Maya has been in my class for the past three years. But the sequence of classes that she has taken with me is most unique: Workplace 11, followed by PreCalculus 10, followed by (and currently) Foundations 12. Wow! I honestly believe that Maya is the ONLY student that I have ever taught all three different "streams" of Math (PreCalc, Foundations, and Workplace).
There are a few things that have remained constant throughout all three courses. One is, of course, that Maya has remained very quiet in all three courses. However, this does not mean I have not come to know (and appreciate) her. Whenever we talk one-on-one, Maya is always very thoughtful, insightful and interesting... and very, very funny! You may not be aware of this but Maya has a great sense of humour. What makes her even funnier is that - so often - her jokes / jabs are totally unexpected. She has a great straight delivery; sometimes it takes me a second to realize that she has made another (hilarious) joke.
Another trait that Maya has displayed in all three courses is her good work ethic. It has been so rewarding to see Maya's confidence (in terms of her math ability) increase every course (thank goodness because each of her courses has been much more difficult that the one before). But this is almost entirely due to the great effort she has expended towards her work. To start in Workplace and end up in Foundations 12 is no easy feat. Truly an admirable accomplishment!
Here's a few random things about Maya that I will always remember:
- her grade 10 MYP project. This was really amazing. Maya knit a depiction of all the months. For example, a pumpkin for November and snowflakes for December. She designed the pattern herself and it was so beautiful. I hope you still have that, Maya!
- her Dad and I had one of my favourite Parent-Teacher conferences of all time! Maya's Dad is a pretty cool guy (great glasses. I still remember those!) and he had just started road riding. So I think we spent about 30 seconds talking about Maya ("she's doing great. A really nice girl" etc) and the rest of the time talking about cycling. He was so enthusiastic about it and by the end of the interview I wanted to run out and jump on my bike!
- Maya gave me a Math book for Christmas last year. I have never seen this book before or since. It's kind of a comic book covering the history of Math. Very nicely done. Thanks again for that, Maya! Where did you find it?!?