I had a trig/pre-calc teacher in high school who I really respected. He had a catchphrase in his classes, especially in the earlier math classes. "In my class, there are only two kinds of people: those who love math, and those who are going to learn to love math." I only had the one class with him, but he left a huge impression on my life. He was convinced that computers were going to become essential to education, so he spent his department's entire budget for a year on two spankin' new Apple ][+ computers. Just set them on carts in his classroom and didn't touch them. He knew he didn't need to. Eventually, a handful of us approached him to ask if he could teach us to use them. "No," he responded. "I don't know anything about them myself... but they came with a tutorial, so maybe you could teach yourself how to write programs, and then maybe help me out."
That changed the course of my life. I was planning to be a lawyer, catering to artists and performers. My time spent learning to write programs led to my taking a number of computer science classes in my undergrad, for the easy grades they represented, which then led to majoring in CS, and, eventually, opting for a career in software development.
All of which is just to say that, if someone feels that they cannot "do" math, maybe they missed out on the right math teachers; those who understand kids and know how to motivate them and who have their own love for the subject matter and are able to infect others with it. If their math teacher(s) couldn't be bothered to make personal connections with their students, nor find any way at all to make math relevant to their lives, it shouldn't come as a surprise if they wind up being uninterested in "doing" math.
What a wonderful person. I sometimes take the time to contact teachers that have made an impact in my professional/personal life and thank them for setting me on the right course. It's a really simple gesture but they are always thrilled to hear they've made a difference.
That changed the course of my life. I was planning to be a lawyer, catering to artists and performers. My time spent learning to write programs led to my taking a number of computer science classes in my undergrad, for the easy grades they represented, which then led to majoring in CS, and, eventually, opting for a career in software development.
All of which is just to say that, if someone feels that they cannot "do" math, maybe they missed out on the right math teachers; those who understand kids and know how to motivate them and who have their own love for the subject matter and are able to infect others with it. If their math teacher(s) couldn't be bothered to make personal connections with their students, nor find any way at all to make math relevant to their lives, it shouldn't come as a surprise if they wind up being uninterested in "doing" math.