I wrote once before that I have a very distinct way of expressing myself. I have a unique "voice," if you will. The first time I wrote about this, I noted that I have a way of doing this both on paper (or the electronic version, but you know what I mean) and out loud when actually using my vocal cords. Well, as it turns out, there are other people who think the same thing.
I'll start with the math class I teach as a volunteer. I think it's a pretty worthwhile program, so I've been volunteering some time there for a couple of years. Now, the experience means that I have a pretty good handle on how to teach that class (or at least I think I do). There's a certain pacing to it, and certain phrases or ways of explaining things seem to make sense to people. The fun part, though, is that with that experience comes familiarity. The staff there knows me, and I feel a bit more comfortable in teaching that class. That means I can be a smart aleck.
Specifically, I have a rule: if you've got jokes, so do I. I ask a lot of questions in that class (I believe in the Socratic method), so it's intentionally very interactive. I expect people to talk and to provide commentary. That means that as people become more comfortable with me, some interesting comments start to arise. Sometimes, someone will just straight up guess at the answer. That's when something like this happens:
Student: "Um ... 1/5th?"
Me: "What makes you say that?"
Student: "Yeah, I just guessed."
Me: "In that case, I guess 1/113th. Two can play that game."
That's always followed by a smile, a laugh, and a discussion of how to actually solve the problem. It keeps things light, but it also helps encourage the students to think things through a bit. I've had lots of them laugh after this and then figure out how to actually work through the problem. Often times, it's just a matter of talking it through.
The other fun one that I throw out a lot looks like this:
Me: "So here's the second way to do this. Which way do you like better?"
(the students all pick one)
Me: "Okay, so I'm not gonna lie, I like this way. There's fewer steps, and I'm lazy. I'm not trying to do more work than I have to."
Oddly enough, that usually leads to more than a few laughs. Weird.
Regardless, that's how things go in my class. We all usually end up learning something, and people tend to have a little bit of fun while we're at it. That was the part that amazed me the most: I've had people tell me that the math class was actually fun. I'm going to have to keep using this voice of mine. I might need help from one of them as a CPA or something ten years from now.
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