Math has a reputation for separating the "smart kids" from everyone else. I don't believe that — and sixteen years of teaching have only deepened that conviction. Every student I've worked with has been capable of learning math. They just needed someone to find exactly where they got lost and build a path back.
I hold an A.B. from Harvard College and an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, focused on human development and learning. I taught Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, and...
Math has a reputation for separating the "smart kids" from everyone else. I don't believe that — and sixteen years of teaching have only deepened that conviction. Every student I've worked with has been capable of learning math. They just needed someone to find exactly where they got lost and build a path back.
I hold an A.B. from Harvard College and an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, focused on human development and learning. I taught Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, and Algebra 2 at two private high schools, designing curriculum from the ground up. I was recognized as Best Teacher of the Year at both schools.
My approach draws on Carol Dweck's growth mindset — "I can't do this" almost always means "I can't do this yet" — and Vygotsky's zone of proximal development: the best learning happens just at the edge of what a student can already do. I work in that zone on purpose.
Math is about persistence, frustration tolerance, and the willingness to be wrong on the way to being right. Failure is an event, not an identity. When students learn math, they learn they are more capable than they thought.
I also teach Creative Writing — drawing on Iowa Writers' Workshop materials — and ESL/ESOL. I am fully bilingual in English and Spanish and have maintained an independent tutoring practice for sixteen years.
