As my student’s approached our Spring Break this weekend I had told them I wanted to plan their quiz for Wednesday so that they could enjoy their break and not have to worry about math for a few days (not that many of them would anyways). So once they finished their quiz and we had about five minutes remaining in the period and I told them I had to give them their homework for easter break, you can not imagine the groans and number of “What?!? Ms. Boggs you lied to us!” comments that I heard.
Their assignment over spring break is as follows:
Think of a single idea that could positively change our whole world and how you could put it into action.
At first my students simply stared at me, thinking I was crazy. They thought I was joking until I reiterated that over the next five days their job was to think about how this could be done, not simply assume it is impossible and discard the paper.
Of course they wanted to know how this related to math, to which I told them they would have to wait and see and think about how they would answer this question. In fact, this idea will lead to the concept of “paying it forward” which is related to exponential growth, the next mathematical concept we will investigate and graph with transformations of functions.
While I have not yet heard what my students thoughts are on this “assignment” I am curious to see if any of them take the time to seriously consider whether or not this is possible. I did have a few extra minutes in one class and was talking with a student and she said that she thought she had the answer to this question. She is a student who likes math and tends to think outside the box, so I got excited that she may have mathematically seen how this is possible. I was wrong, but her answer made me happy nonetheless.
This student’s response was “Ms. Boggs the best way to positively change the world would be to bring back Jesus.” I had to laugh because she made a good point – in fact as I planned this lesson that was my exact thought.
As I sit here on this Good Friday, which is when we “celebrate” the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in anticipation of his resurrection three days later, I am reminded of the truth of this student’s statement. Christ’s death and resurrection and his coming return are in face the one act that can and does change the whole world. The fact the God loves each creation so much that he was willing to take on the wrath and consequence of my sin, die the most painful death, conquer death on His own, yet bestow his perfection on me in an act of grace affects the whole world. However, as one of my other students commented – you, meaning the student, can not bring Jesus back. As I reflect on this this student is correct, however each day we can choose to live in light of this grace and in doing so share it with those around.
So while my student and I may not be able to bring Jesus back, this Easter weekend as I celebrate what is to me the most important historical event of all time, I am answering this question not only mathematically, but knowing that I can positively impact the whole world through simply choosing to live in light of the grace that Christ showers me with everyday, choosing to live in the freedom he bought on the Christ, choosing to live in the freedom of his conquering death, and choosing to praise and lift his name above all and share this news and love with those around me.
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