Reflection on EDCP 442

It is a little bit hard for me to admit that since high school I have grown to have a much greater appreciation of history. It is hard for me to admit because history was always my dad's favourite area and I wanted to be different from him, and it never really stuck to me in high school. I mean I have a general sense of history, but recalling details or a timeline within a decade is often difficult for me. Maybe that is partially why I enjoyed this class more than an average history course. We touched on so many things -- so I think we really learnt some of the highlights, the things that make math unique in each culture and the complexities of how math was actually "formed". I think I have learnt a about a lot of different things that I wish to look more into later on in my career, as well as topics that I think are incredibly important for a high school math teacher to hopefully pass onto their students. 

I think the top concept that I wish to carry on into my classroom is getting away from this Eurocentric view of mathematics. When I think back to some of the stories or methods that we learnt, some of the Eurocentric ones were so much more well documented, but they were also vaguely known or kind of familiar to me. Many of the ideas I have learnt about from other cultures often do not have the same level of document (in some cases for some incredibly devastating reasons), but it so amazing to put yourself into minds and thought patterns of ancient times that are less familiar. In some cases, we talked about how these different methods can help students better understand or have a different method to try out. I think these varying methods are a good way for students to inquire and find patterns, and I think it is something that is generally given less credit, or maybe just less time devoted to, as students age. As a teacher I hope to keep this mind and incorporate some of these lessons and strategies into my lessons. Not only does it open the mind to new patterns, connections, and methods, but it also humanizes math a little bit and shows that it isn't as black and white as it is often thought of.