Welcome to my website. Yes, my name is really John Smith. In 2003, the age of 48, as a non-traditional student, I made the metaphorical border crossing into the world of higher education. I will talk about this border crossing in a later blog post. Upon completion of my undergraduate studies, I enrolled in a graduate program and became a high school mathematics teacher and soccer coach. This site began as a vehicle to communicate and provide resources for my students and their parents during my three and a half years working in public high schools. At the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year I accepted a tenure-track teaching position at a local community college in Knoxville, Tennessee. This opened up a new chapter in my life as I left the soccer field, where I had spent thirty-five plus years as a player and a coach, to begin my doctoral journey in Mathematics Education at the University of Tennessee. After 7 years of sputtering forward in fits and starts I finally managed to complete my dissertation research and become the unlikely recipient of a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Teacher Preparation. Although I was known as “Coach” by many young men and women for years, now they refer to me as Professor or Dr. Smith. Dr. Smith is too formal for me, however, a few students have shortened this to “Doc”, which I like best. I wanted to rename the site docsmith.org, but an internet parasite has bought the right to that domain name and is willing to sell it for a mere $5000. No, thank you. Since I was a soccer coach long before I became a math teacher, and since I do not want to be ripped off for $5000, I have decided to stick with coachsmithmath.org for now. I view my teaching practice as coaching mathematics. As a reformed math-hater, I have become a math missionary preaching the gospel of the beauty and relevance of mathematics. I have found teaching to be my calling, and most days I love what I do.
This site will have sections discussing mathematics, lifelong learning, teaching, public education and ongoing research interests, it will also be a platform to tell stories, to discuss my Christian faith, to rant on politics, to advocate for various causes, and to pay tribute to the people and places that have provided inspiration. I have been encouraged by friends and colleagues to write. So this is an attempt to start down a new trail towards becoming a writer.
Blue Like Jazz author, Donald Miller, suggests that everyone has a story to “live”. I use the lyrics of one of my favorite Grateful Dead songs to introduce my story because I have had a “long, strange trip”. In over 60 trips around the sun, my journey has been a circuitous route marked by steep climbs, wrong turns, stumbles, and falls. However, it is also a story of persisting on the steep climbs, of finding new directions after the wrong turns, of getting back up after stumbles and falls. It is a story of successful cultural border crossings required by a rapidly changing world. It is a story of eventually finding one’s way, while keeping love, curiosity and passion alive. As one of nearly 75 million baby boomers, my story may not be so different from many others of my generation. However, perhaps someone out there in cyberspace will find the musings of an aging boomer useful or interesting.
This site will have sections discussing mathematics, lifelong learning, teaching, public education and ongoing research interests, it will also be a platform to tell stories, to discuss my Christian faith, to rant on politics, to advocate for various causes, and to pay tribute to the people and places that have provided inspiration. I have been encouraged by friends and colleagues to write. So this is an attempt to start down a new trail towards becoming a writer.
Blue Like Jazz author, Donald Miller, suggests that everyone has a story to “live”. I use the lyrics of one of my favorite Grateful Dead songs to introduce my story because I have had a “long, strange trip”. In over 60 trips around the sun, my journey has been a circuitous route marked by steep climbs, wrong turns, stumbles, and falls. However, it is also a story of persisting on the steep climbs, of finding new directions after the wrong turns, of getting back up after stumbles and falls. It is a story of successful cultural border crossings required by a rapidly changing world. It is a story of eventually finding one’s way, while keeping love, curiosity and passion alive. As one of nearly 75 million baby boomers, my story may not be so different from many others of my generation. However, perhaps someone out there in cyberspace will find the musings of an aging boomer useful or interesting.
The two most important people in my life are pictured with the old coach. My wife, Sherry, who saw what I could be through my tarnished exterior, and my son Ryan, whose charge into my life changed everything about how I viewed the world. In case you aren’t sure, I am the old guy in both pictures. Thanks for dropping by. While you are here, I am hopeful that you find something of value for your story.
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