Were you a maths lover or hater when you went to school? If you hated the subject, Eddie Woo might have changed your mind with his talent for showing students all there is to love about maths.
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Mr Woo is the head of maths at Cherrybrook Technology High School and he visited Kooringal High to show students the fun side of maths.
Bouncing between the podium and the screen while he excitedly explained the theory behind maths problems, Mr Woo radiated charisma and enthusiasm.
As someone who didn’t love maths as a kid Mr Woo said while maths has a bad rap, it is understandable why.
“A lot of people hate it for the reason it was difficult to learn when they were at school,” he said.
“I don’t want to minimise that but if people learn that mathematics is actually a very playful subject, that there is a story underneath it, I think many people could learn to embrace mathematics.”
The maths teacher rose to fame when he began to film and upload his lessons to share with a student who was too ill to attend class.
From there his classes took off on YouTube and his 120 videos have been viewed almost 13 million times.
Just week, the government named Mr Woo the NSW Leader of Innovation for Maths Teaching, also dubbed as the “Super Teacher”.
While Mr Woo is keen to teach students all over NSW by visiting schools and running workshops, he finds the title of “super” a bit much.
“I am excited for this so I can learn from all the amazing communities I get to visit, and also so I can share my enthusiasm for this subject,” he said.
“I, however, prefer to just be called a mathematics teacher.”
Amali Harper, a year 12 student at Kooringal High, said Mr Woo gave her a new perspective on maths.
“Especially geometry, I used to hate that, he broke it down a lot and made me think about it differently,” she said.
To students who think of maths simply as numbers, Mr Woo said it’s not about your ability to put huge numbers in your head and do calculations.
“The real skill of a mathematician is to change perspective on something,” he said.
“Looking at something from another angle and understanding the underlying patterns that are going on.”