Math Lesson

I taught high school math nearly 40 years ago. This video brings back vague memories of the experience...



By the way, I lunched at a Burger King today and had four big burly guys sit down next to me. They were in the forties and early fifties. They discussed their high school experience, the good teachers, the bad teachers. It seems that schooling is one of the most mind-searing experiences we undergo. Tragic.

The good news, at least I took it as good news, is that none of them bad mouthed a math teacher. But I would size them up as the kind of guys who took their last math course in tenth grade and haven't had a thought about math sense then. That's too bad. Math is actually a lot of fun if you can get into it. But too many people are browbeat in school and decide they "hate" math. I used to bring math games into class to give the kids a wider perspective. They certainly loved the games. But most were never keen on the math. They just didn't get the joy of factoring polynomials. They kept asking "what is the use of this?" The idea that it was isometric exercises for the mind didn't impress them.

Now who wouldn't say that topology is fun...