Bad Math Papers
Posted by Stuart at 01:46 PM on June 16, 2003This weekend was mostly mellow and somewhat productive. I spent most of my Saturday afternoon at Coffee Society on Silom grading math papers. It was quite a depressing experience because my students don't seem to be doing that well. It's not that I take it personally, I just want them all to get good grades. The class is not that difficult if you put a little effort into it. It certainly shouldn't be difficult to pass the class, but I know several won't.
The rest of the weekend I spent with two friends who were visiting from Vietnam. It was nice to see them again, but it meant that unfortunately I didn't make as much progress on the grading as I hoped. Looks like it's going to be a busy week in the office.
A, yes, this is the problem I face in any class. First, I have to teach the subject matter but I always also have to teach English. In math classes I teach math and "english for math". In computer classes I teach computers, and "english for computers".
I know I will never make everyone love math. I just want to help them get through it. So I try to encourage them to do the work to learn as much as they can.
But I always have high expectations for myself and so I often have high expectations for others as well. Perhaps sometimes too high.
Hi Stuart, Can you suggest websites where jobs are posted for math/science/computer teachers in Thailand. I am in Thailand now.
Thanks,
Dan
To me, you are now facing a BIG problem for Thai students who don't like math, and I used to be one of them! Studying Math via English language is good for someone who is good enought at English which means a student can learn both Math and English. On the other hand, it may be worse for a student who doesn't understand well either of them. In my opinion, it's very hard to help them to love math studying. But it may be easier to help them pass the test. I said this 'cos I used to be one of them. I didn't care to get a good grade but I did care to pass the test. I loved it when I got a clue that the example on the board may turn to be one point in a mid-term or final exam. I also tried to find a year-before-test which encourged me to find the answers, yes I did more practicing! Please don't give extra works (for this kind of students) I meant to help but not sure about the information I gave.