3 ms·

I'm bad at math. This doesn't mean I can't do math, but it means its 5x as hard for me as it is for you. I find math people actually wind up enjoying the puzzl

I'm bad at math. This doesn't mean I can't do math, but it means its 5x as hard for me as it is for you. I find math people actually wind up enjoying the puzzle and the mastery; I never did. This isn't a problem. Most people find some things come easier to them or are more rewarding than others. But it seems to me there's a line between helping people do stuff they're bad at and insisting that there's no such thing as being bad at them.

ethbr0 3y ago
Do you remember the first time you found math "hard"? What was your teacher like? What was your experience like? Honestly curious! (as someone who cried memorizing multiplication tables)
- coffeefirst 3y ago
  Huh, that's an interesting question. I'm not sure. There was a moment when they broke out the honors tracks and I knew I should be in advanced history/english/science/everything except for math. I was doing fine at the regular pace, but would struggle to keep up with the kids who actually enjoyed the challenge and picked it up easy. But that tells me the split happened much earlier. On the other hand, I know when I realized I was good at writing. I read constantly as a kid and started writing fiction by age 9. And from that angle I can relate: I would help friends with writing in college. It's almost always possible to help someone who struggles to capture their thoughts clearly on paper or just approach a blank page, but that doesn't mean they're ever going to like the craft or develop a proclivity towards it.
  - ethbr0 3y ago
    Further curiosity, did you do extra math at home before the honors split? I went to a college prep school, and our math teacher from ~3-5 grades was excellent. (We were lucky and she moved up with our class every year) But I had a sneaking suspicion that by the time the honors split happened (5th grade?), there was a substantial "home" work delta between future-advanced kids and everyone else. I certainly didn't like math, but my father was dead-set on my learning it. So I know I completed every bit of school homework + a ton of extra practice problems + reviewed problems with him, before honors began. I expect to everyone else it looked like I "got" math, but there was a lot of burning the candle, and it wouldn't have been my own choice. (That said, mostly grateful, as it did carry me through college math well)

ethbr0 3y ago

Do you remember the first time you found math "hard"? What was your teacher like? What was your experience like? Honestly curious! (as someone who cried memorizing multiplication tables)

coffeefirst 3y ago
Huh, that's an interesting question. I'm not sure. There was a moment when they broke out the honors tracks and I knew I should be in advanced history/english/science/everything except for math. I was doing fine at the regular pace, but would struggle to keep up with the kids who actually enjoyed the challenge and picked it up easy. But that tells me the split happened much earlier. On the other hand, I know when I realized I was good at writing. I read constantly as a kid and started writing fiction by age 9. And from that angle I can relate: I would help friends with writing in college. It's almost always possible to help someone who struggles to capture their thoughts clearly on paper or just approach a blank page, but that doesn't mean they're ever going to like the craft or develop a proclivity towards it.
- ethbr0 3y ago
  Further curiosity, did you do extra math at home before the honors split? I went to a college prep school, and our math teacher from ~3-5 grades was excellent. (We were lucky and she moved up with our class every year) But I had a sneaking suspicion that by the time the honors split happened (5th grade?), there was a substantial "home" work delta between future-advanced kids and everyone else. I certainly didn't like math, but my father was dead-set on my learning it. So I know I completed every bit of school homework + a ton of extra practice problems + reviewed problems with him, before honors began. I expect to everyone else it looked like I "got" math, but there was a lot of burning the candle, and it wouldn't have been my own choice. (That said, mostly grateful, as it did carry me through college math well)