My mathematical past
1. Something(s) that really reached me as a math learner (at any age)
- The math to me was something to hate. It was one of my subjects that I spent the most time with but there was a coercion and pressure within my family that thought the mathematics was one the most important subject living life in our future. The reason I hated mathematics was that the problems I dealt with was beyond my level of mathematics at the time and I had really no one to ask for help. Mother was trying to help but thought the subject was not something she could teach and Dad could help me but not in a very friendly way, being mad at me after failing to have me understand his solution.
2. Frustrations with math learning
- The frustrations come after looking at math problems that I do not how to begin with. There needs to be a gradual process of developing ideas to actually solve the problems. But, sometimes those math problems in advanced mathematics had struck me with utter helplessness.
3. A Math "teacher" you want to emulate
- The math 'teacher' I want to emulate was from the Calculus teacher I had when I was in grade 12. He was very rigid in his tone but used variety of tools and photos to help me understand each topic we have dealt in and have us delving into different problem sets by group work and sharing ideas on what each student's take on certain problem that we had to solve.
4. A math teacher whose ways you want to avoid
- I want to avoid teachers who are not very friendly toward students who are being extra curious. The atmosphere in the classroom is the key aspect of attracting students' interest and questions in mathematics. To help student's understanding of mathematics, one needs to have be friendly, I think. But in reality, there wasn't any teacher I had met whose style was something I wanted to avoid.
- The math to me was something to hate. It was one of my subjects that I spent the most time with but there was a coercion and pressure within my family that thought the mathematics was one the most important subject living life in our future. The reason I hated mathematics was that the problems I dealt with was beyond my level of mathematics at the time and I had really no one to ask for help. Mother was trying to help but thought the subject was not something she could teach and Dad could help me but not in a very friendly way, being mad at me after failing to have me understand his solution.
2. Frustrations with math learning
- The frustrations come after looking at math problems that I do not how to begin with. There needs to be a gradual process of developing ideas to actually solve the problems. But, sometimes those math problems in advanced mathematics had struck me with utter helplessness.
3. A Math "teacher" you want to emulate
- The math 'teacher' I want to emulate was from the Calculus teacher I had when I was in grade 12. He was very rigid in his tone but used variety of tools and photos to help me understand each topic we have dealt in and have us delving into different problem sets by group work and sharing ideas on what each student's take on certain problem that we had to solve.
4. A math teacher whose ways you want to avoid
- I want to avoid teachers who are not very friendly toward students who are being extra curious. The atmosphere in the classroom is the key aspect of attracting students' interest and questions in mathematics. To help student's understanding of mathematics, one needs to have be friendly, I think. But in reality, there wasn't any teacher I had met whose style was something I wanted to avoid.
It sounds like you experienced a lot of unnecessary pressure as a math learner, Jun! I am confident that you may be able to find better ways to reduce that pressure for your own students, building on your own experiences.
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