Experimental Teaching

I have only six months left. Then I venture into the unknown. How exciting!

Since I am here only for six months, I have decided to do "experimental teaching." So far, the results have been great. I told my students, "no homework!" and they cheered and then did MORE homework.

Now I'm just feeling sorry for the students who hate mathematics. I just want to tell them, "it's OK, learn a few things, like how to find x and Pythagoras' theorem, you know, maybe mean, median and mode, and you will get by, and life goes on."

But they worry. I think they know this stuff doesn't go away. Long ago, I used to work as a bartender. I had one regular customer who would come in the afternoons and spread out his algebra books. He was studying to be a FIREMAN, but they were making him pass an ALGEBRA test.

Can you imagine, in a burning blaze, trying to figure out if the roof will collapse, and your boss yelling out: "if 3x - 5 = 19, what is x?"

So, that is life. Whether you like it or not, to be successful in life, you need to learn some mathematics. I feel sorry for those who find it too hard. There really is no point in giving them bad grades. It definitely doesn't make them work harder; it just makes them hate math even more.