Once I got into high school it was a totally different
story. I knew going into these classes the material would be more difficult and
take more time to understand. But I figured once I was settled into the class
and got use to the new teacher I would be able to catch on and excel as I had
in the past. This was not the case at all. The teachers just expected us to
know exactly what was needed to solve each problem on lessons we had never even
seen before. Also teachers in the high school were much more likely to not be
there every day of the week.
This was astonishing to me as well as my other classmates.
Why wasn't our teacher there every day to teach us? When the teacher wasn't
there a substitute was in their place but that was not always helpful. Most of
the time these substitutes were not trained math teachers; they were college
graduates just looking for a job. This made each class harder and harder
because how was I supposed to learn and understand this new and confusing
material if the person trying to teach it to me didn't have an understanding of
it. I believe this is what caused me to become a mathophobe.
I was never a star test taker no matter how much I understood
the topic. Tests made me nervous and I would forget something that I knew
extremely well as soon as the exam was put down in front of me. As my teachers
in high school expected more of me the more nerves I occurred. I use to love
math but now I struggle with it and truly believe that I have become a
mathophobe. Now in this math class I am trying my hardest to push my
intelligence, it also helps that my teacher is always in class and very
helpful. I think that a teacher has the biggest impact on a child’s
understanding of math and truly the deciding factor if a child will fall to
mathophobia or not.
