Week 3

It was neat to see the lab since I didn't know there was one until this class. It makes sense for the math department to have a lab so students can do labs like the one with the gold chain and to observe and determine functions in bubbles and bearings to reach practical conclusions. I'm actually in the process of changing my major to Elementary Education (with my concentration in math) so I don't think I'll end up using the lab at all actually. I was unable to attend Charles Biehl's talk but I heard that it was very interesting.

Week 2

My first few weeks of classes are going well, but as exams approach my study time is definitely increasing. Other than that it has been pretty uneventful. I don't have any concerns to be addressed in this course; I just hope I'll still learn something without being able to attend the Thursday sessions.

Class 1

My name is Alex[andrea] Hammons and I am a Freshman Mathematics Education and Biology double major. I wanted to be a high school teacher and applied as Bio Ed, but was unable to take a Bio class this year and so focused more energy on my Math courses and grew to like that subject, as well. Both the good and bad math teachers I've had influenced my choice of this major, because I want to be an informing and helpful teacher like my best and spare students from experiences I've had. Unfortunately I have a conflict on Thursday so I won't be able to hear the guest speakers, but I hope to still glean some information about other Math careers or current research and applications in the field. I liked the speech we heard today; ironically the man was speaking quickly about slowness but he was easy to listen to and I identified with his ideas. It reminded me of something I've heard from pastor Rob Bell of Michigan, an illustration of taking his sons to the beach and seeing a huge, gorgeous starfish in the water. One son keeps running into the water, then turning back. When questioned, he explained through tears, "My hands are too full of shells"-- not even shells, but fragments of them he'd been gathering as they walked along the shore. I think the slowness movement should be more about prioritizing than speed. Maybe we don't have 5 extracurriculars for 15 hours a week, but one or two that we really invest in, spending perhaps 5 hours on each. When I met the Episcopal Church's youngest bishop this summer, he commented that he's wished away most of his life--"I can't wait for tomorrow because...," then "I can't wait for next week because..." then " I can't wait for Easter..." and on and on until the days have passed and he hasn't taken the time to live in each one. I had a conversation with another student here about how in high school you can have six extracurriculars or more before you start to feel too busy but in college two already seems like a lot. To me slowness is about investing our lives in things we have a passion for, not rushing through our days but living in and through challenges, toiling for what brings us joy.