I am an "older" student living in Atlanta, GA. I am originally from Seattle, WA (USA) and have been in Atlanta for two years.
I work in the IT industry as a business analyst. My passion is requirements -- if you want a new computer application, web site, etc., what do you want it to do? I find out from you and then explain your needs to the programmers. After they are done, I make sure they built what you needed. An over-simplification of what I do. Mathematical thinking helps me immensely in my career.
I am a former college algebra teacher, but that doesn't make me an expert. I am learning just as much as any of you.
I have two grown sons and many others that have been mine for short times (in other words, I didn't give birth to them, but they call me Mom.) I have 3 granddaughters and a grandson ranging in age from 3 months to nearly 6 years old.
Hope to get some lively discussions going here!
I am 63 and live in Panama City, FL. We've lived here for 2 years. Before that we lived in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, France, Austria, Ukraine and Sweden (for 24 years total). I grew up in Yakima, WA. My husband is from Utah and we lived there for 14 years before going overseas.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved math and really enjoy tutoring middle and high school students who are struggling with math. I just finished taking another math class from Stanford (very different than this class), How to Learn Math, taught by Jo Boaler. I have a teaching minor in math but have never taught in a classroom.
I have 10 children (my youngest daughter, a senior in high school, is the only one still at home) and 17 grandchildren (ages 1-11).
That is awesome, Margie! I once taught math in Yakima (actually, Naches Valley). And one niece and one nephew both live in Utah. Jennie works as some head PR-manager-type person at Maverik Oil, and Mike is in graduate school at BYU. Are you LDS, by any chance? I am. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I am LDS. I have a daughter who lives in Clearfield, near Hill AFB, with 5 grandchildren. Her husband works at Hill. I haven't been back to Yakima since I graduated from high school in 1968 because my parents moved to Kennewick (I actually graduated from Kennewick High School).
DeleteMy daughter who lives in Utah is Sarah Evans.
DeleteI'm 42 and live in Madison, WI. We've lived here for seven years, and lived in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area for twelve years before that.
ReplyDeleteI majored in music (saxophone performance, and music education). Music is still part of my life, although when I turned 40, I decided to learn the upright bass, which I have always loved. I took to it during my string techniques class back at the conservatory (part of the Ed degree), and joked that I wanted to switch. I sort of wish I had!
After undergrad, my intention was to take a break before grad school - I wanted to teach at the college level. Instead, I got engaged; we've now been married for almost sixteen years and have two daughters, ages nine and five. Like many other musicians, I turned to a career in software programming to pay the bills.
I did well with math in high school, and took all the advanced classes my school had to offer, but I quickly forgot it all.
Now I'm working on a much more math-intensive project (working with digital photography - I also shoot professionally as a side business), and am trying to regain what I lost, and then build on that. I'm working through some old textbooks on my own, but am open to any suggestions you both may have for other resources!
I love music, too, and I'm passionate about music performance opportunities for kids (orchestra and chamber groups). My oldest daughter is the General Manager for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (she and the Benjamin Zander created the youth orchestra this past year). All of my kids played a string instrument but Elisabeth is the only professional musician. I had my own string quartet at home for many years.
DeleteTest - I think I have my name issue fixed.
ReplyDeleteI am 51, live in Kansas and taking the course while on medical leave from my job. Thanks for setting up the blog. I have lots of background in computational math but wanted to learn how to do proofs and more abstract math.
ReplyDeletetesting, testing, I just signed in under my daughter's gmail. let's see if I can get this to publish. Note that it's not really Meghan but her mother Nancy responding. Nancy Colbert
ReplyDeleteit worked!!! okay it's late now, hope to respond more tomorrow. Good night.
ReplyDeleteone last comment: Margie I took Jo's course too and would like to return to it for review, but am having difficulty finding time. also have a senior year daughter who keeps me busy readying for college.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually just finishing up Jo's course. I have really enjoyed it and I've learned so much! I read her book several years ago and liked the ideas, but they seemed overwhelmingly hard to put into practice (and I wasn't teaching math, either). This class has made them seem much more realistic and possible. Where is your daughter applying for college? Kirsten thinks she wants to go somewhere in Boston.
DeleteHowdy folks. Hope I can join in the group! I'm 42 and live in Israel. Originally from Reno, NV. I'm an IT engineer, though I started studying biology in college, granted I dropped out to go to rabbinical seminary. I've been a math geek since middle school but it's been a while. I have 9 kids, several of which are also very into math. Looking forward to participating!
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Evan!
DeleteI live in Dallas, Texas and am a homeschooling mom to 3 children and a foster mom to an infant. My goal is to improve my math skills so that I can better teach my children. I am hoping to instill in them a love of learning, to see math as "fun" and encourage them to approach problems with an open mind and courageous spirit. Diane, thanks for creating and keeping up with the blog.
ReplyDeleteI would like to ask to read along and join in? I am 35, but have been out of college for twelve years and am studying this course because the subject intrigues me. A little about me : I'm not the typical college age learner either. When I was in college (and all of school), I couldn't tune to the same channel as those around me - I was too fast and would shoot ahead in the books provided and then got lost, bored.. give up or fail material for one reason or another. Math and spatial reasoning were 'easy' to think but are hard to communicate. I think differently, which can be good and bad. I always thought I'd do more academically but could not get the courage to fight to be understood and understand on my level. The older I get - and the more I advocate for my similar-minded daughter - the more important it is becoming to really KNOW these things and chase my deep interests.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, RheLynn! We aren't throwing anyone out of this group. :)
ReplyDeleteI understand the way you think. I had similar problems in school, as did my son. I advocated for him and he has done well for himself. His "brain child" (www.thriftbooks.com) has brought him a financial security that I have never had.
Very good website - we visit our local library often to 'rescue' books that are on their way out and always come away with almost more than we carry. Bookmarking URL, thanks!
ReplyDelete