My math teachers: the best and worst

 One teacher that I give a lot of credit for my interest in and appreciation of math was my teacher in grades 6 and 7. He was clearly very passionate about math and about students getting a solid understanding, and he was always challenging us to be creative in our math. One of his favourite activities was to write four digits on the board, and challenge us to create expressions with them that were equal to the numbers 1, 2, 3, ... as high as we could. Activities like this were very approachable for every student, but challenging for everyone as well. That philosophy informed all of his teaching: he was patient and clear with students who were struggling, but also gave challenging extensions for students who were ready for them.

My worst experience with a math instructor was in my Calculus 2 course in university. The professor emphasized difficult calculations over conceptual understanding - one assignment was simply a list of 24 very complicated integrals to solve. He also introduced more advanced concepts like the Laplace and Fourier transforms without giving much explanation or motivation for them, then tested us on them on the midterm. Since his lectures were not engaging and consisted of him reading off of slides, I absorbed very little and felt like I understood nothing in the course.