THINKING PINOY
RJ Nieto
Are you a high school or freshman college student who’s forced to learn on your own? Or maybe a parent of one and you don’t know how to help your child?
If the answer is yes, then please read on.
We’re in the middle of a pandemic and face-to-face classes are limited at best. This is a problem for many parents for a variety of reasons. You already know that, so I won’t expound on that anymore.
You’re not alone. Many of my 1.7 million social media followers are in a similar situation. And because I am a bleeding heart, I have decided to spare time to teach the subject that most parents hate to teach the most: high school mathematics.
Just a few days ago, I launched my page Teaching Pinoy (facebook.com/TeachingPinoy), where I will teach Algebra regularly (and systematically) to the general public. Whether you’re a high school student who’s struggling with maths, a college freshman who needs a little guidance, or a parent who’s at his wit’s end, I think I can help.
And best of all, I’ll be teaching it for free.
I don’t know how to cure COVID-19, but I am really good at Math, so I’ll do Math tutorials. That’s all I can do for this country right now.
You see, I’ve always dreamt of becoming a theoretical mathematician, that’s why I majored in Mathematics in UP Diliman two decades ago. I aced pretty much all of my Math subjects up to Numerical Analysis and I was well on my way to fulfilling that dream. Unfortunately, my dad died when I was just 17 and the ensuing emotional and financial difficulties led me to leave the program.
I’m already 36, and I’m too old to fulfill that dream of mine. I have disabused myself of any notion of grandeur long ago: I have made peace with that bitter reality.
However, I hope that my earnest attempt at helping high school students appreciate Math can inspire them to do the things that I failed to do, to eventually be who I failed to become.
I want to help them become mathematicians, scientists, or engineers, especially since these are what the country needs the most not only as we fight today’s pandemic, but also for the challenges to come. Heck, I cannot imagine anyone thriving in a Knowledge Economy without decent math skills.
You probably know me as a political blogger. But don’t worry because Teaching Pinoy is G-rated, so there’ll be no talk of anything except Mathematics. Needless to say, there’ll be no politics in Teaching Pinoy. I just want to help everybody, regardless of political color.
So how do we do it? The system is quite simple.
First, I’ll conduct one-hour Facebook Live lectures every morning, where I’ll discuss in plain Taglish core Algebra concepts plus examples to make learning Algebra easier.
Second, I’ll be conducting a one-hour Facebook Live consultation in the afternoon to supplement the morning lecture.
All my livestreams are recorded and properly organized so those who joined late can view past videos and even catch up to the current topic. That way, there’s a permanent recording of all my live sessions so followers can just go back to whichever topic they need to learn or relearn.
I am currently focused on teaching college Algebra in a high school-friendly way. After all, college Algebra is where high school students are all going to end up. If anything, this will be similar to Khan Academy, but in Taglish to make math easier to understand.
There’s a syllabus (course outline) that starts from prerequisites (real numbers and exponents) and ends with sequences, probability, and counting theory. That way, I’ll be able to help all grade levels and maybe even college freshmen.
If the pace goes according to plan, I’ll be able to finish all the lecture-videos in a month. Afterward, I’ll give tutorials on trigonometry and other more advanced Math subjects like Calculus and Statistics.
Just like Thinking Pinoy, I’ll do Teaching Pinoy for as long as I can, as best as I can.
The first lesson starts on Monday, June 14, 2021, at 11 a.m.
See you at Facebook.com/TeachingPinoy
For questions/suggestions/reactions, please email [email protected]