There’s No Such Thing as Math People

Mathematical Ability Is Not Fixed, We're Just Teaching It Wrong

The first time my girlfriend and I fought, it was over, of all things, math. It was one of those past-midnight, early-relationship nights, when instead of sleeping, you talk about the big, impossible questions: truth and justice and so on. I told her that rather than God, I believe in infinity.

She laughed.

In high school, I was like most students; algebra and proofs and numbers left me uninspired. But when I wound up a math teacher—and, later, a coach for other teachers—I had to think more deeply about math. I …