Whatsthedealwith numbers?

The question I've had throughout most of my life as a student who didn't really understood math until I had one (1) math teacher that explained and really demystified math as way of thinking. I don't mean to be pretentious when I say that, as I know that's probably the most stuck up thing someone can say about math, but I really do think of math as a reference to a way of thinking and rationalizing. Math is a rational for a lot of observations that occur in life, including the entire field of logic and reasoning is based on set theory which is a pretty big aspect of mathematics. With math being a framework for a multitude of subjects and disciplines, it would be silly to think just about whether or not you're "good" at "math." Such an elementary view of mathematics, or criteria of a person's sense of mathematics ability being whether or not they're able to perform feats of pure math in a vacuum is kind of embarrassing Now that, I admit, is a little snobby, but that's the way it should be! Math ability should not be measured by how well someone can use the distributive property or integrate some meaningless function, but rather, their ability to learn and ability to apply what they learned in the way they would like to, rather than just a vacuum that math is now being done in the status quo. Now, I recognize that what I said was a little contradictory, since it's popular thinking that the application of math concepts constitutes as one ' s ability to do math, however I disagree. As I said previously, math is primarily done in space, where the meanings of the numbers are arbitrary and nonexistent. Since math is being taught like this, it's not unreasonable to see students struggling to apply the concepts if the way the concepts are taught is disjoint to what our goals for the students are. This is why my math identity focuses on my ability to learn math, which I'm very good at, if I may say. Rather than the traditional idea that one ' s math identity is typically an indicator of one ' s perceived math ability, my math identity surrounds how well I learn the concept at hand. With this framework, I focused on bettering myself and saying that each mistake is part of the process of getting better and learning This is a much more sustainable identity to have as every outcome, in terms of good or bad achievement, is a good event to occur in my eyes as I am always learning.

- Be gay!

My queer identity is a wild one as I'm still trying to find my place in it as a young adult but I've always felt safe in spaces where the population is primarily, and obviously, queer. This queer identity has helped me forge friendships with like-minded individuals who would like to exist without any push back from anybody. Using some of the principles of which I view the queer community to have, I hope to exude to everyone in my day to day life. The idea of acceptance without a second thought, the idea of uplifting marginalized communities and populations, the idea that there should be a space for everyone to be themselves. This is what I wish to bring out as a teacher in my classroom and my dip in queer culture has taught me that and how to do it.

Be aware of who the person is and respect who they are

Don't be afraid of being wrong, and learn from those mistakes when errors occur Push for the best in any action or event

Although seemingly simple, I've found that some of these were very difficult to learn as I had to unlearn numerous lessons that the people around me taught that did not align with those steps and values.

Additionally, it's just so fun! The amount of ridiculous inside jokes and esoteric culture signals to identify others of the same group is simply super neat to be a part of. I recognize this section is a bit non-unique as it's only natural that if someone is in a group and has been in the culture for a while, it will only be a matter of time where the members will start to notice a trend with each other and common traits among them. Nevertheless, it just feels nice to be a part of something that makes me feel safe.