As an elementary student,I enjoyed the idea of math but hated the idea of doing 20-30 math problems if instead knewn how to do the assignment. Combined with my father’ s belief that their was only one way to do any math problem. This led to a distaste for math that led through high school with the exception of geometry with Mrs. Jacobs. She made math interesting again but that feeling quickly faded by the end of high school. Math was a necessary evil in college but I never loved a math class.
Now as a 5th grade teacher, I work hard for my students to see the relevance and joy of math. My goal is for my students to leave my class with the idea that in math there is more than one way to solve a problem and to see the joy that math can bring when you allow them to be creative.