Quotes for my Classroom Walls

As a math teacher, I have always had an uneasy feeling when I see classroom walls with posters that contain nothing but equations, definitions, formulas and algorithms. I think, "How is this exciting to students?" and I realize it's probably not. Now, I do see the value of such materials decking the halls of mathematics, and I don my walls with a few, but I've had a recent desire to scatter words of wisdom throughout my classroom in the form of quotes by famous (and not-so-famous) people. Here are two that that have caught my attention. What do you think--if you had to pick one to hang on your classroom wall, which would it be?

First Quote:

"This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as I live it is my privilege - my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I love. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I've got a hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw

(Note: not all my students are selfish little clods of ailments and grievances, but I have come across a few.)

Second Quote:

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.” - Bob Moawad

What do you think? Which would you hang on your wall?

Work it out!

I often have students who will get stuck on a math problem or will not even know where to start. My students accuse me of giving them problems that are "too hard" or that I "never taught them about." I confess, I am guilty of giving challenging problems and pushing students to their limits. My reply to their claims of "too hard" is, "It's not too hard, you just gave up too soon!" To their assertions that I "never taught them" a certain concept, I reply, "I know. I want your brain to get a good workout today." At this point, I encourage my students to at least try to do the problem. I tell them to write something. "If you think the answer is 3, write down 3" I say, or "if you think the answer is elephant, write down elephant" (so far the answer has not been 'elephant' but I did have a student write it down once).

I noticed something interesting about my students as they struggled. There seemed to be a distinction between those who had no idea how to get the right answer but tried anyway, and those who had no idea and gave up without trying. Those who tried were usually the ones who were fairly successful in school (as indicated by their overall grades and dispositions). Those who gave up without trying were those who were not performing particularly well in most or all of their classes. Now, I do not bring this up to pick on any student or group of students, and I know there are a few factors that I am not considering. I only want to point out that there is a value in struggling, in trying, in working something out even when we do not know what the end result is supposed to be. I believe the willingness to try is a key to success in math (and in life). I believe that anyone can be successful at math if he/she will put in the effort. From my observations, I would even submit that the most important factor in a student's success in math is work ethic. If a student has the determination to solve the problem--however may tries it takes, and however much time it takes, and however many erasers it takes--that student will succeed!

Numbers

Have you ever wondered where numbers came from? Yeah, me neither. Specifically I mean the symbols to which we attach quantities such as 6 or 3. As I was cleaning out my email trash can (oops, I mean "recycle bin") I came across a little presentation that claims the origin of our numbers is based on how many angles are formed in each symbol. As a Geometry teacher, this was fairly intriguing to me. Check it out

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