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.
When it had come to me with math I was the opposite of you I never understood math in elementary or the beginning of middle school. Those years I had found math to be the hardest for me. I totally agree with you that a teacher has an impact on a child's understanding of math. One of my teachers that I had for math had really made math scary to me because he would yell at us when we did not understand something so as I was going along in math I was always scared to ask for help because I was scared to be yelled at for not understanding the math, but when it came to seventh grade I had a teacher that had really helped me with math that I was finally able to understand it and she had made a big impact on me when it came to math. She had made me come to really like math and no longer be afraid of it.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good point. I always struggled with math, but I do agree with you about the teachers. I never really thought of it like that when it came to math. This is the second time I am taking this math class and honestly the difference in teachers has a huge impact on me. This teacher is more visual and different. By different I mean like this blog for example. She is getting us to look at math and assess the reasons we are "afraid" of it. This is truly encouraging me to try harder. Where my other teacher was kind of a dry teacher. That was boring to me, and math is already hard and boring to me! I am now learning that math can be fun given the right situation and teacher.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that a teacher is a vital part in a students understanding of math. I have always understood math and when I got into high school my teachers were amazing which made me begin to love math. My high school math teachers were always there except if an emergency occurred and in that case it would be her colleague that substituted for her. Thankfully, my high school always tried to put another teacher who taught the same class as our substitutes so that we had a teacher who knew the subject just in case we need help.
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