In the year 2000...

A Twitter Account of a Student who Hated Me

Geoff95: Thanks for wasting my time with math and trying to convince me it's worthwhile.  #mathsux
Geoff95: How come I need to know how to calculate the optimal plot of farming land in the year 2019?  What is this, Apocalypse Now?
Geoff95: 50 questions on how to calculate logarithms really helped me out when I was trying to figure out what I should do with my life.
Geoff95: Miss Dicker is so boring to listen to, and her class had nothing to do with my life.  #IHateSchool
Geoff95: Miss Dicker only likes the smart kids in her class and ignores everyone else.  Fml. #IHateSchool
Geoff95: @MissDicker You think you're funny in class but you're not.  You try too hard.
Geoff95: lolz ya. RT@Rogerrr Math is for nerds neways. Eff it.
Geoff95: Math sux. Whatever.  I'm over this. #mathsux

An Email from a Student who Loved Me

Hey Miss Dicker,

I just wanted to email you to let you know I finished my first year at university and I'm thinking of majoring in math!  I know I hated it when I was in your class but I'm starting to really like it.  I just wanted to write to thank you for being so into math when probably most of your classes were filled with people who didn't like it (like me!).  You really showed me that math could be fun and doesn't have to be scary.  If it wasn't for that I probably wouldn't have even taken a first-year calculus course.  Anyway, just wanted to thank you for your course and the time you put into teaching math to me!

Sincerely,
Prucilla


I hope that I will be that teacher that students like and appreciate, even if they don't love the subject I'm teaching.  I'm afraid I will be a teacher that tries too hard and that students can't relate to.  I'm also afraid I'll get too caught up in the math and forget that the students are people too and not just math-machines for me to teach.