I was 14 when I learnt to enjoy mathematics. Before that I simply did maths; I worked through my homework when I remembered, I day dreamed in the maths class and I did not care much for the subject. At age 14 all that changed. I started a new secondary school. There were just 12 students in the class. They all seemed to understand maths.
At home I told my father how I felt. He insisted I would need private lessons to bring me up to standard. My father wanted to make sure I achieved good grades in maths; I on the other hand wanted to understand maths. Fortunately for me, I had a tutor who enabled me to achieve good grades, understand and enjoy maths. He made maths learning real. He taught me maths topics using practical examples. I learnt how to problem solve, how to analyse, how to check, how to develop an argument. When I learnt to understand maths I learnt more about myself. As I learnt more about myself, I realised that even in life as in maths, when a problem is difficult, you need to step back from it, re-analyse it and try a different but logical approach to solving it.
Learning maths today is even more fun. There are so many interactive websites students can explore to improve their skills. Here are just some I have used with my students:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/bitesize/
I enjoy teaching maths. In fact I share my knowledge of maths with my students. We explore ideas together. I encourage students to ask questions about anything that puzzles them. I have learnt about how students’ learn maths through the questions they ask. Teaching maths is even more interesting today with the vast amount of additional tools available for the classroom. Whiteboards have now replaced the standard chalkboards, and computers are permanent residents in the classroom. Some maths work can be carried out on computer much quicker such as using spreadsheet to calculate data by entering the desired formula, or using the computer programme that constructs scale drawing. All this is very good news for me as a tutor because I know that for the hard to reach students these additional tools provide additional learning resources that can support students regardless of their learning need or learning style.
