Pure Mathematics is, in its Way, The Poetry of Logical Ideas

[Deleted]

pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.
~ Albert Einstein

With a slight smile on his face, the first class of the day and of the year was about to start, his pre-algebra class. He set his briefcase on his desk and took a sip of his strong black coffee. His dark blue button-up shirt was buttoned to the second to last button, there was no tie, as Phillip didn’t feel he needed one and never did. Grabbing a black whiteboard marker the man wrote, Polynomials, in fairly large letter across the board. It was a subject he felt was quite easy and most students would pick up on it quickly, those who didn’t, well Phillip had no issue helping them with it.

He was not one to take it easy on anyone one student, someone could be the best quarterback in the state, or in this case the best rider in the country and he wouldn’t have treated that person any differently than the quietest book worm. He put up with no silliness, the word wasn’t in his vocab, he felt school was a place to learn, not a place to play. His students would find this out about him quickly. Warnings weren’t really his thing, but he was willing to give everyone one chance and if they stepped over the line again they would be off to the principal’s office, no questions asked. Phillip took a seat at his desk and a sip of his coffee as he waited for his students to come in.

WORDS :: 247
TAGS :: pre-algebra students
OUTFIT :: here

Present:
Cortney Smit
Gretchen Holmes
Jayne Doe
@sergei

Absent:

[Jayne Doe]

Jayne walked through the halls ways of the mathematics department and into the classroom she was supposed to be in. The thought of being in what could be though of as the baby version of mathematics, made her feel a little less adequate then what she was, but she hoped that she would get the hang of algebra quickly and be able to move up a class. "I should have picked geometry." She muttered as she entered the room.

She gave the man sitting behind the teacher's desk a shy smile as she walked across the room and found herself closest to the wall. A place that she had always found safe from being in the way of anyone else, though there was always the chance of being accused of day-dreaming rather than paying attention, and if anyone came too close to her, she was quick to narrow her eyes and just wait for them to move on.

Opening her messenger bag, she pulled out the folder with the quad paper she had for this class. Sure, they were asked to use books, but Jayne preferred folders as she could move papers around in a folder and group things where they needed to be rather than having to flip through a book to find another lesson under the same topic when studying.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney literally strolled through the hallways, her cheer uniform being enough to part the students in front of her, and those that didn't move were quickly pulled into line by their own friends. She gave a bright smile as a student almost fell over himself, picking up a book that she had dropped. "Ta." She said as she turned and walked through the doorway into the classroom was due in.

Looking around the room, she gave the teacher a brilliant smile and then strode through over to sit at a desk in the middle. She knew that her uniform generally have the stereotype of someone who ruled the school but did no actual classwork, rather gossiping and making a nuisance of herself. Well, if this teacher believe those kinds of things, he was going to be sadly disappointed with this cheer captain.

Leaning over to her bag, she pulled out her math book and pencil case and straightened up. Placing the case at the top of her desk, she pulled out what she needed and opened the book up to the first page blank page where she put down that day's date and was ready to start. She reached back down to her bag and pulled out a tube of sugar plum Lip Smacker, and applied to to her lips, closing her eyes as she inhaled the sweet, spicy scent of the gloss. She then dropped the tube back into her bag, now she was ready to get started.

[Gretchen Holmes]

If there was one thing Gretchen hated more than anything, it was math. Ask her to write you a 10 page English paper in a day, sure. Ask her to solve mathematical equations, forget about it. To her, math had too many rules and not enough freedom of expression. There was one answer to the problem, no others. In writing, there are all sorts of ways to organize words into all kinds of different stories and answers to questions. Bottom line, math wasn't Gretchen's thing.

She walked to class as late as possible without actually being late, smiling shyly at the teacher before quietly finding a desk at the far back of the class. When she saw polynomials written on the board she internally groaned. What the neck were polynomials? She took out a notebook and pencil, turning to the first page and scribbling 'Polynomials' at the top of the page. Then she began doodling a large picture of a horse eating a piece of paper with numbers on it, the thing took up nearly the entire sheet of papers. She glanced up occasionally as people entered the room, but otherwise remained focused on her task. She'd finished the rough sketch of it by the time the bell rang. Taking a short break she looked up at the teacher to see if he was gonna tell them what polynomials were.

[Deleted]

Morgan walked through the halls of the school looking for his math class. Pre-Algebra oh how he hated math. He was terrible at it he wished he didn't have to take it but it was on his schedule. At least they gave him the easiest math class in the school. Finally after two wrong turns he arrived in his classroom and on time for thankfully. Walking up to the teacher he handed him a slip with all his information on it. He had one for all his teachers for that day. The Main office had placed them in his welcome envelope.

