There is a particular joy that I experience when teaching,
which is a mixture of excitement about mathematics and
a curiosity about learning. I find satisfaction in helping
students gain a stronger hold on mathematical understanding
and assisting them in becoming better problem solvers.
My enthusiasm for teaching stems from an interest in discussing
ideas familiar to me with a group of students encountering
them for the first time. Each day in class, I appreciate
the fact that although I have thought about the ideas in
many ways, students will motivate me to think of them anew.
I am invigorated by the circular dynamic of examining familiar ground with the knowledge
that some new insight about mathematics and learning will
be unearthed by me or my students.
My family has a strong history of teaching;
- my paternal grandfather was a professor of history at SUNY Cortland,
- my maternal grandfather was a teacher of automobile mechanics,
- my father was a special education teacher, elementary school teacher, and an elementary school math specialist,
- my mother was a special education teaching assistant, and
- my sister is a high school Spanish and Media teacher.
For specifics, here is my teaching statement.
