# Emotionless Math Teachers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918 "2012-07-31T02:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/41 "2012-08-03T05:14:03Z")
When I worked at the Education development centre at my old university, my boss used to joke about the _physics_ professors being the introverty, aspberger’s types you describe. We saw the most of them, since they seemed to need the most remedial help with their pedagogy. I guess it’s sort of mathesque. Actually, the math folks were kinda cool. One of them did a summer internship with Google designed to get women in the sciences, and the other regailed me with tales of what the future would be like once we licked quantum computing! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CraterLayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CraterLayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CraterLayer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/42 "2012-08-03T23:34:15Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Inventing a stereotype based entirely on your own extremely limited experience (what percentage of the world’s math teachers do you think you’ve worked with?), then feeling vindicated because someone said your stereotype sounds like a specific disorder does not count as a legitimate attempt to arrive at truth. Look, Slughead, If you had read my post you would see (if you had more of a brain than a smeg) that I did not invent any stereotype. The whole purpose of my post WAS because of my limited experience with math teachers, and I wanted to hear others experiences. From your anal post I can only assume that your Proctologist must have a pretty difficult job enlightening your innards. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/43 "2012-08-04T00:39:17Z")
This is making me think of Mr. Giles, my 9th-grade math teacher in junior high. He was really cool, and we knew he was cool but gave him a hard time anyway, because we were little 14-year-old shits. Being in West Texas, he was a pig farmer on the side, and I still remember us writing on the back chalkboard one day: “People perspire. Pig farmers sweat.” He tactfully ignored it. A really nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/44 "2012-08-04T01:21:31Z")
I have fond memories of my high school math teachers, who were all pretty nice guys. I remember one who was a real hippie type (as were many of my teachers – it was the '70’s, man). One day I totally lost it during a math test and started to cry – he came over, put a hand on my shoulder, and quietly told me to relax and take a deep breath. It was my English teachers who were all a bit nutty; one of them eventually had a nervous breakdown. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/45 "2012-08-04T02:02:10Z")
Math teacher is a pretty cool guy, eh finds integrals and doesn’t afraid of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/46 "2012-08-04T02:46:39Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Math teacher is a pretty cool guy, eh finds integrals and doesn’t afraid of anything. How long were they missing? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/47 "2012-08-04T02:48:43Z")
Imho, there’s a big difference in expertise in a subject and expertise in teaching. The best teachers I’ve had were both, but the ones that struggled generally only had subject knowledge, not teaching knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/48 "2012-08-04T02:54:01Z")
My math teachers were generally good. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/49 "2012-08-05T15:02:29Z")
> [@CraterLayer](#): > > Look, Slughead, If you had read my post you would see (if you had more of a brain than a smeg) that I did not invent any stereotype. The whole purpose of my post WAS because of my limited experience with math teachers, and I wanted to hear others experiences. From your anal post I can only assume that your Proctologist must have a pretty difficult job enlightening your innards. I know you’re new here, but insults aren’t allowed in this forum directed at other members, **CraterLayer**. If you want to insult someone, go to the BBQ Pit forum. Don’t post like this in this forum again. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/50 "2012-08-05T15:13:02Z")
> [@CraterLayer](#): > > Throughout high school and especially college, I noticed a common denominator among most of my math teachers and their personalities, or lack thereof. Common denominator. Among math teachers? Really? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918/51 "2012-08-05T18:13:58Z")
I had two maths teachers- one was awesome, one was not. The awesome one had a favourite punishment for kids gossiping in class- you had to stand up, and explain exactly how what it was you were discussing related to maths; so we had kids trying to explain things like: how soap-opera relationships fit into a statistical model and how you could work out the volume of butter needed to make a really good sandwich… Some of them were hilarious. After every one, she’d happily explain to the class that everything could be brought back to maths in some way, which is why it was so awesome, and why we should be studying it. She’d been to the school, left for teacher training, and come straight back to teach, and retired while I was there. Her replacement was the most boring person I have ever met. He didn’t get excited by maths, in fact he didn’t get excited by _anything_ in the three years I had him as a teacher. He wore grey, and only grey clothing at all times. He didn’t like the syllabus, and thought it was pointless, and would tell us how much of a waste of time he thought it was on a regular basis. He was an awful teacher, and managed to take maths from one of my best subjects to my worst in two years; I just couldn’t concentrate on anything he said. The weirdest bit was his wife, who I once met at an after school event- she was a total rainbow hippy woman, all overexcitedness and home made dangly earrings. After meeting her, we decided she was actually a colour vampire, and he used to be normal 😃 I still can’t work out how that relationship possibly happened though… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emotionless-math-teachers/629918.md?page=2)