Who I Am

My Family

About Me

Hello, my name is Stacy. I am from Springville, Utah and am a proud Mighty Red Devil graduate. I have since relocated (but only during the school-year) to Logan, Utah and Utah State University where I have just begun my third year studying how to be a math and history teacher. My most favorite thing to do is spend time with my family. I love playing games and hanging out with them. An interesting fact about me is that I am right in the middle of my four brothers, which gave me a great childhood. I had older brothers to look up to and younger ones to teach. Of course, there was a lot of teasing but now we all look to each other for help and appreciate our differences. I also have one sister and two sisters-in-law. My sister is the oldest of us all and keeps us on the straight and narrow. My sisters-in-law are great and add so much to our family. Almost as much as I love my family, I love music, both listening to and playing. I play the violin and piano and have recently begun learning how to play the harp. I wished I had more time while I'm away at college to continue playing music. I also love learning new things. I'm a full-time student during the school-year and attempt to spend most of my time focusing of school work.

As you can probably guess, I love math and it fascinates me to no end. I love everything about it, except for maybe proofs which still tend to annoy me. Of course, like most people, I get frustrated when I can solve a problem, but once I do, I want to keep doing more.To me, math is as necessary as English in this world and no one can escape it. Math gives people a better understanding of everything around them.  My most favorite thing about math is when I can help someone else understand concepts and come to like math, even if only a little bit. This is probably why I chose to become a teacher. Seeing someone light up when they finally understand a concept is priceless.

I also love history. I haven't always been this way. I had an amazing teacher my junior year of high school that made history come to life, and because of her, I chose to minor in history. Before this, history was boring and none of the my teachers made the effort to engage my peers and myself in a true appreciation of history. My junior year changed all that for me. Mrs. Leek, my US History teacher, changed my perspective of history. For the first time, I wanted to learn, remember and apply history to my life. She expected a lot from her students and no one could leave her class without a better understanding of history. I'll never forget the times she danced around class in the effort to teach us what historical people thought. She inspired me to continue learning more. I hope one day I can be as great a teacher for my students as she was for me and still continues to be for others.

What Is Literacy?

To me, literacy encompasses many ideas. Literacy is more than just the ability to read and write. It includes being able to communicate understanding. It involves a knowledge what is appropriate and reliable. It requires interpretation and action. A literate person must be able to question sources and discover their own truth. Without gaining some literacy, a person would not be able to understand, communicate or succeed within certain situations. Literacy exists within all content areas. Mathematics has a form of literacy that is very different from subjects such as English and essential in subjects such as physics. To be literate in math, one must understand concepts and be able to show this understanding. They must use mathematical language correctly and be able to interpret another's work. They must know appropriate contexts of mathematical language and how to appropriately bring mathematics into other disciplines. Mathematical literacy is important and allows for success in the everyday world.