If Dr. Seuss Was A Maths Teacher

I was day-dreaming this morning. Just trying to think out loud. Like, how do we actually make Maths tangible for students…. how do we make people understand it?

On my bookshelf, I saw The Cat in The Hat and Oh! The Places You Will Go. I fecking loved those books. So visual, so much fun, so much colour. The more of Dr. Seuss I read, the more I wanted to read.

It got me thinking – if Dr. Seuss was in charge of a Maths class, how would he teach it?

He’d Get You Thinking

The clever thing about Dr. Seuss is the fact that he challenges your brain, in bite-sized doses. It’s clever, witty lines like “You have to be odd to be number 1” that get you thinking.

I’d imagine his class would have no elements of ‘chalk-talk’. You would not be just following the teacher along and repeating it back. He’d force you to think about Maths and to be engaged.

Every Child Can & Will Improve

When I read Dr. Seuss, I feel like he is sitting beside me, talking to me, encouraging me to get keep going……. Surely I’m not the only one who feels the same?

Because Dr. Seuss wrote to please one person at a time. He wrote with the reader in mind. He made it personal.

Now imagine that he taught Maths to a group class. Dr. Seuss would focus on ensuring no child was left behind. He’d realise Maths was 50% confidence, 50% technique. That improvement in secondary school was about emotions as much as technique. Those words of encouragement…. the consistent feedback….. he’d be by your side, encouraging you along the way.

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!

Dr. Seuss

Conclusion

Dr. Seuss is timeless. With the dawn of technology, his mindset of helping every individual child is now becoming feasible.

Hope that inspires you to learn more Maths.

TJ— CEO of Breakthrough Maths.

Need help in Maths? Contact the Breakthrough Maths team here.