A Negative that is a Positive

Did you ever have a teacher that finally made things *click* for you when trying to learn something that was just beyond your grasp? A teacher that went out of their way to help, to let you be creative, to let your inner-nerd escape? To let you perform experiments and build machines during recess while everyone else is outside playing on the monkey bars?

I did.

I first met Mrs. Street when I was sitting outside My 2nd grade teacher's door, tasked to complete the math homework I didn't finish the night before. I didn't understand the negative numbers that were new to me at the time, and was too embarassed to ask help with.

She walked by me and asked why I was sitting outside the door. Thinking that I was about to be in more trouble for being outside the classroom decided to be honest about things. I told her that I did not understand my math assignment.

"Oh, that's the easiest part of numbers! They just start going backwards when you go behind the zero!"

"Behind the zero?" I asked.

"Yes, let me show you what I mean, I show this to all my 3rd graders!" she replied rather enthusiastically.

Enter the Number Line. Mrs. Street showed me a single line starting from zero and going up to the number 5, each number having their own dot along the line.

Ok, got it.

Then she warped my mind by putting a -1 to the left of the zero with it's own dot on the line. And then a -2, then a -3....it was madness. It might have been SPARTA!

After she let me figure out the rest of my homework...by myself...she let me go back into the classroom and annouce to my teacher that I would never have a problem with my negative numbers again. And I didn't.

Skip ahead a few years...

Even long after I had passed her class, I kept returning to give model rocket demonstrations for the kids in her class. She had such an impact on my life as a student that I would continue to visit her, even when I was home on leave from the military. I only wish that I was a slightly better student after her class.

Although, I hope she knew that with her help so early in my learning development, I was able to breeze through all my schooling in the Navy and become the head of my class for maintaining and operating the most advanced radar on US Navy Aegis Cruisers and Destroyers. Through this radar we are able to Track and, if needed, detroy ballistic missiles aimed to destroy people or cities traveling well over 5 times the speed to sound. It's like hitting a bullet...with another bullet....in space. How's that for someone that loved to build model rockets growing up?

Thank you Mrs. Jackie Street, I will remember you always for what you taught me and will pass those things to my own daughter.

By the Way, Mrs. Street, my radar's sensitivity is measured in negative numbers.