – ca. 490 BCE), which prescribed a highly structured way of life and espoused the doctrine of metempsychosis (transmigration of the soul after death into a new body, human or animal)” -Carl Huffman Stanford University.

(Ionian- A member of an ancient Hellenic people inhabiting Attica, parts of western Asia Minor, and the Aegean islands in preclassical and classical times)

(Eponymous- Being the person or thing for whom or which something is named)

Another great mathematician was Nicholas Copernicus was a Renaissance-era mathematician and astronomer, known for discovering that the sun doesn’t orbit the around earth and how he went against great philosophers Aristotle and Ptolemy theologian. (The Renaissance is a period in European history, between the 14th and 17th centuries)

Sir Isaac Newton also was an mathematician, astronomer, theologian, author and physicist and he is known as one the best scientist that ever lived and for his three laws of motion and the one of the founders for calculus. Also known for his great quotes related to math and astronomy and even life lessons. “Genius is patience” – Sir Isaac Newton

(Theologian- a person who engages or is an expert in theology)

(Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine)

After I looked at different mathematicians the real question, I needed to know was what gives someone the right to call themselves a Mathematician. The dictionary definition of a mathematician is a expert or student of the study of mathematics or someone that uses the knowledge of math to solve mathematical problems.

Becoming a math teacher takes a lot of work hard and dedication, not only do you have to finish four years of college to receive a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. But in order to become a teacher you need a undergraduate degree in education or you can take a teacher training program. I would recommend taking a teacher training program because their easier and you can do it online and it cost less money then returning to school just to get a undergrad in education.

When I started writing this paper, I never heard of the word discourse community and after doing research about it I found out that a discourse community is a group of people that share similar values and goals and have a similar written or spoken form of communication. Also, while researching about discourse communities I found out that math doesn’t really have its own discourse community it’s part of the writer’s community because Mathematicians write books and journals which make them writers. “A math writer deals with hard facts and concrete evidences, but at the end of the day he is still trying to write a book. Even a mathematician has to adhere to certain guidelines of the writing world”. - Little, Miles, Christopher F.C. Jordens, and Emma-Jane Sayers. "Discourse Communities and The Discourse of Experience." Mathematises can also, a part of the discourse community of teacher’s because Mathematicians also teach classes which has multiple forms of communication. The math discourse community isn’t big it’s kind of a small group of people that just solve problems and talks about different subjects in math.

I feel like claiming a education is when you won’t let anything stop you from getting the education you want. When Adrienne rich wrote to claim an education, she was talking to women telling them to claim their education instead of receiving one. “One of the dictionary definitions of the verb "to claim" is: to take as the rightful owner; to assert in the face of possible contradiction. "To receive" is to come into possession of: to act as receptacle or container for; to accept as authoritative or true”- Adrienne Rich convocation of Douglass College, 1977. She basically wanted women to take responsibility for their education to create a better future. I agree that you should take responsibility for your education rather than just going to class and doing nothing just to get a diploma. In order for me to claim an education I will di anything I can to get to my goal in becoming a math teacher. Also, by keeping my future in mind, which motivates me to claim my education.

In conclusion after writing this research paper I have argued that to claim an education means to put the effort, research and time into learning with the purpose of being able to create a better future not just for myself but also for the education of other. Also, with the information acquired, especially in my specific interest in becoming a math teacher and I have also argued to claim membership within the discourse community of mathematics. Which will also require effort, time and research into the expectations that must be met to fulfil the purpose in creating a better future.

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