In my Junior year, I took a History of Math class. With an enthusiastic teacher, I learned about mathematicians who developed original mathematical ideas and their difficulties. Believe it or not, at times, mathematicians were banished from areas due to their mathematical beliefs. The intensity that was involved in the beginnings of mathematics forced me to appreciate math in a brand new light. Due to this class, I began to see math as more than words and symbols on paper. Quite literally, it showed the blood, sweat, and tears that were involved with the basic concepts that I and others take for granted today.

I am interested in bringing this type historical value into my mathematics classroom. I feel that the students will benefit from seeing evidence of the struggles that went into the algorithms in their textbooks. Hopefully they will discover a new interest in mathematics after being able to appreciate its origins. Not every story is an epic one, yet they all involve interesting twists and turns. I think that middle school is an appropriate time for us to bring these situations to light, yet I am willing to conduct my research in high school.

Unfortunately, this topic might not have struck the interest of others. Therefore, I am worried about being able to find enough articles or other forms of literature in order to complete my research. Thus, I am open to other research topics but if possible I would like to work in this area. Help is desired where available.