July 13, 1995 Section 2
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Terry Caliste: Demystifying Mathematics |
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ATTITUDE GOES A long way on a tough road, and that's the axis on which Terry Caliste - Professor Caliste,
Television Personality Caliste - gets his spin. Take just about any high school kid. Math, traditionally, is not a favorite sibject. It's one to just get through, to sail the sea of C, to endure. Yet things change. With a smile as broad and inviting as your neighbor's, and enthusiasm without end, Terry Caliste lulls, sways, swings and sidesteps his students' attention into the world of math. Hard to believe, but this man makes it fun. As can be seen a couple of weekday evenings on Monmouth and Comcast Cable stations, a station in New Orleans and soon, one in upstate New York, mathematics can be just as welcoming as Saturday morning cartoons or a favorite soap. In its two years om the air, Mr. Caliste's half hour show, Knowledge Base, has gone from one man's hard-to- keep-financed good idea to the number one public access television show in the state of New Jersey. When Terry Caliste came to New Jersey for a summmer internship at Holmdel's Bell Labs, the New Orleans native decided that this was where he wanted to be. He attended Southern University in New Orleans day and night for three years to get a bachelor's degree in mathematics, and to be eligible for Bell Labs hiring rotation. He was later sent to Iowa State University for a masters in mathematics, and proceeded to work for Bell Labs and NYNEX for nine years. All along he was teaching on the side. "I had an opportunity to do something a lot of people don't get to do - pursue what I enjoy." When the time was right, he took a chance and a retirement package, and decided he'd find his way. With a small consultant business and a couple of teaching jobs at Monmouth University and Brookdale College, things started to fall into place. "During my first semester, the kids seemed really conditioned to think negatively about the math. They were intimidated by the work, and had no confidence to try." We had a national crisis in analytical and critical thinking skills said the teachers, the educational system and the country. An avenue, said Terry Caliste, to do what he loved best. "I tell my students that they all are going to get A's." We all have the ability, he says, and those with the most natural ability, are drawn to it. As humans, we go toward what comes naturally. The perception is that's all we can do. Change that perception, and so much more is possible. As a formerly reluctant math student himself, Mr. Caliste is all too familar with what he preaches. His first math test in college came back graded with a 56. The original thought that there must be more to ofe than managing a Burger King |
in New Orleans quickly fell away, and he thought he might get his old job back. Drop slip in hand, he went to see his math professor and guidance counselor. She flat out denied his request to drop the class. "We discussed and argued and fought it out," and she refused. She said he could do the work, and that his mistakes were small. Her student was so up-in-arms by the end of their meeting, that he swore he'd show her. "No one was going to tell me what to do," he said. And with that sense of
He later tutored the same course. Today, terry thanks his first math professor for holding him to what she thought he was capable of. "She helped me recognize that I had the ability, and gained my confidence." The television show came as an outgrowth of this idea. As a teacher, Mr. Caliste inspired his students to learn, one room at a time. But by reaching more people than the confines of the classroom permit, the energy spreads. "I try to help kids recognize thst they can do this work. I plant the seed, lightbulbs go on, and the growth of confidence is perpetuated." |
So with a cheerful coutenance, a casual presence and a few cliches, Terry Caliste opens thes windows in his students'
minds. Using a "recipe approach" to problem solving, he preaches: identify the math concept, write it down, apply it
to the case, and build on what is already known. The rest, he insists, is trivial. Work smart, he says, not hard. Pay attention to detail. Have a good attitude and enthusiasm for the task at hand. With high expectaions, you'll get more out of yourself. It's not physics, he says, it's paying attention to detail. If we study in measured doses, we can remember things better. And it makes it more fun. "What other thing in all of life is an exact science? Where else can you work something out to an answer, the one right answer, and have it prove itsel? Not in history, lituratire, science, or philosophy. It's indubitable truth. Where else can you get that?" DUring the thirty minutes of Knowledge Base, Mr. Caliste works through mathematical problems with the aid of a blackboard and a piece of chalk. He speaks to the camera as if it was a student, and explains in simple terms, how to work the problem through, pointing out mathematical concepts and proving them. His up-front and personal style makes fir a lively session, where x always equals something and the Pythagorean Theorem is a close friend; where answers are obvious And all the while, you're being entertained. Truly a one-man show, the credits after the program list Terry Caliste as all the essential elements: producer, editor, and talent with a few people to help him out, as well. "In the beginning, we just thre it out there and watched for hoe people reacted." The results speak for themselves. With hundreds of letters over the past two and a half years, scores of improved marks on the SATs, parents incredulous that their kids sit down to watch a guy do math on t.v., and the satisfaction that comes from helping people reach their goals, this is success, Caliste-style. As far as the future for this mathematical magician who actually teaches you his tricks, he'd like to expand his show to national television, get more kids involved on the actual show, and to create Knowledge Bowl, where teams of kids can compete against each other by solving and correcting math problems. So for all you kids who want to be in Terry Caliste's math class, tune in to the number one public access television show on CTN, Trenton broadcast Mondays at 4:30 p.m. "The whole feeling of seeing and doing," he says, "will perpetuate into life." By Heather Laslo |
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