In High School, I had a very influential teacher who changed the way I looked at things and the way I Iearned them for the rest of my life. He was my Pre Calculus teacher; bald, loud, blunt, and he genuinely cared about his students. I remember the first day of school had nothing to do with math or a syllabus. Instead, he presented to us his philosophy of education. We were all bored and would rather do math work at some point but the things he said during the first fifteen minutes of his two hour presentation really had an impact on me. The one thing that I will always consider when learning something new, especially when it comes to math, is to understand and not memorize. He thoroughly explained the differences between the two and this flipped the way I will ever absorb any information for the rest of my life.
My teacher was always answering questions - trying to magnetize them from our blank faces when he'd teach something complex - he would then make sure we understood the material no matter how long it took him. Visual representations were often his go-to methods rather than calculator work. These two methods of math are complete reciprocals of each other (no pun intended) because punching numbers in a calculator will never help you understand what it's doing after you press the equal sign. Drawings and maps are what stay imbedded in your mind longer and quicker. So my point is, after this experience (even after leaving his class half way because I didn't have to take it) I have learned to ask questions when I need to, I have learned what method of delivery is most efficient for myself when it comes to understanding things rather than easily memorizing them, and I have learned to be patient and comprehensive which in turn increased my attention span and motivation to learn in the long run.
My teacher was always answering questions - trying to magnetize them from our blank faces when he'd teach something complex - he would then make sure we understood the material no matter how long it took him. Visual representations were often his go-to methods rather than calculator work. These two methods of math are complete reciprocals of each other (no pun intended) because punching numbers in a calculator will never help you understand what it's doing after you press the equal sign. Drawings and maps are what stay imbedded in your mind longer and quicker. So my point is, after this experience (even after leaving his class half way because I didn't have to take it) I have learned to ask questions when I need to, I have learned what method of delivery is most efficient for myself when it comes to understanding things rather than easily memorizing them, and I have learned to be patient and comprehensive which in turn increased my attention span and motivation to learn in the long run.