Teacher Gets Email From Ex-Student—Not Prepared for What He Thanked Him For

A teacher has received a heartwarming email from a former student, thanking him for his lessons for an unusual reason—because it helped him with his favorite video game. The high school math teacher from the Midwest, who wished to remain anonymous, shared the email he received. It read: "I just wanted to thank you for teaching me geometry last year. I play Clash Royale, and what I learned in your class helped me beat a top 10k player. All my clanmates wish they had you to teach them the geometry ways." As a math teacher at a medium-sized school district, the man explained that he has creatively integrated the mobile strategy game Clash Royale into his geometry class, leveraging students' interests to make learning more engaging.

"I think my geometry class may help with Clash Royale some," he told Newsweek. "One day, I discussed the game briefly with my class after a few students discovered I played it too." Clash Royale is a real-time strategy mobile game, developed and published by Supercell. It combines elements from collectible card games, and multiplayer online battle arena games. The objective is to destroy more towers than your opponent during a match. Finding a new way to engage students in math is important, too. According to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, in 2021, 4th graders' math skills in the U.S. lagged behind the education systems in 14 other countries including Singapore, China, the U.K. and the Netherlands. Despite not directly incorporating geometry as a core gameplay mechanic, some of the aspects in the game involve geometric shapes and concepts. Players often use the term "geometry" to describe the strategic placement of a card called the "Magic Archer" in the game. A player himself, the math teacher recognized an educational opportunity. "I showed them some tips and had them calculate angles, side lengths, and area of the triangles formed by the arena tiles and the Magic Archer's arrow," he said. The teacher was thrilled that the lesson had resonated with the student. "I thought it was funny and sweet of my former student to send me the email. He was a great student to have, and I was happy to hear that my mini lesson was as useful in the game as it was in class," said the teacher, who admitted that he had forgotten about the lesson until he received the email, which made the appreciation even more meaningful. After the email, he shared the interaction with Reddit's r/ClashRoyale community where it has delighted other players. "This is very wholesome," said one commenter.