Memories of my junior high years were of math and socialization in the dating scene. Although I was not allowed to date until high school, I rationalized to myself that it was a silly ritual and why couldn’t we all just be friends and work together for the common goals – learning and changing the world! Madame Curie was my hero back then. The search for the perfect method interested me more than boys. I wouldn’t discover what that was all about until my senior year.

The earliest memories I have of classroom experiences in math and science were in my primary years. We used a lot of what’s now called math manipulatives in first through third grade, but students called them building blocks, straws, puzzles, and other manipulatives. I knew that I enjoyed math, but I hadn’t made any connections to the real-world problems. I still wasn’t sure what it was all about and why we had to do it. My first through third grade teachers always said that I performed well in all subjects, according to my old report cards. I have little recollection of junior high other than the girlfriend’s discovering boys before I did, and band practice. What was studied during this time was a mystery. You blank out your puberty years because you don’t want to remember them.

Magically, I would soon discover the wonders of Algebra, around seventh grade that put me in love with math and the problem-solving adventures once again! I would go inside my head and forget about the torture of the boy scene. I also loved language and took two years of French. Foreign languages came easy for me. I had a great teacher who took a trip to France one summer and brought back gifts for her favorite students. She also turned us on to pen pals and I corresponded with a French girl my age for years.

Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and even some pre-Calculus classes were the new world that I discovered, and they were like translating a foreign language. We had a trigonometry teacher who had worked on the Manhattan Project in her college years! I continued to enjoy mathematics until my senior year. By that time, my test anxiety had increased tremendously over the high school years, and this anxiety was reflected the most in this advanced math class. During this time, we students were also given lots of achievement tests. Reflecting on this, this was the first look for these teachers at some sort of standardized testing. America was realizing that they needed smarter students and standards for graduation. I never did very well on those tests. No preparation was ever given before these tests. We just had to get out of class and go take the test. I usually felt like a failure after this class. There was too much emphasis on standardized testing (because of lots and lots of money to be made by contractors). It has some benefits for the teachers, and the students get desensitized to these types of tests with proper preparation time and pre-testing.

It’s always hindsight that lets us know where our system has failed us. Although I still believe in the ideal of a balanced education, math and science must eventually be considered as equals in this education process, not greater or lesser. Businesses today are recognizing the importance of science and math education for their future employees. As a result, charter and magnate schools are cropping up everywhere with their sponsorship leaving behind public schools in terms of assistance and funding.

Overall, I lacked the problem-solving skills for the higher sciences and math. Even though I had excellent drill and practice skills, could remember lots of facts, got A’s in all the labs, and intuit lots of answers, I couldn’t get the “part in the middle” or how to show my work, except in my science classes. Those were pure poetry for me. Completing science projects and using the scientific method gave me a sense of accomplishment! I loved to journal, so this was a natural expansion of journaling.

Upon reflection, I feel that’s why I elected to major in psychology, then went on to law enforcement, and finally, crime analysis. I liked having some knowns and rules of the game, but I also liked the challenge of figuring out all the unknowns. Solving crimes, profiling criminals’ behavior, looking at patterns, as well as delinquency issues were puzzles that were exciting and challenging to me. It also gave directions to officers as to what to do with these guys, giving them an understanding that just locking up someone doesn’t always work. I had to prove my work through studies from the real people I constantly worked with. I was able to produce reports that validated my theories of behaviors and crime patterns, thus making predictions for future trends.

For me, this never appeared to be a math and science exercise, but a human nature puzzle. It was exciting work. It was wonderful to create something new or at least new at the time, and work with the experts in the field. Yet even though I was doing real world mathematics and scientific studies, I still had that feeling that I didn’t know it.

Perhaps, if I had been given the opportunity to learn about math and science in the way of the new methods teachers utilize today, I would feel more confident in my abilities. I would naturally assume that the classroom learning relates to the real-world experience. Perhaps today I would just assume the process was not an abstract concept. People do all kinds of math and science every day, in their jobs, in their work at home, and they do this mentally. Women just don’t believe it is math and science.

Perhaps if teachers in our day had approached subject matter as an inter-disciplinary approach, for all students, male or female, we would understand and enjoy all the subjects, even social studies. We would understand that there is math and science in every subject. There are many literature books that include math as part of the subject, woven into a beautiful story. It is as much as part of our lives as the liberal arts are. We don’t need to swing radically to absorbing only math-related subjects. And we should not swing radically in the other direction that excludes math-related information. Reading and literature must blend with math and science to create a so-called well-rounded education.

What I have learned in my experiences is that some teachers are excellent blenders of theory and hands on experiences. Some just know the drills. All front-line educators should be given the resources and time opportunities to combine fact learning with experiential learning. Students should work individually on projects and explore and expand the limits of individual thinking. Admittedly, cooperation is important in today’s societal norms and job market. Group activities can and should be successful learning experiences for all students. Not all students are strong in a group. Some are perfectly content to let others do the work, and we all know that a strong leader always emerges. There needs to be accountability in the group settings so that every individual participates and learns the lesson being taught. Individual creativity is crucial to individual growth, and individual growth leads to new discoveries and the development of new ways of thinking and doing.

Stay tuned for Part IV tomorrow-the final installation of this story!

Love and hugs to everyone who reads this blog and makes a small difference each day they live!

Note: Parts of this post were originally written for a graduate level class in the late 1990s. Some teaching methods have improved over the last two decades. I would love to hear teachers respond to this blog, how they help students learn, and what the new methods are to teach in an integrative learning environment. Thanks to all teachers who are dedicated to the craft in these trying times!