I have met a couple, I pefer not to say who. They are no longer active ... it is complicated. Tips... I had a professor that gave some advise, I will paraphrase. To do math, you have to start by doing it. This may not seem helpful, but when confronted with a difficult problem the worst thing you can do is give up on it. Just have to try something new, even when you have exhausted all other ideas. Tips for teaching, patience. Get in the mindset of your student, to understand where they are at. Fairly abstract advise but it is always different for each situation... I am fine today. Messed up sleep schedule, so a bit tired.
I find this very hard. This isn't just a joke, I actually have struggled with this and sometimes continue to struggle with it in university. I am decent at Maths, I can usually find proofs to at least 50% of problems if I just keep at it. But I find it so hard to try. I feel like I have some kind of performance anxiety concerning Mathematics. I'm afraid I might not find a proof or solution to the problem, and thus I don't dare trying to, as if I don't try, I cannot fail. The earlier I give up, the less time is wasted failing, it feels like. But this is not true, as trying to find a proof is what you learn from, even if you don't find it.
Interestingly, this advise was given in "Advanced Calculus" class in my undergrad. For those that don't know, it is also called Real Analysis; it is where you work on proving the subject of Calculus. Admittedly, that was the hardest undergraduate class I took - the solutions were not simple plug-and-chug problems. All very abstract and hard. The reality of math is, if it is not hard, then you are not doing difficult enough math. I have spent hours on single problems before (a lot of times actually). The benefit in education there, is not in the solution; but the benefit is the experience gained from struggling and learning new tools and problem solving methods.
