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This was the question:

Can you suggest any articles regarding making math meaningful for the
teacher and student?

Thank you for your wonderful site!

Victoria O'Reilly

Professor Homunculus' answer:

Hi, Victoria,

I'm not sure what kind of articles you are looking for, or for what age student and what level teacher, but I can suggest some websites, books and podcast articles that I often go to for inspiration on the meaning of math.

One is from Keith Devlin, Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University, who is (among other things) the "Math Guy" for National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition". He has a way of taking complex subjects and bringing them to the public level in a very lucid and meaningful way. You can find the
complete sound archives of him on "Weekend Edition" at:

http://www.stanford.edu/~kdevlin/MathGuy.html

They are an absolutely brilliant resource. His books are also great. You can
find many of them in just about any bookstore, and certainly online.

Note: Since I wrote this, I've come across what I consider the absolutely most important thing any teacher who even considers teaching math to young people should read. It's called "A Mathematician's Lament," by Paul Lockhart. It's available as a free PDF (25 pages).

You can read about it, and find links to the download at:

http://mathmojo.com/chronicles/2008/03/27/mathematicians-lament-a-must-read/

As always, I prefer books over the internet. I think the greatest math
writer for the general public of the last half-century is Martin Gardner,
who wrote the "Mathematical Games" column for "The Scientific American"
magazine for 25 years, and who authored about 60 books. He is close to my
heart because he is a also brilliant magician.
You can find out more about Mr. Gardner at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Gardner

In his books, like "Mathematical Carnival," you'll find wide-ranging lessons
on "Recreational Mathematics." The words "games" and "recreational" may
sound like the material would be trivial, but Mr. Gardner makes it just the
opposite. (You can tell, because they were published in "Scientific American" and not "Highlights for Children.")

I'd say that he was a huge influence on many, if not most of the current
crop of great popular math writers, like Keith Devlin, Ivars Peterson, John
Conway, and Douglas Hofstadter, just to name a few.

Of course I feel I must also name Isaac Asimov's "The Realm of Numbers" as the best all-around introduction to math, it's history, and it's meaning
that I have ever come across. It is unfortunately out of print (ah, why are
important books like this out of print, and you can fine "Chicken Soup for
the American Idol Soul" on every "in-your-face" shelf at every predatory
cosmo-demonic megabookstore? - but I digress...) but you can generally find a copy by googling it online. Asimov was an influence on Gardner.

There is also a very fine podcast (you can subscribe to it free from the
iTunes store) called "The Math Factor." It's by C. Goodman-Strauss and Kyle Kellams at the University of Arkansas, and it's website is at:
http://mathfactor.uark.edu/
They are very educator-friendly, and the material is very accessible and
fun.

I enjoyed your question and had fun answering it, as it provided me an
excuse to spend part of the morning checking out some of books and websites that have become old friends. I hope you find some of them useful and inspiring, too.

I'll be including your question and the answer somewhere on my mathmojo.com website, and probably on "The Math Mojo Chronicles," too, and possibly in the Math Mojo Monthly newsletter as well. Would you like your name attached to the question, to give you credit for it, or should I keep it anonymous?

Thank you for your inspiration!

Yours truly,

Professor Homunculus