My Addiction

[kejedo]

          I admit it: I'm a math head- started long ago. I was an early reader by conning my older sister to show me her vocabulary words. But numbers intrigued me just as much. I remember the first time I counted to 100, and was sure I got it right. Tried it again. Yes, counting to 100 was the same every time. In our haphazard family; the gentle, predictable repetition of number patterns seemed to be a place from which I gleaned consistency.

         By the beginning of second grade, I was a math tutor. According to my mother, I had been offered a double promotion, but my grandmother, who lived upstairs, did not approve of such. My grandmother had learned only Italian in her family home and had to learn English when she started school. She thought keeping up with the grade level was as much as one could expect. My mother had also been offered a double promotion, but according to her, it was a no-no. 

          As my mother told it, by the start of second grade, the school principal called her again and said as soon as she put out work, Pauline finished it in record time and was helping others. Somehow that exchange led to my helping with after-school math. When I got out of school, my mother would tell me who needed help with their numbers, and I left for my after school assignment. It never dawned on me that my mother may have been getting paid for it. It was ok, I tried to earn money whenever I could to help mom. She seemed always broke and complained about it, endlessly. It didn't dawn on me for many years that she spent money, daily, on cigarettes, gambling, and illicit drugs that one of her sisters accessed. She wasn't so short on money as she was long on expensive habits.

          Really, it seemed like there was always someone who wanted to learn more number work. From age seven 'til now, age 70, I was always fascinated by explaining and trying different ways to make those maths come alive. Although retired, now, and having taught all academic subjects at the secondary level for more than 35 years, it's those maths that keep me excited about teaching; second only to Bible teaching. 

          I volunteer-teach just one math class a week- Monday on zoom; elementary level for homeschoolers in our cong. who want an extra math workshop. it seems a bit ironic, because I did not necessarily teach elementary math since I was in elementary school. I create most of my material myself, as I did when teaching school. My students are learning to count back change, how to bank a pool shot off one rail by using geometry, how to calculate RBIs for baseball, and how to solve rebus type (concentration) puzzles that I write. They will learn how to balance their checkbook in an upcoming unit on finances. 

         Jehovah's people love continued learning. Some could not imagine how going to pioneer school (or any other theocratic school) could be a goal and a reward. If studying doesn't come naturally to you, find someone to teach. Even when conducting Bible studies, we do well to ask the student how they would share (explain) that concept to others.  Teachers are learners.

[Tortuga]

2 minutes ago, kejedo said:

Even when conducting Bible studies, we do well to ask the student how they would share (explain) that concept to others. 

[kejedo]

6 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Learners are teachers. too. You already knew it.