When people talk about the teachers they can never forget they often mention the strict ones, the funny ones or the ones that gave them a lot of homework, but for me it was my Mathematics teacher, Mr Gbenga.
Okay , I wasn't a fan of math then, nope I wasn't bad at it and neither was I confident at it too, When I saw calculations or complicated equations my mind always starts thinking of excuses to skip them
But then I met Mr. Gbenga.
What made him different from other teachers was not just that he knew mathematics well, It was how he taught it, you know how some teachers understand a subject perfectly but they can't explain it to students, Mr. Gbenga was the opposite of that
He had a way of making things seem simple.
I remember topics that seemed impossible at first and how I would stare at the board, then I wondered how anyone could understand all those numbers and symbols, but by the end of his lessons everything would make sense.
He didn't always rushed through topics.
He was very patient with explanation
If students didn't understand something he will explain it again and again, Sometimes he will use examples until everyone understood.
Looking back I think that was his own strength, He really wanted his students to learn, to understand
You could see it in how he worked.
Something interesting started to happen to me, Math didn't feel scary anymore, I actually enjoyed solving problems, my confidence grew little by little and by the time I got to senior secondary school I noticed that many equations and calculations that scared some students didn't scare me.
I always solved them easily.l because I understand formulas, and to be honest I do owe a lot of that to Mr. Gbenga.
He helped me understand the logic behind calculations of just memorizing formulas, Once you understand the logic , everything gets easier.
That is why I say a good teacher can change how a student sees a subject, sometimes it is not the subject that is hard.
Sometimes the student just needs someone who can teach it in a way they understand, now Years have passed since those classroom days, but i still remember Mr. Gbenga.
I may not remember every lesson or every equation, but I remember how he made learning less intimidating, I remember how he helped build my confidence in math, I remember how the knowledge he gave me helped me long after I left his class, that is why he is one teacher I will never forget.
Not because he was the strictest or the loudest, because he was one of those rare teachers who made a lasting impact on his students, you know Every student deserves to have least one teacher like that in their life.
