Put all your heart on the podium

Ms. Phan Thi Le transferred to my math class in the middle of the 11th grade year, replacing the math teacher who was on maternity leave. Before that, some other teachers were assigned to teach the class but only for a short time.

"Saving" many students

Ms. Le transferred from a district school to teach at Lam Son Specialized School ( Thanh Hoa ). My class is a French specialized class and math is one of the three important subjects for students in block D, besides literature. For me and some students in the class taking the A block exam, math is an especially important subject.

Ms. Le is tall, has short hair, and a clear, enthusiastic voice. She sings very well, like a singer on the radio. Once, my class heard her sing and everyone was amazed.

It is no exaggeration to say that when she came to my class, she "saved" many students, especially lazy boys and some weak girls who lacked basic math skills. She revived my class's learning in a comprehensive and thorough way. She dispelled the fear of math and breathed life into that dry subject with effective methods.

I could see the passion in every hour she taught. While other classes were leaving and passing by my classroom, she stayed behind to finish her lesson. Usually, the students would be impatient and bustling to leave with their classmates. But no, 40 pairs of eyes were still following every word, every mathematical formula she taught, and every solid and dashed line of the complex spatial geometry lesson.

Pedagogical knowledge is not difficult, especially for teachers with many years of experience in the profession. However, not everyone can convey and inspire the passion and desire to learn to students.

I have studied with many good math teachers in the province. They are very famous, have many students who have won international gold medals and have studied for many years at university. However, Ms. Le's enthusiasm in front of the class still made a big impression.

I was the best student in math in the class, so I was chosen by the teacher to compete in the provincial competition. The French specialized class and the math specialized class were on two different levels, with a big difference. Therefore, being chosen to compete in the provincial competition was just for the experience, I didn't put too much emphasis on the achievement. I mainly practiced for the university entrance exam, that was the important goal.

But Ms. Le was different. She said, "If you don't do it, then don't do it. If you do it, you have to do it well." Every afternoon for nearly a month, I went to her house to study. She and I diligently reviewed the exam questions, all kinds of difficult questions. She found the provincial math exams from previous years and taught them to me. The night before the exam, she and I even practiced one last question.

That year the exam was quite difficult, with a total of 20 points for 3 pages. I only failed at the last math problem. As a result, my exam got 16.5/20 - second prize. She was the one who knew the exam result and informed me by phone. At that time, I had the feeling that she was happier than me.

Thanks to that, for the first time, I was talked to by the class beauty. The story was that at noon, I had my results, and in the afternoon, I was late for class and coincidentally met her at the classroom door. "Son got second prize, you're so good" - being complimented by a beautiful friend made me both proud and shy.

Cuộc thi người thầy kính yêu: Dốc hết tâm huyết trên bục giảng- Ảnh 1. — Author and teacher Phan Thi Le on the last day of school in high school

Close relationship between teacher and student

I took the entrance exam to the Polytechnic University. That year, the math was not difficult, but only the first few problems were easy. The integration problem was not difficult, but the answer to the calculation was an odd fraction, which confused many people, not knowing whether it was right or wrong.

I remember the trigonometric inequality-type proof and the combinatorial permutation problem were quite difficult. I did the trigonometric problem in a "buffalo-cow-butting" way, meaning I set the variables and put the left side back to the same variable. Then, I proved that the equation had no solution under the given conditions. As for the permutation problem, because I couldn't think of it yet, I left a space so that I could come back to it after I finished the other problems. If I just rush into a difficult problem, I will miss the other problems. When doing math or any subject, to get a high score, I think you have to have a reasonable strategy, gradually peeling off each part, from easy to difficult - unless you reach the "superstar" level, where everything is easy.

When there was not much time left, I remembered the combination formula and finished the problem to fit on the remaining page. I got 10 points in math. I thought that 10 points was the best result I could give to Ms. Le. I told her the news, not forgetting to also give her 10 points in chemistry and 9.5 points in physics.

I went to Hanoi to study at university. On November 20th that year, I did not forget to call home to wish my teacher a happy new year. On Tet holiday, the whole class invited each other to wish our teachers a happy new year. We went to the homeroom teacher's house who taught French, to the literature teacher's house... Very naturally, like children returning home from afar, we went to Ms. Le's house. Everyone tried to sit close to her to talk, to be asked about her. Vinh, Linh, Hieu, Tuan..., all of them loved her.

Yesterday, we held a reunion to celebrate our 20th graduation anniversary. In the afternoon, we returned to our old school to meet, take pictures and meet Ms. Le again.

It had been a long time since we last met, but our relationship was still as close as when I used to come to her house to study for exams. She held my hand and asked me how I was doing. At that moment, I felt the relationship between teacher and student was sacred and precious. Seeing her, so many emotions welled up inside me. I know that for teachers, meeting their students again and hearing them talk about their growth is also a great joy. My beautiful teacher is still the same, her enthusiasm radiates in every word. She is still so gentle and loving…

Enthusiastic, sincere

During the time that Ms. Le's hair was done, more and more strands of gray appeared on her hair, and her smile had crow's feet. Many of her students now have children of their own, but those years are forever imprinted in my memory. In that memory, Ms. Le, to me and many classmates of the French class of 2001-2004, will always be the most enthusiastic, sincere, precious and beautiful teacher.

PARTNER UNIT