What's funny is I was that guy (not literally the same guy, but did similar things) as GP describes who could type in a program implementing the math lesson in the time it took the teacher to describe it.
And. I. Struggled. So. Much. with math classes.
Could never get homework done because I couldn't focus due to undiagnosed (and thus unmedicated) ADHD. On tests it'd take me the whole hour to do three problems out of twenty because I had to re-derive every equation and lemma from first principles before I convinced myself I was doing it right. And then (probably again due to the undiagnosed ADHD) I'd transpose symbols while working the problem or make other working-memory errors.
The best math class experience I had (later in life) was with a professor at a community college who was a military veteran (mentioned because it influenced his attitude toward teaching). He said, "I'm going to spend hardly any time explaining things; we're just going to work the problems." And that's what we did; we just worked problems.
You'd think I'd be bored with that, but it was the opposite. As I think about it now to try to explain why, I realize that other math classes I'd been in the expectation was lecture was for explaining the concepts, homework was for self-directed working the problems, and tests were for demonstrating that. But if you're bright and have ADHD you're quickly bored with the explanation and completely UNable to self-direct working the problems. So the class time was wasted and homework sessions were hell. So this professor using class time to work the problems was just what I needed.
I struggled a lot in math too. Got a D in calculus, nearly dropped out of high school. I'd absorbed my dad's excuse, "I'm bad at math." What a crock of shit. Turns out, I was bad at doing work in absence of motivation. But my parents didn't believe in ADHD, so I couldn't have that.
Went back to community college after some time as a web dev, and had a teacher with a booming voice and a gentle attitude, who explained that we were going to be doing a lot of homework. Like your instructor, he'd spend class time working problems, and then I'd go home and do an hour or two of homework every night while it was still fresh. That kicked off a trajectory that resulted in a PhD and a very fulfilling job as a mathematician.
I was on my high school's math team. For three years I was in a special class where all we did was look at math problems selected from competitions and solve them. On the one hand, it was great and fun. On the other hand, trig problems were in short supply, and I came out with a less than excellent grasp of trig, especially identities.
And. I. Struggled. So. Much. with math classes.
Could never get homework done because I couldn't focus due to undiagnosed (and thus unmedicated) ADHD. On tests it'd take me the whole hour to do three problems out of twenty because I had to re-derive every equation and lemma from first principles before I convinced myself I was doing it right. And then (probably again due to the undiagnosed ADHD) I'd transpose symbols while working the problem or make other working-memory errors.
The best math class experience I had (later in life) was with a professor at a community college who was a military veteran (mentioned because it influenced his attitude toward teaching). He said, "I'm going to spend hardly any time explaining things; we're just going to work the problems." And that's what we did; we just worked problems.
You'd think I'd be bored with that, but it was the opposite. As I think about it now to try to explain why, I realize that other math classes I'd been in the expectation was lecture was for explaining the concepts, homework was for self-directed working the problems, and tests were for demonstrating that. But if you're bright and have ADHD you're quickly bored with the explanation and completely UNable to self-direct working the problems. So the class time was wasted and homework sessions were hell. So this professor using class time to work the problems was just what I needed.