THE Why?

Hello pi learners,

I am Elyse Carmack, an eighth-grade mathematics teacher. I am going on my 5th year of teaching and feel every year has been such a learning experience.

My first year of teaching was rough, to say the slightest. I was drowning in "creating the wheel,” which made me feel defeated and heartbroken by the last day. Did the students even learn anything? And if they did, was it just memorizing and doing “what they were told”? After joining many math communities, I knew this was one of the hardest things I would do. We are hired to teach mathematics, but it is much more.

As educators, we are told to lecture students and have them mindlessly agree with everything we say. (if you’ve ever taught a kid, you know this is the exact opposite of what they will do😂.) My first year was trying to get seventh and eighth graders to listen to a lecture from a book filled with drills and random practice. That year was one of the most challenging years of my career as a teacher. The lessons were not in a progression that students could understand; the classes were unengaging and, quite frankly, boring.😴 My students were not interested at all.

After that year, I made it my goal to focus on engagement and the topic to help students with future mathematics in life. I wanted students to understand math but genuinely enjoy it.

This must be every math teacher's dream, yet it still brings so many struggles. How often have you heard, “When will I ever use this in life?”. Although valid, trying to get middle schoolers interested in math can be one of the most challenging things.

Thus began my search to discover mathematics.
I wanted to create every lesson tailored to student learning and student discovery. Students could discuss and debate topics together to find the “real solution” (which rarely is an answer). The real solution is building a solid mathematic foundation that encourages exploration and growth and creates passionate learners who question things instead of just working to solve an answer.

That is why this business is SO important to me. I want to connect with like-minded educators, parents, and students who wish to create a love for math. The math community is so strong, and together we can all grow. We can support the new educator, old educators, and everyone in between to make math meaningful in students’ lives. Thus becoming closer and closer to every math teacher’s dream. Making math worth it.

Thank you all for discovering the “why” with me. ❤

Love,

Ms. Carmack