Favourite and least favourite math teachers

One of my favorite math teachers was the person who got me interested in math in the first place. He was very good at recognizing effort, and he was the first person to convince me that I could be good at math. As I became more invested in math, I began to visit him and ask for interesting or difficult math problems. He went above and beyond to find me problems that were the right amount of challenge for me and point me towards topics I could explore on my own.

My least favourite teacher taught a course that was very challenging in its own right, so I want to acknowledge that his job was very difficult. I struggled a lot with his style of teaching, which was abstract. However, I also struggled when I went to him to seek help. He seemed reluctant to explain concepts and told me that I should think about things more. However, I was already spending exorbitant amounts of time on the homework, and it wasn’t clear what more I could do to improve. It was very demotivating and was the first time where I truly felt lost in math.

Both perspectives will help me a lot as a teacher. My favourite teacher teaches me how important it is to feel encouraged and supported in mathematics. I will have a range of students in my class, but doing a little extra to meet my students where they are at will make a world of difference. My least favourite teacher also taught me valuable lessons. I learned from that class what it feels like for a student to be completely lost in math: demotivated and frustrated. Remembering that feeling will help me navigate challenges and anxieties that my students will have. I will also focus on both content and strategies for learning math so that students come away from our interactions with concrete things that they can try to improve.