• Mathematics Faculty
• Faculty Member at King since 2008
• Grade 6 Math. Team Leader Grade 6
• BA, Williams College
• MALS, Wesleyan University

Why do you teach at King?
I appreciate the supportive, inspiring, forward thinking, and committed community that King offers both me and my children. The advisor program and class structure enables me to make real connections with each student, creating the opportunity to teach them how to learn, as well as to guide them to become confident, inspired, knowledgeable, caring, and self aware people.

What motivated you to become a Math teacher?
I love helping people reach their fullest potential plus I love math. Math offers a way of interpreting and understanding the world around us and also a better understanding of ourselves within that world. Furthermore, Math enables us to see patterns, process information, and solve problems. Finding a variety of solutions is exciting to me and I enjoy instilling this passion to discover solutions in my students.

What do you hope your students gain from knowing you?
A belief in themselves, a joy of learning, and knowledge that they are each valued and cared about.

Describe a lesson you look forward to each year?
One of my favorite lessons is when the students discover Pi on a “Math Walk.” The students do not know what they will be discovering as they set out of the classroom and into the Middle School courtyard to measure the circumference and corresponding diameter of a variety of circles. They work with partners and use string and tape measures to create a list of measurements from circles found in their environment, such as tires, pillars, pipes, bike racks, posts, etc. Then, back in the classroom, the group’s data leads to discussions of accurate measurement, teamwork, estimation and approximation, forms of averaging, and finally recognizing that the relationship of ANY circle’s circumference to its diameter is always approximately 3 to 1. More specifically the ratio of circumference to diameter, when measured accurately, is Pi: 3.1415926…. This leads to the discussion of irrational numbers and to discovering, the often previously known but not fully understood, formula for finding a circle’s circumference given the radius or diameter. Circumference = Pi x Diameter, or C = 2πr.

Describe what you feel sets apart King and our students?
King is always growing and changing. The community and everyone in it are never stagnant. Each of us is encouraged to stretch even further than maybe we thought possible, and from that new ideas, confidence and inner wisdom and strength can be gained.

King helps students achieve their personal best. How do you accomplish this in your classroom?

I encourage my students to take responsibility for their learning. With guidance, they become the keepers of their process and learn to recognize their strengths and areas of concern. I work with each student to develop strategies and action plans to support them in their individual learning process. Whether their goal is to understand a new concept, improve organizational skills, learn new study methods or lead the class with a new idea, I support each of them individually.