I had some experience tutoring others during grade school because I was a quick learner and typically ahead of my classmates. To keep me from becoming bored some of my teachers asked me to assist other students. When I was in college one of my first work study jobs was tutoring students in the math and reading labs. Unlike my earlier experience many of these students had learning disabilities.
I had assumed up until that point that we all had similar thought processes. I found that people with learning disabilities typically use their minds in ways that were completely unlike the way I used mine. Things that seemed obvious to me immediately could not be understood by some of the people that I was tutoring. It was quite a challenge trying to get even some of the most basic concepts across.
When I went on to tutoring students in the computer lab with people who did not have learning disabilities, the same types of challenges were present. At that time working with computers, was completely unfamiliar to most people. But I had been an electronics hobbyist for years prior so again I had to find ways of explaining the subject that had not been considered by myself previously.
The thing that I found during my college level tutoring is that there are many who have such low aptitude that it is extremely difficult to help them reach even a low level of understanding.
I once found a calculus book that was written so well for the beginning student that it helped me reach a higher level than my peers and caused my teachers to believe that it was a subject that I was gifted in which was not actually the case. In my later years I have searched for that book but have been unable to find a copy. The author was someone who was able to communicate what are considered advanced concepts in terms that made them not just easy to grasp but entertaining as well. This person is/was a truly talented teacher something which I do not consider myself to be.
I wish you could find that calculus book again. I would love to have it!
Please share the name of that Calculus textbook! I was always good at math, but for various reasons I had no idea of what Calculus even was!
I agree that some teachers have the ability to put things in a way that others can understand.
I went into teaching when I realized that I understood some of my classmates questions while the teacher seemed clueless as to what the student was confused about.
However, when I was confronted with a class of underachievers I found that my techniques made little difference. I do not know even today what might have worked. I believe many teachers are faced with this concern, but cannot get past the fact that some students are making it difficult for others to learn.
Thank you for your comments.
I wish you could find that book too. Calculus is where I hit my wall in maths.