Understanding the Language of Mathematics

<p><span style="color: rgba(38, 40, 42, 1)">Alexander Firestone always wanted to be a teacher but felt that in order to know&nbsp; what was important to teach, he should be out in the real world to see what he was&nbsp; able to do with his present education.&nbsp; Upon graduation from the University, he secured a position as a Research Physicist working on new types of rocket propulsion&nbsp; for deep space exploration.&nbsp; In the first week, he realized that his present education ill-equipped him as a problem-solver working on new ideas.&nbsp; This was the beginning of What, How, and Why.&nbsp; After successfully working on the projects he was assigned, he realized he was ready for teaching.&nbsp; Over the last 50 years he has used his teaching and classroom experiences as a laboratory, developing&nbsp; What, How, and Why learning.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(38, 40, 42, 1)">I still get telephone calls this very evening (student from Westmount College in Christchurch) former students wanting to know how I'm doing and sharing their classroom experiences with me as a teacher.&nbsp; That was nearly 40 years ago.&nbsp; I'm a very passionate teacher who has taught for over 40 years and still teaches casually full-time. I am probably the oldest Mathematics teacher in Australia who is a passionate Mathematics teacher and is still able to teach full time. My teaching positions include classroom teacher, HOD mathematics, Principal, University lecturer in China. I have over 8 years of part-time experience doing post-graduate university study on What, How, and Why. Three in China and five at Griffith University in Queensland. I have presented papers and given Talks at International Education Conferences in Australia, and New Zealand.</span></p>