Rachel's question: What should you do when you are bored in a math class?
Maria Droujkova
Hi I’m Rachel. I’m a high school student. I need your help with a book I’m co-authoring.
Imagine you are sitting in math class. The room is stiflingly hot. Your teacher is droning on and on about factoring, something you really couldn’t care less about. The kids next to you are passing notes, quietly murmuring. A stifled burst of laughter. Your eyes start to droop. Your desk is such a comfy pillow. You’ll just close your eyes for a few minutes, and then you’ll pay attention. Just a few minutes…
It’s a classic problem. Let’s face it, everyone gets bored sometimes. What should students do when they get totally bored in math class?
Lots of people have invented different coping strategies. When Vi Hart is bored, she doodles. When Trachtenberg was bored, he mentally manipulated numbers. The Happiness Project says to notice your surroundings, or to just plain keep trying. In internment camp, Pilates invented, well, Pilates. When Gauss was given boring math exercises to do, he invented an algorithm to make them go faster so he could do something interesting. What should you do when you’re bored in math class?
I’m collecting input for my book and I want your ideas. Please reply with them. Thank you so much!
