Leevit

Mr. Cotton was my math teacher last semester. I can't remember how much I talked about him last semester (probably not much specifically but I do remember saying I magically started liking math...he was the cause of this) but he deserves an entire blog post dedicated to just him.
Mr. Cotton was my first math teacher. Yes. EVER. I somehow skimped by in high school being the odd man out having placed in math between the two classes offered so I was usually shoved back in the corner and just did my own thing and tried to learn what I could by myself. Someone would usually "check" on me 10 minutes before the bell rang to make sure I "understood" everything and usually if I didn't, it was tough luck for me since there were only 10 minutes left to have anything explained. *cue sad violin music here* Fast forward several years and enter Mr. Cotton.
One of the first things I remember Mr. Cotton doing after introducing himself, giving his background and then scolding several girls in the class for smiling because "there's nothing funny about math!" (thankfully we figured out he was completely joking and would continue to be completely joking the entire semester), was draw a picture of himself on the chalk board with a big smiley face and two round ears. He then drew an arrow pointing to each ear. By one he wrote "OK" and by the other he wrote "SUCKS." He then explained that he was mostly deaf in one ear and would need us to wave our arms dramatically or do whatever we could to get his attention if we had a question or comment in class. That's when I realized I liked Mr. Cotton and this was going to be a good class. Mr. Cotton challenged me, put me on the spot, got me out of my box, and got me to realize I DO enjoy math. And I'm good at it too. Mostly. ;) Math suddenly became my favorite class and no other class had me laughing in class and just over-all enjoying everything about it. Even the tests weren't bad. It was just one of those classes where everyone in it, even if they were struggling with their work, really enjoyed being there and had good attitudes. I HEART good attitudes especially when the work IS hard.
One of my favorite memories is Mr. Cotton sternly turning to me after I helped my friend Kathy with a problem and asking "And what did you say to her to get her to understand the problem that I didn't say?" To which I responded with an "Uhhh...nothing?" He then asked if I had thought of being a tutor. I said no and he said "WHY NOT??" He then proceeded to drop the hint the rest of the semester. By the end, I signed up to be a tutor, got the highest average in the class (ME!! MEEEEE!!!!), and made Mr. Cotton a mug in ceramics class that turned out to be my VERY BEST mug ever made and I had a very hard time giving it up but his reaction to it made it well worth the sacrifice. On the mug were the letters "LEEVIT." It's one of Mr. Cotton's many little quirky math terms. A few others that come to mind: when trying to reinforce a concept, he would start it with "My dear aunt Sally..."...for example:
"My dear aunt Sally always says to distribute first before anything else..."
"My dear aunt Sally HATES it when you start solving the problem before it's fraction-free!"
"Don't you know my dear aunt Sally would be horrified if she saw those left over exponents!!!"
You get the picture.
When I told my brother about Mr. Cotton, he immediately sent me this comic without having any idea of what Mr. Cotton looked like. This comic hits him, right on the head...I would not be surprised at all if he could juggle.

Photo: Jorge Cham found via PHD Comics