Sir Ken Robinson

While no doubt entertaining there was a very serious and clear issue for teachers of mathematics conveyed in this video. I have always held the belief that students do have creative avenues natural to them and it is a simple fact that the wrote mathematics algorithms or formulae may not be their strong suit. When it comes to student evaluation for example I always encourage students to show me in an means feasible to them how they would solve a given problem. I always model the traditional algorithm with the use of manipulatives and diagrams where possible and relating the situation to their everyday life experiences.
I have seen several cases of students over the years whom have been labelled with LDs or other disorders and have often wondered if there was really another issue at work here. Since it is often times out of our control as classroom teachers we do not usually get the opportunity to test our hypothesis. I think this may be an area worth looking into. After all if a kid can tap dance they can, in all likelihood follow a pattern.

Romance in Mathematics

I hold a deeply profound notion that the ability of mathematics to explain and model so much that is in our universe as we know it,  mathematics must indeed be of a truly devine nature. Is this romantic? Maybe from the point of view that  true romance is somewhat mystical yet completely visible at the same time.
My passion for the art of mathematics comes out in my teaching on a regular basis. I am far too often disappointed by the lack of enthuiasim I recieve from students and colleagues alike when it comes to marveling at how mathematics can model and predict events in the world on a regular basis at such a far reaching extreme.
I marvel at both the inherent simplicity in mathematical functions as well as their extreme complexity at the same time.
Call me a fool but I truly feel mathematics does indeed comprise a romantic relationship with the  world and it is both mystical and predictable.

Describing my Teaching

This is an interesting one for me. Some would describe it as eccentric or even unusual. I am teaching mathematics from grades 8 -12  and, especially at the intermediate level, I strive to make the mathematics learning as relevant as possible to the daily lives of my learners. I use materials such as wal mart receipts, they or me supply, sears catalogs, when I can get them away from my wife, recipe books, food, road trips to stores , ramps, hockey rinks and even 2 and 4 stroke engines on occasion. The students need to see mathematics functioning and explaining daily events and occurrences in their lives in order to make that deep connection to the concepts being taught.
We play all sorts of games from cards to jeopardy to bingo in class. This makes the learning experience fun as well as meaningful. I regularly encourage their participation in school run or nationally run mathematics competitions and showoff their results at the end. I hold an annual pi day in March where all 7 - 12 students participate as teams in a mathematics scavenger hunt. Everyone gets a mathematically inspired prize at the end with the winners getting a little extra of course. My 3103 classes run the show, from budget, shopping, cooking ( pies and pizzas of course), to creating and hiding both the questions and solutions to the mathematical scavenger hunt questions.
Active engagement, enjoyment and ownership are at the hearty of my mathematics teaching philosophy.

My Mathematics Experiences at University

When I entered MUN at 17 years of age I really did not know what i was going to study. I nearly flunked first year math, completely unpreparewd for the transition, and nearly gave up on University. In second year I decided to do a science degree , majoring in Physics. Naturally several math courses were required for this degree and I went on to even do a few electives in linear algebra and statistics as well simply out of interest.
I  currently teach math from grade 8 - 12 , and have been for the past 6 years. It has been out of this experience and PD etc that I have developed my love for mathematics and it's ability to explain nearly every facet of the universe. I continuosly strive for examples and stories of how math influences and escribes everyday life.

My Early Mathematics Education

Since about grade 2 when me and a fellow student were put ahead to do grade 2 and 3 mathematics I felt that I had a special ability to underrstand the mathematical relationships we were studying. However soon after this we seemed to get lost in the crowd as it  were and we were doing the same material aseveryone else for the next 8 years. A number of my teachers used me as an inclass tutor but there was never any real challenge anymore. Most of my high school mathematics was of the traditional set and get nature and again was no real fun or challenge. The real problem for me was to realize that I was actually teaching in the same manner for the few years of my teaching career and soon realized that this was very ineffective with the learners I was involved with.