Hello.

My Story

I recently retired from teaching high school mathematics in Vermont, so my husband and I decided to move back to the Portland metropolitan area to be closer to our San Francisco daughters, reconnect with friends and relatives around Portland, and enjoy all that the beautiful Pacific NW has to offer without the time constraints of teaching full-time. Not surprisingly, when retired living did not prove itself to be my cup of tea, I immediately thought of tutoring math students.

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I have always been very passionate about teaching math. Although there are many ways that teaching is exciting, one of the most meaningful aspects has been working with students outside of the regular classroom. Without peer pressure, coupled with my encouragement, students seem freer to share both their vulnerabilities and their creative ways of solving problems. Here are the stories of a couple of my students at Montpelier High School (VT), for whom sessions outside of the regular classroom made a huge difference in their confidence and success in learning math.

"Arthur," who had been failing Geometry class, was quite angry when I assigned him to one of my small-group math support classes during two of his free periods each week. However, after a very short period of time, he became tickled that these personalized lessons were turning him around in Geometry class. As his confidence surged, his attitude toward coming to math support classes shifted entirely; and, rather than failing Geometry, he earned a B that year. Most surprising to me, however, was how "Arthur," initially so upset about needing to attend math support classes, became an advocate for our math support program, even encouraging some of his buddies to sign up voluntarily! 

Another student, "Amanda," had been struggling in my algebra class, disrupting lessons daily due to her frustration. So I asked her if she would be willing to meet with me after school a couple times for a little extra help. I think I even offered a snack as a bribe the first time. My approach was to pre-teach her upcoming concepts, which included learning new vocabulary and practicing solving problems. The turnaround was immediate. "Amanda" began raising her hand in class, answering questions similar to those we had practiced. "Amanda" asked if she could continue meeting with me after school, so we kept doing these pre-teaching sessions for a few more weeks until she realized that she was capable of learning with only occasional extra help. Rather than spending class time distracting others, she became increasingly engaged in learning as her confidence grew.  

One-on-one or small group experiences like these have been great ways to get to know my students and personalize instruction to their needs in a safe setting. When I help students truly understand the underlying concepts in math, often by connecting concepts to visuals or real-world applications, rather than just memorizing rules, they usually become much more confident and capable.

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