credits: magicalmaths.org
I hate Maths. I never liked numbers, unless it’s got to do with a certain pay cheque.
Back when I was in Primary School, it’s compulsory for us to memorise the multiplication table by heart. Seriously, why? They were never useful. It’s not just multiplication and division, my addition and subtraction skills were atrocious as well. Actually, they still do. I guess I must have been too dependent on my calculator… Due to my awful skills, my dad decided to tutor me. Well, it was a big mistake to begin with. A downright impatient man paired up with a 7 year old kid that sucks in counting? I’ll let your imagination run wild.
Because of the frequent scoldings by my dad, I began to direct my anger at my least favourite subject. I never practiced. It became the lowest priority in my school life. I even hated my Primary School Maths teacher at one time. As I used a different method in solving the questions (in my defense, my dad taught me and it works), she reprimanded me in front of the whole class. What gives? Life spits you in the face. This was why I failed Maths for quite some time. A long time.
It wasn’t until I met Mdm S when I was 15. I began to see a new hope when I heard about her. A dedicated teacher, she’s one of the few who would go the extra mile to make sure you get your facts right. It doesn’t even matter even if she has to repeat herself countless of times. As long as you understand and put in effort, she’s happy.
Some of the jokers in our class would teased her because of her Indian accent. Of course, they were being harmless. They just have a slightly different approach in showing their affection for Mdm S.
One time, a girl classmate of mine got irritated with a certain formula– if my memory serves me right, it was long and daunting to memorise. Mdm S then retorted back,
” If you can fully remember the lyrics to your favourite songs, you will definitely have no problem in memorising the formula! “
It was hysterical. The girls broke down in uncontrollable giggles, while the guys roared with laughter. It was one of my fondest memories. I mentioned that I hate school, so believe me, this is not an over-statement.
I managed to score a decent grade for both my E and A Maths, and for that, I’m grateful.
Thanks, Mdm S. You made me believe in myself and the fact that you chose me as a Maths Rep means a lot to me. Maybe that’s why you picked me. To show me that there’s nothing to be scared of.
Mdm S. absolute right. I can only imagine her accent. You guys…
She’s great!
I can totally relate to your dislike of maths. I have never understood math, at all. I was called lazy, dumb, stupid, every bad word you can think of. Years later I found out that I had dyscalculia.
I’m glad you had a great teacher.
I’m sorry to hear that, and those meanies who called you names should know better. The world will be a much better place without them. I wish you all the best in your future, and hey, thanks for dropping by!
They should’ve known better, but in those days dyslexia and dyscalculia wasn’t very well known. Certainly not in a small town. I remember a boy who had dyslexia, he got bullied by teachers and students, just like me.
We were close, since we both dealt with the same problems.
I’m just glad that kids nowadays are treated differently by teachers. And I hope nobody has to go through the same thing I went through
I hope so too
Good kind of reminiscences. I had also bad experiences with math or rather complicated mathematical operations in senior classes but I tried. Eventually I’ve learnt to make some primitive counts. : )
Haha, that’s wonderful!