There are two types of education... One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live.
- John Adams

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
- William Butler Yeats

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.
- Robert Maynard Hutchins

It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought--that is to be educated.
- Edith Hamilton

If I were asked to enumerate ten educational stupidities, the giving of grades would head the list... If I can't give a child a better reason for studying than a grade on a report card, I ought to lock my desk and go home and stay there.
- Dorothy De Zouche

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
- Mark Twain

As a student, learning was memorizing a list of facts and steps or doing well on a test. The goal of education was receive an A. However grades, like frosting on a cake, may look good but cannot guarantee the content. As a parent and teacher, I have come to view learning and education differently. My responsibility in educating students is to instill 1) a desire to learn, 2) the ability to question and reason, and 3) an appreciation for truth and its endless pursuit. These qualities and skills assist students as they grow in their careers, their relationships, and their faith.

I try to convince students mathematics exists for a purpose. It was discovered/invented because there was and continues to be a need to understand patterns and relationships in our world. Galileo said, “Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe.” From the smallest functions of the cell to the growth of the stars, mathematics can model and help predict these changes.

Beyond learning basic facts (which are necessary), a mathematically educated person should be able to solve problems, communicate solutions and reasoning with varied representations, and connect concepts learned to other disciplines. This education is best achieved when teachers, families and students share the responsibility of a student’s learning.

God has created an infinite universe and given us infinite potential to discover and create and learn. We should never feel that we have learned enough. As teachers, it is our duty to provide students with the opportunity to learn to the best of their ability, to grow into adults who value education and understand its role in creating a peaceful world.

- Margaret Kaiser-Woodward