Connecting School and Home Experiences

I feel fortunate to have grown up in a home where knowledge was valued and sought after.  Both of my parents read the newspaper everyday and cared and talked about what was happening in the world.  I grew up being very aware of the world around me.  I think this was the beginning of my love for politics and being "civically" active in the world.  My political science class sealed the deal on my love of the subject and I knew that I wanted to pursue a career centered in teaching government classes to help foster that love in other students.

When it comes to history, I always had an affinity for knowing about and seeking to understand the past.  Anything old that I could hold in my hands said so much to me, and my parents understood that.  They would get me books, and my Dad would bring home old artifacts or replicas as souvenirs for me when he went out of town on business.  I know this enhanced my love of history.  My parents were also very supportive in my passion for history by attentively listening to me when I wanted to share what I was learning in school or on my own.  Being able to verbally express my excitement played a huge role in my decision to teach.

Math, it is more difficult to think about where my love of math came from.  Was it from my grandpa's dry jokes about math? He was a professor teaching electrical engineering and loved a good joke, the drier the humor the better.  Or did it start when my parents gave me a whiteboard and I would do math problems on it just for fun?  Is it in my genes?  My grandpa, all of my uncles, and over half of my cousins are engineers and have an ability to both understand and appreciate mathematics.  I've been surrounded by people who love mathematics and think very logically about the world around them.  No doubt this rubbed off on me and impacted by choice to getting a teaching degree in mathematics.

In my world, it is normal to have discussions about history, politics, and math.  Most of my family members enjoy it immensely.  I know that there are many applications outside of a classroom that can be made to enrich our lives and help us become better citizens.  I want students to have this opportunity as well.  On the other hand, I understand that many students do not have the family support that I had that fostered my love of these subjects.  For example, it is so common to hear people talk about how they avoid talking about politics or current events at the dinner table, or any time at all.  I will need to be sensitive to those situations and realize that everyone does come with different backgrounds.  I think I want to bring those backgrounds into my teaching.  I want students to feel comfortable with wherever they are at in their interest of the subject, but help them to have open minds about learning, and perhaps coming to love a subject.  I want to give students a chance to discuss current events and politics in the classroom the way I discussed with my parents, and to give them opportunities to handle historical artifacts that make history come alive. Maybe I'll throw in some dry math jokes too! I am excited to be a teacher and realize that I will have a lot of learning to do in terms of how to help me students feel connected to or appreciate the content area.