Hello! Welcome to my little corner of the internet!

I’m currently getting my master’s degree in mathematics education at the University of Virginia (UVA), and I’d love to teach at a middle school in a diverse community following graduation. I also got my undergraduate degree from UVA in 2020 in Systems Engineering and Statistics, where I also served as drum major of the marching band for two years. In my spare time, I love to play bassoon, read, watch Formula One, and cheer on the Hoos.

Teaching Philosophy:

Math education has often been referred to as the “wild west”, or “final frontier” of innovative and exciting education. Mathematics is beautiful, elegant, and deep, and doesn’t need to be learned via endless worksheets. Students, from a young age, see themselves as “not math people”, and can shut down upon feeling too challenged by a problem. In my future classroom, I aim to combat these serious misconceptions. We do not need to feel that way about math. I want my students to feel excited when it comes time for math class. My overall goal in classroom management is to create a positive classroom community, where mistakes are celebrated, and students see and find joy in doing mathematics. I plan to create a classroom environment that accomplishes this via the following three principles:

1. Relationships are the center of everything we do

I have learned firsthand in my placement and experiences working with youth that relationships are what make learning happen. I place a high priority on getting to know students, from learning their names by the third day to attending their sports games and activities. Relationships are truly what do the work of classroom management.

2. Mistakes make learning happen

For real learning to happen, both in content and socioemotional skills, students will need to feel comfortable making mistakes. From the content perspective, I want students to share their answers and take risks, even if they are wrong. When it comes to behavior and expectations, every student gets a fresh start every day, no matter what happened yesterday. Students are still learning how to exist in our society, and need to be given grace when they make mistakes.

3. Classrooms should represent the community

As a white, female teacher, I represent the majority of the teaching workforce. I want to teach in diverse schools, where the majority of students do not look like me. With the aid of students, caregivers, and community members, I will iterate on and shape my classroom management system so that it reflects the values of the community. Students will feel more comfortable taking risks academically if they feel comfortable in the classroom.

I would like to teach math, computer science, or engineering at the middle school level. The ideal classes I’d like to teach are 6/7th grade math and electives in computer science or engineering. For my math courses, I want students to have a strong foundation of mathematical understanding as they matriculate into Algebra I. I also want my students to develop a strong growth mindset, and for none of them to think they are “not math people”. For my computer science and engineering courses, I want to help as many women and underrepresented minorities in STEM find success and mentorship. I want all of my computer science and engineering students to learn new ways of problem-solving, and hands-on technical skills. I’d prefer to work in a highly diverse, suburban school division, similar to the schools I grew up in.