Nidhi Sudheendra

Jatinder Singh enthusiastically teaches AP Calculus BC.

Everybody needs to have a teacher like Jatinder Singh at least once in their lifetime.
These are the words of senior Hao Ouyang, a former AP Calculus BC student of Singh’s.Ouyang is not the only Cal High student who believes this.
Singh, who teaches Honors Precalculus and AP Calculus BC, is known for his unique teaching methods that are derived from his background in engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, which is ranked among India’s top five universities.
This style coupled with his background spending 25 years in the corporate sector distinguishes Singh from other math teachers.
“Rather than teaching [students] the mechanics of doing things, I focus more on how they can apply these things to real life situations,” Singh said.
For this reason, Ouyang was shocked when he took his first quiz which was harder than he originally anticipated.
“When I walked in there, it made me a different person. I thought you could just read the textbook and not do anything else. Then when you actually take the test, it’s like a slap in the face, like a big reality check,” Ouyang said.
Through this quiz, he began to understand what Singh meant when he said math was a tool.
“One day in class, Mr. Singh started talking about quantum mechanics. And ultimately, he was saying that everything was not real and our grades are not real. That was a philosophical lesson that I did not expect from a math class,” past AP Calculus BC student, senior Yutong Zhen said.
While students agreed that Singh’s math class is not as simple as it seemed, what surprised them even more is that he loves packing his class with life lessons.
“My class is not only about teaching math or physics, but also about giving a larger perspective to the students, and also what you need to be successful in life,” Singh said.
Last year, Singh invited his friend, marathon runner Sunil Chainani, as a guest speaker to the class in hopes of promoting a better life mindset within his students.
“I was very impressed by his [Chainani] net worth, ” past AP Calculus BC student and Singh’s current teacher assistant, senior Gabriel Liu-Zhou said.
Zhen also said she was surprised to discover that Chainani is on the board of a few companies and to learn about the inspirational approaches to life behind his success.
“I was able to get both math development and personal development in the class,” Zhen said.
Although Singh’s flexible teaching style wasn’t her favorite and she preferred more structured lessons, she enjoyed solving his “super hard” math problems and she felt proud of her growth.
Making a math class relatable to students can be tough, however students said that Singh possesses a lot of talents which a lot of students can connect and relate to.
“He does art. He showed us his drawings, like at the beginning of the school year. This definitely shocked me. I can conclude that this man is very talented and smart,” Zhen said.
Zhen felt more connected to him since she does art, as she plans on going into industrial design in college.
Students concluded that Singh’s class shows us that people don’t only improve in their math skills, they go far beyond that and improve themselves in the process.
Ouyang said that Mr. Singh also helped him with the contents of AP Physics C: Mechanics.
“I’m basically a physics person, and math was invented to understand the real life situation where physics was invented. Math and physics are intertwined. In my engineering days, we have done a number of physics problems, including quantum physics,” Singh said.
This skill set allowed Singh to help students who were struggling in physics, as Cal didn´t have an AP Physics class last year, which made many students take it online.
His teaching methods also reflect on the class environment, which has had a positive impact on the students.
“There was a really good atmosphere. I feel like most people really liked that. Like, it kind of inspired me and motivated me in some way, something I was never expecting from a math class. There are so many people who are genuinely really into math, ” Zhen said.
Current and past students share different techniques that helped make their calculus journey a successful one.
Zhen said that forming study groups and bonding with the students in the class is useful.
“You get a lot from studying with other people,” Zhen continued.
Liu-Zhou said that students should know what they are getting themselves into before they decide to take Singh’s class.
“It was a pretty big time commitment, so students should be prepared to spend at least two hours on the homework every night,” Liu-Zhou said.
Ouyang agrees with Liu-Zhou, that the content is a lot of work.
“They [students] should not just walk in there, thinking they know how to do everything, because, well, they are about to be disappointed, so be a diligent student and practice as many hard problems as you can,” Ouyang said.
Singh’s past students said that students should be accountable for their own learning process and not procrastinate in his class.
“Don’t be that person that doesn’t study for the test and just gets answers from their teammates because that’s annoying,” senior Aaron Hsi, a past AP Calculus BC student, said.
Past honors precalculus and current AP Calculus BC student, senior Xinrong Zhu also said that if students don’t understand Singh’s lectures, it is their job to go get help from him and have him explain it till they understand the concept.
Singh’s students feel that his class is designed to help avid math lovers achieve in all aspects in their life, and help them build a better relationship with a very abstract subject.
“I learned the most out of that class than any of my classes in my junior year,” Hsi concluded.