Learning New Stuff

I signed up to audit Calculus I this spring. Been saying I would for too long; time to do it.  As a faculty member I can do it without pressure (or cost, other than the textbook and my time).  So, I am taking a very deliberate and serious step toward returning to the world of mathematics.

Someday the notation on this blackboard might mean something to me!

When I bought the textbook and started reviewing the algebra, geometry, and trignometry I did in high school it was both cool to remember stuff I learned and loved learning a long time ago. Turns out that the gap between remembering learning it and remembering how to do it is significant...so I have my work cut out for me.

Been spending a lot of time at Khan Academy and I love it. Learning something new and incredibly challenging is a blast. But man is it humbling. This stuff is complex. Thankfully, I can go at my own pace.  And I have a ton more respect for those who master this material, like Brian, now that I am knee deep in the shallow end of the pool. 

My plan is to use the audit of Calculus I this term (where I will just listen to the lectures and work on the problem sets and use Khan Academy to continue to fill in the gaps) to re-teach me the language and re-familiarize myself with all the things you need to have in recent-memory to be able to draw on. Then, in the fall I hope to be ready to sign up for Calculus I for real, for a grade, and really let the fun begin!

 

It is fun to be a student again.  Even as I am also re-learning how to teach by trying to figure out how to assist my students with their learning in an online enviroment.  But the journey into online space has been building momentum for a while and will likely explode this spring and then settle in for the long haul, while the journey into math is only at the intial baby steps phase this spring. 

 

I like the feeling that I don't know squat right now combined with the confidence that I will gradually learn more and more, so that the stuff that confuses me today will eventually be clear and there will be new stuff to challenge me.  And I like that there is no plan for this to turn into a career or to boost my income.  This is just for me.