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> A deeper problem is that math is almost always taught as a list of rules in the first place, frequently by teachers who do not themselves understand the under

> A deeper problem is that math is almost always taught as a list of rules in the first place, frequently by teachers who do not themselves understand the underlying concepts. Teachers who only remember the procedures can of course only teach procedures Sigh, your statement reminds me of one time when I was in 6th grade geometry and was asked to complete this one proof. The problem was intended to get us to apply a concept we had been taught verbatim, but I couldn't remember it well and so I completed the proof a different way by extrapolating other basic concepts we had gone over into a method we had not been taught. I remember feeling very proud of myself when I finished, as I had created something which in my 12 year old eyes was a "novel proof". I ended up being given 0 points on the problem because I did not complete my proof using cookie cutter methods we had been taught (even though my proof was correct and it was not specified that I use a particular concept in the instructions). I remember complaining to my teacher about how this was unfair and she kept saying something akin to "well you didn't do the problem the right way". The incident pretty much killed any interest I had in math, which wasn't rekindled until I stumbled upon machine learning recently in my 20s.

Xcelerate 11y ago
That kind of story makes me irrationally upset. That's horrible — killing a child's interest in math because they didn't do the problem the "right way". It's completely antagonistic to the spirit of the field. Teachers shouldn't be teaching subjects if they don't understand them.
- Kluny 11y ago
  Same - I vow to make sure that never happens to my kids, even if I have to homeschool them.
  - _rpd 11y ago
    We had to homeschool for a year because of this (substitute teacher just going through the motions). My son has been a year ahead in math ever since. We've had to supplement to keep him challenged.
- zeidrich 11y ago
  Its these kind of experiences that I want to learn to teach my child to make it through. There are a lot of other people out there who will unknowingly be very discouraging, to both children and adults, but their opinions have no bearing on our ability to learn. I remember being in music class in grade 1 and it was my absolute favorite class. Near the end of the year I was told that I wasn't very good at singing by my teacher. I never tried to sing again, but I learned later that I have good pitch and a decent voice. I am not really interested in singing now, but I might have learned a different set of skills if I didn't avoid it. Is there a way that I could have been prepared so that being told by the person I looked up to for validation, that I was no good wouldn't make me stop trying to improve? I don't know about that, but if there's a way to teach that, it would definitely be a good lesson. It would certainly be nice if teachers didn't do things like that, but even if you could guarantee they didn't, you won't stop the bullies or the critics or anyone other hater as you get older.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    As they say, don't let your schooling get in the way of your education. To the grandparent: I don't think getting upset is at all irrational.
aianus 11y ago
This still happens to me when getting graded by peers on coursera. Makes me feel good about my job security :)

Xcelerate 11y ago

That kind of story makes me irrationally upset. That's horrible — killing a child's interest in math because they didn't do the problem the "right way". It's completely antagonistic to the spirit of the field. Teachers shouldn't be teaching subjects if they don't understand them.

Kluny 11y ago
Same - I vow to make sure that never happens to my kids, even if I have to homeschool them.
- _rpd 11y ago
  We had to homeschool for a year because of this (substitute teacher just going through the motions). My son has been a year ahead in math ever since. We've had to supplement to keep him challenged.
zeidrich 11y ago
Its these kind of experiences that I want to learn to teach my child to make it through. There are a lot of other people out there who will unknowingly be very discouraging, to both children and adults, but their opinions have no bearing on our ability to learn. I remember being in music class in grade 1 and it was my absolute favorite class. Near the end of the year I was told that I wasn't very good at singing by my teacher. I never tried to sing again, but I learned later that I have good pitch and a decent voice. I am not really interested in singing now, but I might have learned a different set of skills if I didn't avoid it. Is there a way that I could have been prepared so that being told by the person I looked up to for validation, that I was no good wouldn't make me stop trying to improve? I don't know about that, but if there's a way to teach that, it would definitely be a good lesson. It would certainly be nice if teachers didn't do things like that, but even if you could guarantee they didn't, you won't stop the bullies or the critics or anyone other hater as you get older.
- mikeash 11y ago
  As they say, don't let your schooling get in the way of your education. To the grandparent: I don't think getting upset is at all irrational.

aianus 11y ago

This still happens to me when getting graded by peers on coursera. Makes me feel good about my job security :)