One Year of MLLAoU!

What started on my personal FB to teach my friends about mathematicians as a distraction from the unknown of COVID school 2.0, a.k.a. 2020-2021 School Year, has turned ONE!

In that year, I have been able to not only teach my friends about mathematicians but to help inspire teachers around the world think about how mathematics is represented to all students so they can see themselves as "Math People." I have also got to talk to many cool folks on IG from around the world who just LOVE math like I do. People who are inspired to see mathematicians aren't all young savants from wealthy European families during the Enlightenment... they are old, young, gay, straight, black, brown, good at school, the bad kid in school... they are just people.

We have grown to be 1000 followers strong (ok, 999 as I type but still give me this).

There have been 357 posts celebrating mathematicians throughout history, as well as honoring #pride, #aapiheritagemonth, #blackhistorymonth, #womenhistorymonth. I can't wait to see where we will be in another 365 days as we continue to celebrate maths and those who love mathematics.

What would you like to see celebrated here?

Comments

How are the best of the best recognized in Mathematics?

Mathematicians are often touted as the smartest people on the planet but then you hear about the best and brightest winning the Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Medicine, Economics... Peace... but not MATHEMATICS. I haven't really thought too much about it until I started to research for this post. I knew Mathematicians had their own awards and just left it at that. Well, let's take a look at what was up with Alfred Nobel and then talk about the biggest math prizes. Source: Wikipedia Alfred Nobel Born Alfred Bernhard Nobel 21 October 1833 Stockholm , Sweden Died 10 December 1896 (aged 63) Sanremo , Italy Nobel was a Swedish chemist and inventor. He holds 355 patents with dynamite being the most well known. After being criticized for making a fortune off of the production of armaments, he decided to leave his fortune to the Nobel Prize Institute to change his legacy. His last will and testament set aside monies to establish the Nobel Prizes. These prizes were to b...

Math Memoir The Series: Part 5

I know it has been a minute but whoa has time flown by... here is the latest Math Memoir from someone who isn't on anyone's radar as a "math person" but helps us to see that we are all math persons since we do math even when we don't realize it and sometimes when we do and we are working on something fun. This is from Emily Haxton, Junior AP English Language & Composition and Sophomore Honors English, at Lewis & Clark High School in Spokane, Washington, USA. I think it’s safe to say that most people assume English teachers are not the best math students. I’ve actually heard my colleagues say as much, so it’s no wonder the stereotype exists. But I am an English teacher who embraces math in my classroom. It can be extremely helpful for some of my concrete-sequential learners to think about language structures and arguments as formulas, so I’m often coming up with math analogies to help solidify their understanding. Since I’m comfortable with ma...

Teaching an "Everyone is a Math Person" Mindset from Day 1.

Even if you are not a teacher you probably know that the fundamentals for a good classroom are to develop relationships and to build a safe environment for students to take risks. In the math classroom, students are coming in with loads of math baggage that are both traumas and successes. Getting a student to trust you to take care of them as they try hard and new things and to support them through mistakes is a daunting task. Here are some of the things that I do that help students see themselves as mathematicians in my room (and hopefully out in the real world) as well as trust me to take care of them as they grow as mathematicians. Set your intentions in your introduction and classroom décor. Student Created Einstein Bio Student Created Mary Jackson Poster I want the students to see mathematicians on the walls that are both famous but also diverse so that they can make connections with the people who created the math they will be learning. Often Math is presented as this magical thi...

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