Although high school was a while ago, I vividly remember my
math teachers, not only because of their teaching styles and skills, but rather
their commitment to students outside of the classroom. On every school team I was a part of in
school, every year, every semester at least 1 math teacher was present on the
coaching staff. Furthermore, every math
teacher I had was a coach on some sports team at my high school. It was a math teacher, who when I was in
grade 9, offered to drive me home every night after practice so I could play
rugby for the school team. It was this
commitment to me that showed me how to go that extra mile for my students. This may also by why I enjoy being in the
math classroom. I do not know where I
would be today if not for the actions of this particular math teacher. Rugby has been the stepping stone for my
entire educational and even professional career. It is a game I still play and coach to this
day. My math teacher/coaches would
always bring the classroom to the field and the field to the classroom. They would ask us math questions between
plays to see if we were still thinking clearly and relate math to sports in the
class to make it easier for us “jocks” to understand. I remember going to away games and coaches
tutoring players in their seats, as well as going to Europe and 3 of my rugby
coaches having a tutoring session with over half the team in various math
courses so we wouldn't fall behind in our studies. I don’t know what it was
about the math teachers at my school to want to be involved with sports. Maybe it is the crossover between sports and
mathematics, maybe they are avid sports fans, maybe it is something else altogether.
I still keep in contact with most of them to this day, and every one of them
continues to coach numerous sports.
Do any of you have any similar experiences regarding your
math teachers?
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