Mechanical calculator with cover removed - photo

[hemmjo]

Maybe normal people can, but I can’t. I am absolutely unable to do even that simple bit of arithmetic in my head. I can’t estimate any quantity, make sense of a spreadsheet (this part causes my boss no end of consternation), or follow instructions that skip operations. As you’d expect this held me back in school and even now limits career opportunities. On the other hand I can build or rebuild anything that doesn’t require higher maths.

Neil

Most people fail to recognize the differences in how people learn. Some educators are the worst in that respect. I cannot even begin to count how many times in my 35 years of teaching this was demonstrated to me. Often, I would sit in a parent teacher conference and listen to other teachers talk about how lazy and disrespectful a student is in their classroom. More often than not, the student would be at the top of my list in regard to creative thinking, hard work, attention to detail, and a willingness to learn new relevant information.

People are different.

PS. Unfortunately too many math teachers, especially in the lower grades, do not really KNOW math well enough to get kids off to a good start.