When I think about what it takes to be a passionate math student, and what it takes to be a teacher who creates passionate math students, it's very easy for me to gain some clarity by reflecting on my own experiences growing to appreciate mathematics. It wasn't until high school that I actually realized (or admitted to myself) that I liked math, but the ingredients were in place long before then.
The first time I remember math being appealing to me was actually in fourth grade. Some days, my teacher would have the class ponder numbers by doing a date-based math activity, which felt more like a puzzle and a game than the math I had previously been exposed to. The activity was simple: take each day's date, reduce it to just its numerals, and, keeping those numerals in order, inject mathematical concepts to turn the numerals into a valid equation. For example, June 10th, 2021, 06/10/2021, could be equation-ized by saying (0 + 6) = (1 + 0 + 2 + 0) x (2 x 1). Most days the date can yield lots of valid equations, and it's very rare to find one that can't be made into any.
This activity is still something that I think about for fun when I'm bored, and it instilled in me an appreciation for the mathematical relationships that can always be found between everyday numbers. That appreciation was very important for me as a student, and now when I think about teaching math, it jumps out at me as something that is key to help students find. Without familiarity with numbers and an understanding of their simple, almost playful nature, a more complex understanding of mathematical concepts seems daunting instead of intriguing.
As a math student I found joy in numbers, and as a math teacher I want to help my students find that joy, too.