Looking around he could see a few other students in the classroom. He quickly took a seat in the back of the room. Reaching into his bag he grabbed a pen, a pencil, an eraser which was more than likely that he would need he always did when it came to math. And a fresh brand new notebook. As he waited for the bell to ring he began drawing in the back of the notebook. He wasn't paying any attention to it he rarely did. But after a while he looked down to see a beautifully drawn horse rearing up on it's hind legs.

[Deleted]

Sergei packed his satchel in his room, occasionally glancing at the cabinet that held his medications. He didn't know if he needed them, but he was jumping at every shadow and sound, and he had gone through almost every emotion in the last two hours since he had woken up and it killed him. With a determined set to his shoulders, he took two tablets and then washed his face with cold water. The weather was also miserable, and he hated having to wear that extra layer just to get to the academic building. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he made sure to remember the way to his first class, pre-algebra, and entered just before the bell rang.

He sat more to the back, less chance of having to interact, and took out his pencil case and a notebook, jotting down the heading in his untidy scribble. Ah. There it was. The familiar feeling of losing all his emotions for a glorious eight hours. Where anything could happen and he wouldn't be able to react. Not that he cared. He preferred being zoned out in class anyway. The milder medications that he had been on, hadn't helped, his emotions going haywire as they had been doing that morning.

Doodling in the margin of his notebook, he waited for the class to start and he didn't really pay attention to what was going around him.

TALKING

TAGGED Class
WORDS 235
OOC
CREDIT Eyes Open by Taylor Swift. Template created by ONZY! Do not steal!

[Deleted]

A young man walked up to his desk handed him a slip and moved away to find a seat. Reading over it, it just let him know that he had another student in his class. The bell rung and Phillip wasted no time. He stood up from his desk and looked around at the five students who had found seats. Taking a deep breath he started class by introducing himself to the students. ”I’m Mr. Mackenzie or you can call me Mr. Mack whichever you prefer and this is pre-algebra.”

His class was small but that was okay with him more time for one on one. ”As you can see we are going to be focusing on polynomials today. Does anyone not know what a polynomial is?” That was sort of a stupid question, unless someone was confident in their lack of knowledge in the subject no one was going to come forward and tell him.

”Actually, would anyone like to tell the class what a polynomial is?” Someone had to be confident enough to raise their hand and share, but maybe not. He looked each student in the eyes, or at least attempted to as some weren’t looking up, they were doodling. He understood that children either hated or loved the subject, there was no in between.

WORDS :: 218

[Gretchen Holmes]

Gretchen listened to the teacher quietly, he seemed nice enough even though she couldn't answer his question. Oh, she could think of several smart ass answers to his question, but she wasn't brave enough to actually say them out loud. She didn't know the real answer either, and even if she did she wouldn't want any attention drawn her way, even if she only had a couple of classmates.

When the teacher made eye contact with her in an attempt to get answers, she quickly dropped her eyes down to her paper and resumed her doodling. She hoped they started talking about what polynomials actually were soon, because already this class was feeling painfully long. She began sketching the head and neck of the horse, and felt frustrated as she couldn't get the mouth or the ears just right. Obviously this class wasn't going to go well for her in any regard.

Abandoning that drawing, she started a new doodle of a ballerina, which she knew would only make her more frustrated since she couldn't draw people at all. She drew part of the doodle, then erased it, then drew it again, then erased it. She sighed softly, couldn't someone just say what a polynomial was? Anybody?

[Deleted]

Being late to class was something that Dave would hardly ever do but today seemed to be an off day for him as he quickly dashed to his pre-algebra class. As he reached the door he hoped that he would just be able to slip past everyone and pretend he had been there the entire time after all, he was hardly noticed at his old school so maybe the same would happen her too. Silently like a cat he pushed the door open and closed it shut behind him as he scurried off to find a seat closet to the door. 

A muttered apology was given seeing the teacher at the front of the board before he sat down in said seat closet to the door. 'I guess it's better late the never.' He though to himself taking a seat and began the scrambled to get his book bag off and onto his lap. He fumbled a bit as he pulled out his notebook and mechanical pencil before setting the book bag aside to the floor. After getting the required materiel he then began to jot down the notes. Once finished the notes his eyes glanced around the classroom before landing up front back at the teacher.