My math class isn’t like other math classes. Yes, we do math problems. And yes, it’s accelerated. But it’s pretty much everyone’s favorite class of the day.
On a typical day, when the bell rings, my class sits down. We eagerly await the arrival of the math teacher, Mr. Hollis. As soon as he enters the room, we all clap and cheer loudly, as he bows and says things like “what can I say?” and “thank you, thank you.” When he sits down, usually one student compliments him (jokingly of course!) and tells him “I like your shirt Mr. Hollis!” Mr. Hollis replies by saying something along the lines of “who wouldn’t”? He then proceeds to tell us a story about how he was chased by the paparazzi since math teachers are “oh so cool” and how they wanted to put him on a reality TV show. More jokes, of course. And then we get…. a little more serious.
Mr. Hollis tells us to take out our “beautiful homefun.” At the beginning of the year, he explained to us that math wasn’t “work,” it was “fun.” Hence the name “homefun.” Anyway, we take out the assignment from the previous night. He goes through all the answers, then asks for any “beautiful questions.” Everyone asks their questions, and then he asks “any other beautifulness?” There’s no response. Then he says, in an Italian accent, “Okay for you?” And we respond, also in Italian accents, “Okay for us!”
But that’s not even the fun part. When he gets to teaching us, he never uses the book’s way. He teaches us little short cuts and names them things like “The Hollis Method,” “The Hollis Checklist,” etc. Some other shortcuts, the more interesting ones, involve singing. Yes, we sing in class. One song is about algebraic equations, and about doing the opposite.
“When it says add, you subtract.
When it says subtract, you add.
When it says multishply, you divide, and
When it says divide you, multishply!”
(My teacher pronounces “multiply” “multishply” by the way.) Another one is about factor trees and prime factorizations.
“Oh factor tree, oh factor tree,
How you bring factors home to me.”
In our lessons, he also improvises, and teaches us the lessons in story. In one lesson, astronauts discovered the rare and valuable mineral, Hollisidium. In another, a brave princess fought off a dragon using a jelly donut. The stories vary. 
He also has nicknames for everything and everyone. When ever we mention problem #8, he adds on to it “8 skate and a donate!” With problem #76, it’s “76 trombones in the big parade!” My nickname is “Abby Gee!” But there are several others like “Sydney Australia,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Jacob Hanky,” “Little John,” “Niki of the Atal,” and “Danny Rizzzzzzzzzzzk.”
We also name our homework. It’s stuff like “Home Joy” and “Home Extraterrific.” But it’s also stuff that we joked about that day, like “Home Hollisidium” or “Home CSI*Name of My School.*” The bonus questions on quizzes are called “Extra Joy,” “Extra Happiness,” and “Word Happiness.”
Another fun thing worth mentioning in that class is the “Big Board.” It has the top ten students in the accelerated algebra class. It also has the two worst scorers. These people with bad grades are people like “Betty Don’t” and “Bill Bored.”(Say them out loud, you’ll catch on!)
So there you have it! Our math class. But what else can you expect coming from a teacher who has a paperweight that says “Math = Love” on his desk?
What’s your favorite class? Do you have any classes where you do something unusual?
Posted: April 23rd, 2008 under Personal, Random.
Comments: 5