My name is David. I am a mathematics education major at CUNY's City College of New York and have completed my student teaching and NYS certification examinations. I was fortunate enough to have graduated high school from a school of performing arts and then returned there to complete my student teaching. With the guidance of my professors and cooperating teachers, I became prepared to teach Albegra 1, Geometry, Algebra2/ Trigonometry, and Precalculus. I also worked alongside teachers and the assistant principal of mathematics to help prepare students for their Regents examination.
When I began student teaching, I noticed that the students who had issues with math were those that were either frustrated by the snowball effect of one misunderstood topic or frustrated by the unexplored application of the topic. During tutoring, I sat down with the students that were having difficulties and I guided them through the origins, the reasoning, and the proofs of the lesson.
Many times students are asked to memorize and apply formulas, and this is not only difficult but prompting for kids to ask "when will I use this in life?" And the truth is that they will never be asked to recite a memorized formula. The purpose of math is to engage in logical thinking. Throughout student teaching and tutoring I have always placed emphasis on the theory behind a formula (if you know the theory, there is no wording on an exam that can disguise or complicate a question), and it is very pleasing to hear when a student comes back from a Regents exam saying that he/ she forgot the formula but was able to recreate it on their own in the middle of the exam.
My goal is not to teach a particular branch of mathematics in this way procuring no more than a temporary solution; my goal is to guide students through the process of learning, to show them their capacity, and to highlight that mistakes are not just okay, they are perfect.
I look forward to our joint collaboration.
-David
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