A Mathematics Professor’s 
Perspective and Practice
Rosalie Dance, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Mathematics
University of the Virgin Islands
March 2010
1. Its beauty
2. Its power and efficacy as a problem 
solving tool.   
If you want to make the world a better place, it helps to 
have mathematics on your side.
3. To enable you to empower others by 
teaching mathematics.
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Mathematics is held in high regard for 
good reasons: 
its beauty and 
its problem solving efficacy. 
But there is a corresponding notion in 
our society: 
that mathematics is so difficult that 
only an elite few will be able to master 
it. 
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Anxiety
Self-doubt
Stress
Deal with suffering
Transform trials into wisdom
Discover our path and our 
purpose
Interpret our personal 
connectedness to our 
community and our world.
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Network of educators, 
kindergarten to university, 
who practice and discuss 
mindfulness and 
its practice in our profession:
www.mindfuled.org
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…about 70,000 five-minute intervals 
(awake) every year.
…multiply the number of stressful 
thoughts, anxieties, self-doubts you 
have in a five-minute period by 
70,000…. Looks like something we 
might want to correct!
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Sit erect, shoulders relaxed, both feet on floor
Focus on your breath
Coordinate your in and out breaths with the phrases of 
the meditation verse:
In/Out
Deep/Slow
Calm/Ease
Smile/Release
Present moment/Wonderful moment
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Create a beautiful sense of calm;
Recreate self-confidence;
Re-establish belief in self.
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Students:
Learning blocks
Exams
So many things!
Professors:
Troubled student
Anxious class
Self
Hold stress in the Light to let it be transformed.
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