Rethinking math class

Math is in need of a major re-imaging campaign.\nAt present, its reputation generally falls somewhere between getting one's eyes plucked out by vultures and watching 24-hour "Barney" marathons.\nIt has, of course, its hard-core devotees, but to the general populace, math, like Latin, is a dead language.\nThis is unfortunate because as the importance of technology grows in society, more and more jobs will require a solid base of science and mathematics. By electing to forego a further mathematics education, many high school students are effectively cutting themselves off from some of the best jobs in the future market. \nWhy?\nHere's a personal anecdote:\nSince I was about 15-years-old, I've had an unnatural interest in the world of physics. Although language is my first love, I was considering pursuing a physics minor. However, to obtain that, one must also be familiar with math and not just the ideas behind it. I decided to nix that plan and instead stick to the humanities.\nIn high school, English class always opened up many worlds. I took great pleasure in reading and writing book reports on infamous "banned books." It was an educational way of expressing my teen angst and rebellion. Likewise, science-minded students can find literature about science they enjoy. However, students of literature are all but excluded from the world of science as it is currently presented.\nThe problem is that today's pedagogical theory seems to imply math should be as dead as possible. Whereas most middle school and high school-level classes are taught to be interdisciplinary, math generally likes to exist in a state of isolation. You might read "Homer" in literature class while you discuss ancient Greece in history, but math does not follow with the teaching of the Pythagorean Theorem. \nAlthough the laws that govern the natural world are static, human understanding of them is not. Not only would contextualizing coursework allow students to appreciate the mathematical progress that has been made since the beginning of human history, it would also encourage them to realize there is still more to be discovered and understood in the math world. \nIn addition to helping students understand the subject, it would also liven class up a little. Even in numbers there can be controversy; it should never be just simple regurgitation of memorized formulas (although by necessity there must be some of that). After all, a good heresy trial can bring anything to life. \nFinally, quite simply, tedium impedes learning, especially when children are still young enough to be forced into math class. I remember when I used to walk into my math class, my body would set into a state of premature rigor mortis, and I surely wasn't alone. In many cases, when kids bring home bad grades in math, it's not because as Barbie once said, "math is hard," but rather, "math is too boring to pay attention."\nIt shouldn't be that way. In order to keep up in the future economy, our education system must endure a major paradigm shift in how it teaches math.