My Personal Reflection (Reflective Piece)

My Reflection of Being a Blogger

The time I spent being a blogger was very educational. I had the opportunity to learn more about the subject I started blogging about as well as sharing my thoughts with people on social media.

It only hits me now realizing that blogging can be a great way of educating the nation and sharing different thoughts and findings with people around you. I learned that blogging can help you teach as well as learn more interesting facts about a subject and it makes the saying "Two heads are better than one" even more clear to me now.

I found that blogging can be used as a tool to help teach your students as well as motivate them to discover a subject on their own and sharing their thoughts. The best way to learn something new is to discover it for yourself and thus blogging can help ignite the flame of self learning in students.

If blogging can be used effectively, I just see it holding advantages for E- Learning in the Technological era we find ourselves in.

Thank you for reading my blogs, I hope you enjoyed it!

The Pythagoras Theorem (Educational Piece)

The Pythagoras Theorem

Over 2000 years ago there was an amazing discovery about triangles: When the triangle has a right angle (90°) and squares are made on each of the three sides, then the biggest square has the exact same area as the other two squares put together.

It is called "Pythagoras' Theorem" and can be written in one short equation: a2 + b2 = c2 Note: c is the longest side of the triangle a and b are the other two sides

The longest side (c) is called the hypotenuse, so the definition for this theorem will be as follows:

In a right angled triangle:
the square of the hypotenuse is equal to
the sum of the squares of the other two sides

It is also possible to manipulate this theorem to discover the lengths of the shorter sides, for example:       a² = c² – b²

                                And:    b² = c² – a²      

Now all that is needed is to add values in the places of a, b and c and you can start using this amazing theorem to discover the lengths of unknown sides in a right angled triangle! This theorem is very useful in discovering the unknown length of a side in a triangle, but one must remember that it can only be used in a right angled triangle.

The life of Pythagoras (Narrative Piece)

The life of Pythagoras

Although we all know this great man, there are little known facts about his life and most of the information we have of him can be seen as myths carried on through generations.

Pythagoras was a man who dedicated his life to Mathematics, politics, religion, philosophic ways and music.

In everything he took on he gave his all and never gave up until he achieved his goals. Not everybody believed his thesis’s, but he kept on going until he could prove them wrong. These were all the acts of a true mathematical icon!

In his life, Pythagoras was seen as a religious icon for the so-called Pythagoreans. The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics, not only advanced this subject, but saturated with it, they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things. All their opinions were in support of the achievements of their great icon, Pythagoras.

I think the biggest lesson we can learn from this great man is the following: It doesn’t matter where you find yourself trying to solve a math problem or in the life, the secret is to never give up and keep chasing your dreams. You never know if the next step you take will lead to something great!

“Choose rather to be strong of soul than strong of body.”
― Pythagoras

The Feeling of Success (Descriptive Piece)

The feeling of success

There is no feeling in this world that can compare to the feeling of solving a mathematical problem. You feel overjoyed and full of self confidence! No one can take this achievement away from you because you are the boss of the problem put before you.

Think back to your last examination and that difficult mathematical problem that was put behind you. You see the problem, your brain starts working overtime, you see mathematical equations flashing before your eyes and then suddenly there is the great realization that you can solve this problem. I experienced this earlier this afternoon doing my math and I am still full of self confidence and pride in what I have accomplished.

Having all this feelings within me makes me think of Pythagoras in Ancient Greece when he invented his formula that is now known and used worldwide. He dedicated his life to mathematics and the striving towards success and became a world icon because of his actions and findings.

Pythagoras makes me believe that mathematics is the key to building self confidence and developing problem solving skills in the youth. If you don’t chase success, you can’t complain if you don’t achieve it.

“Choose always the way that seems the best, however rough it may be; custom will soon render it easy and agreeable.”
― Pythagoras

Introduction to blog

Hi!

My name is Christiaan and I am a FET student with a great love for Mathematics and History, which is why I am specializing in teaching Mathematics.

People always say that mathematicians just think up new ways to make our life harder, but Pythagoras of Samos was different. This great man invented a formula to make a math teachers work a lot easier! 

Since the first time I came to grips with the work of Pythagoras I was totally intrigued and wanted to know more about this great mathematician.  If you follow my blog in the coming couple of weeks you will be taken on a journey where you will discover how this ancient Greek mathematician named Pythagoras was not only a mathematician, but also later became a religious icon…

“There is geometry in the humming of the strings. There is music in the spacing of the spheres.” ― Pythagoras

I hope you enjoy the journey into Ancient Mathematical Greece!