Teachers are, really, the unsung heroes, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of them are sacrificing their precious time by conducting online classes for their students so they would not be left behind in their studies.
While teachers are slowly beginning to realise the importance of online lessons, one teacher has been doing it for years.
In fact, Fathi Hussein, a young Add Maths teacher from Cheras, is pretty famous on social media for breaking down calculations easily in his online classes.
This Teacher’s Day, Rojak Daily caught up with the teacher to quiz him on his teaching method that seem to have many students fixated.
A different approach
Gone were the days students had to endure the Add Maths subject, and burn the midnight oil just to try to understand difficult mathematical equations.Fathi, better known as Cikgu Fathi to his students, is proving that Add Maths shouldn’t be problematic to master or tough to solve, all through his online teaching methods.
In fact, the teacher, who has a Diploma in Accountancy from Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS), has been teaching Add Maths and posting videos of his teaching methods on his Instagram for three years now.
If you browse through his social media, you’d realise that he’s not your regular, stern-looking Add Maths teacher who dresses as sombre as your mood when you hear the words 'quadratic equations'.
Fathi often makes appearance in his videos wearing colourful Batik shirts and with his signature fast-talking teaching method, it provides a difference to his students.
He tries to explain math problems in the simplest way possible, and because of that, many of them have taken a liking to the subject.
From Accounting to Add Maths
Many of you may have wondered how the teacher’s accounting background led him to a very different field now.“After graduating, I worked as an accountant in Subang Jaya. At the same time, I also had a part time job, which is tutoring students in tuition classes.
“At that time, I realised that my heart and soul is not in Accounting. I was happier when I was teaching. So, I stopped working as an accountant and became a full time teacher at a school. Now I teach at tuition centres called @MathsClinic for offline lessons and @MathsClinicPlus for online lessons.
But why Add Maths of all subjects, you may ask.
"I know people think it’s a difficult subject, but I like it and find it exciting. I try my best to simplify it for my students,” he shared.
Surprisingly, while Fathi loved the math subjects, he wasn’t particularly good at them.
“Yes, I struggled in the subjects. I simply could not score well. However, I didn’t give up trying to learn the subjects. Eventually, I got better marks,” he said.
Motivated by his passion
Fathi’s passion for teaching is unstoppable. In fact, even an unfortunate accident didn’t stop him from giving his best to his students.He shared how last year he was knocked down by a car while he was riding his motorcycle.
“I ended up in a drain and was warded for six days. During that time, my students were about to face exam trials and they need me the most.
“So, the week after that, I started teaching back, despite not having healed completely. I had simeone to drive me to my classes. With a broken leg, I had to sit down when I teach but I believe this will be a motivation to my students.
“Alhamdulilah, they did well despite being challenged with difficult questions,” he said.
Teaching during the Movement Control Order (MCO)
Recently, Fathi had to face a new challenge - the COVID-19 pandemic and the MCO.He knew he had to make some changes to his teaching methods - and he needed to make them fast.
“Beginning 25 March this year, we went fully online because we wanted to teach students that the quarantine is for the ‘body and not for the mind’.
“I introduced the ‘White Board Terbang’ concept where I teach from different places like from beside a river, a mosque and so on so forth to capture student’s attention,” he shared.
Despite his efforts, he admitted that the fully online teaches has its own set of challenges.
“We use the Zoom webinar to teach. You can’t see your students in front of you, so you don’t know what’s their reaction would be.
“There was a session where 7,000 students from all over the country joined and we communicated through the chat function only during the class. They type in the question and I answer them via the video.”
However, he said the best thing that came out of this full online teaching sessions is the fact that classes can be conducted from anywhere as long as there is a yearning to learn.
Hate Add Maths? Here’s Fathi’s advice
To those who hate Add Maths and think that it is no use for them especially when they started working, Fathi has a word of advice.
“Add Maths will help you greatly if its related to the field or career that you pursue.
“It will also help you greatly if you are not in the related field. How? It keeps your mind sharp and helps you to solve other problems at work. If yout mind is alert, you are already heading towards success,” he said.
Let’s keep Fathi’s encouraging words in mind. Follow his Instagram page @fathihussein to learn Add Maths the easy way.
Happy Teacher’s Day!