There are many people who are excited about a sport such as basketball. By practicing yourself, shooting free throws, practicing dribbling, you can gain skills in the sport. But having a basketball coach will give you direction, tips you would have never thought about, and make you well rounded in the sport. A coach or a mentor sees your weak spots, and gives you advice or drills on how to improve them.
But imagine if your coach never had you make shots. Imagine if your coach would only have you memorize facts about basketball, certain moves you can make, and what to do in certain situations. Instead of handing you a basketball, he hands you a worksheet. And on that worksheet are a set of questions such as "according to the double dribble theorem, prove that dribbling with two hands is incorrect". Then you wouldn't have a basketball coach. You would have a basketball teacher.
Sadly, even after years of completing these worksheets and memorizing theorems, you would have still gained no basketball skills. Even others who didn't have a coach are more skilled than you, because they practiced themselves and learned the foundations. And the biggest tragedy is, you would even be the worst at those worksheets. While you were stressed trying to memorize all of those concepts, others were actually playing the game. And when it comes to the worksheet, they can intuitively answer all of the questions, whereas you forgot almost all of it in one summer!
So if you are looking to become skilled in mathematics, don't search for a "teacher" and be their "student". Find a "coach" and be their "athlete".
- Parsa Shemirani, a math coach/mentor
Contact: info@intuitive-ideas.com
