The Letters from my future students

Hello Ms. Fan,

I am a student of your grade 9 students. It has been 10 years from when I was in your class when you were in a new math teacher in my secondary school. I have graduated from UBC now and working as an Electronics Engineer. The memory of my grade 9 math class is still fresh to me. I still remember a time when you started to teach us in the fall term, all my classmates were so quiet because we were not used to your teaching style cause we were so used to listen to a lecture and solve exercise problems in the textbook style. You asked us to create our own model to measure and do the experiment when you try to teach us the surface area and volume of cube, cylinder, cone, and sphere. We were laughing at ourselves about the imperfect models of cones and sphere but that was our first math class that all of the class were so engaging. Since then, you, as a new teacher started to connect to us in learning. I am thankful that you build my confidence in math and spark my passion for exploring mathematic. This passion leads to my success in my studies in Engineering and my career as an Electronics Engineer.

Best Regards,

Your Student

Hello Ms. Fan,

I am a student of your grade 12 students. It has been 10 years from when you were teaching me to grade 12 math. I was totally lost and disliked your math class about you don't give direct answers to us, but you were trying to let us find answers by ourselves by trying to engage us in understanding the concepts. I felt so frustrated because I was hoping to get high marks for my math 12 then it can help me to get into a good University, so I stopped trying in math. As a grade 12 student, I was so busy with every course. I did not have time to understand the concept, but I only would like to know how to solve the problem and get the quick correct answer. I managed to get into university and major in Fiance and graduated a few years ago. With the limited understanding of the mathematical concept, I am struggling with my CFA exam, case studies involving mathematical modeling. I wish I were more patient 10 years ago and brave enough to communicate with you about my thought, and you are more experience with teaching grade 12 students, then we would have a more effective teaching-learning Journey. I decided to share my experience with you 10 years later since I saw your passion for teaching, and  I hope it helps in your teaching Journey. I believe you are a great teacher.

Sincerely,

Your student