This is Why I am Not a Teacher
Ok, so my last post mentioned I might know a thing or three. This class I'm currently in has certainly helped boost that part of my ego just a bit. But there's just something wrong with the fact that I am the ONLY PERSON in the class to understand a fundamental concept.
Usually, I'm the last one to get it. I stumble over the basic building blocks like there's no tomorrow. I was horrible at proofs in Geometry in high school. At some point, you have to use your intuition or some other magic to get the first part of the answer before you can get the second part. For example, if 2+2 were fundamental to my knowing the answer to x + y = z, (say, x = 2+2, and that's needed to be able to compute the equation), it would take me hours (days, weeks, forever) to get the answer because I would stumble over finding x and never see the rest of the equation.
SOoooo.... for part of this class, we have to use a chart of numbers to find the area under a curve (where was this chart when I was computing limits to find the area under a curve in Calculus a few years ago???). The book does a HORRIBLE job of explaining how to use the chart.
But, since I like to look for relationships in problems like this, I figured it out pretty quickly. I made a hypothesis, found some practice problems, and figured out my hypothesis was correct. In fact, I got the right answer for our homework problem. And I was the only one. So I explained how I read the chart.
First person says, Ok, I see your logic, but how did you know to read the chart that way? So, I pointed out excerpts in the book that led me to my hypothesis, and then pointed out the examples I used to test it. She got it then.
But one person still didn't get it. So I explained again. And he still didn't get it. So I explained again, and the instructor chimed in with an explanation of his own. The other student still didn't get it. So I explained again, and called him on the phone, leaving a message for him to call me so I could step him through the process.
How many different ways can you explain that x + y = z? There's z - y = x. And z - x = y. And .. hmm. That's about it. I'm back to x + y = z. I give up. This is why I don't teach.
Usually, I'm the last one to get it. I stumble over the basic building blocks like there's no tomorrow. I was horrible at proofs in Geometry in high school. At some point, you have to use your intuition or some other magic to get the first part of the answer before you can get the second part. For example, if 2+2 were fundamental to my knowing the answer to x + y = z, (say, x = 2+2, and that's needed to be able to compute the equation), it would take me hours (days, weeks, forever) to get the answer because I would stumble over finding x and never see the rest of the equation.
SOoooo.... for part of this class, we have to use a chart of numbers to find the area under a curve (where was this chart when I was computing limits to find the area under a curve in Calculus a few years ago???). The book does a HORRIBLE job of explaining how to use the chart.
But, since I like to look for relationships in problems like this, I figured it out pretty quickly. I made a hypothesis, found some practice problems, and figured out my hypothesis was correct. In fact, I got the right answer for our homework problem. And I was the only one. So I explained how I read the chart.
First person says, Ok, I see your logic, but how did you know to read the chart that way? So, I pointed out excerpts in the book that led me to my hypothesis, and then pointed out the examples I used to test it. She got it then.
But one person still didn't get it. So I explained again. And he still didn't get it. So I explained again, and the instructor chimed in with an explanation of his own. The other student still didn't get it. So I explained again, and called him on the phone, leaving a message for him to call me so I could step him through the process.
How many different ways can you explain that x + y = z? There's z - y = x. And z - x = y. And .. hmm. That's about it. I'm back to x + y = z. I give up. This is why I don't teach.
posted by Pami @ 7:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home