“Good With Numbers” ~ Better With Pictures: My Maths Teacher Hero.

 My son- by a miracle of dna wizardry that no-one in our family can fathom- is a mathematics teacher. He is, as they say, “GOOD WITH NUMBERS”.

Lucky for him, and maybe half of his students, he has a mum who is deeply UN-GOOD with numbers, equations, graphs, driving directions, logic…the whole package.

This means, when he was a nipper with math homework to do, we were working it all out with pictures, colour, and many, many stories.

For me personally, the ONLY way I am going to understand the purpose, applications and operations of math, chemistry, coding etc, is if I can process it with a little humanity thrown in. I need PEOPLE in the picture.

And I need pictures in the picture!

I learned this thanks to dear Mr.Jones, a lovable Welshman with a lifetime of math teaching experience and a heart willing to do what was necessary to reach a struggling pupil.

And my gosh, did I struggle!

I had failed my mathematics O level (kind of like Harry Potter’s OWLs exams but without the Weasley twins’ fireworks😊🎆🎇) THREE TIMES, before poor Mr. Jones was landed with me… and began to work his magic.

No wand or floo powder required, Mr.Jones’ magic came from his pen and a scrap of paper. He would teach the class, see my panicked expression and call me over to sit at his desk. Then whilst everyone else got started, he would DRAW the concept for me. I looked at what he drew and would often say “IS THAT IT?!” Train timetables, with stations and bridges; planets sprouting curving arrows; rockets shooting towards planets; I couldn’t begin to remember it all now. 

But I do remember opening my exam results and discovering a B PASSING GRADE. Finally. 🎉🏆🎉

I get quite emotional recalling this, because it was pure luck that I was given a teacher who could and would differentiate in this way. Maybe today, it’s more common for instructors to diversify their methods. I dearly hope so. It took 6 years of high school/college teachers teaching and re-teaching in the same way, before I finally hit the Jones jackpot.

Ironically, without this math pass, I couldn’t have pursued my own vocation in teaching, and learnt how to make my own teaching magic to help kids who shine in subjects outside the 3Rs. Out in the world, there are several fabulous teachers, a few actors, an opera singer, speech therapists, a folk singer,  creative team leads, a cartoonist, an author and a BBC writer and presenter who I was able to help find their power. I dearly hope there are many others out there with a little more self-confidence, creativity and love of theatre, music and those improvisational party games, because Mr. Jones drew me enough visuals to make the impossible possible.

So, that’s why I draw any time I can today. For piano students, church leaders, CBD scientists, psychotherapists, businesswomen with a vision, start-up small businesses, entrepreneurs, and yes, for my math teacher son too.

It’s my way of paying forward Mr. Jones’s priceless gift.

Thank you, sir!