A: Throughout most of my childhood, I was interested in medicine and wanted to become a physician. I had a brief period around fourth grade when I become fascinated by meteorology, but my interests always returned to medicine. I entered college, expecting to be a biology major and then to go to medical school. I chose to attend a school with a heavy engineering focus so I could maximize the number of math and science courses I could take over four years.

 

I did declare a biology major in college, but I did not enjoy upper-level biology courses. At the same time, I was taking a required physical chemistry class. Physical chemistry uses mathematics to model chemical processes and to understand how the world behaves at the molecular level. I was hooked! In a period of a few months, I completely changed my life plan, substituting graduate school for medical school. Despite changing directions, I still chose a path that required many years of post-graduate study. (It’s not surprising that “love of learning” is my signature strength.)

 

After graduating from college, I pursued a doctorate in theoretical physical chemistry, where I used computers to model the behavior of molecules. After earning the degree, I was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship to continue my studies. I had intended to pursue a career in teaching and research at a large university after completing my fellowship. However, I was unexpectedly offered an opportunity to teach at a small liberal arts college, and I decided to try that for a year.

 

Within a few weeks of teaching in this setting, I knew that I had found my passion. The opportunity to work with small classes of highly motivated students was energizing and more appealing to me than the thought of lecturing to hundreds in the university setting. In the first part of my career, I taught all levels of college chemistry, including introductory and advanced courses. While doing this, I discovered that the characteristic that allowed students to be successful on the path to becoming a scientist was not their ability to understand the underlying principles of chemistry. Instead, it was their ability to think quantitatively and to use these skills confidently to solve problems using chemical principles.

 

Because I wanted all students to succeed, I began to focus on the mathematical underpinnings of the science classes that I was teaching. Teasing out the necessary foundational skills that students needed to be successful began to become an area of interest. In time, I realized that to support students who wanted to pursue science or engineering as a career, I needed to focus on teaching these mathematical thinking skills. This realization, in turn, led me to a career shift from teaching college to teaching high school, where I’ve been working happily ever since.

 

A: I enjoy teaching math because quantitative reasoning underpins so much of students’ future learning. A solid foundation in quantitative reasoning equips students to find and follow their own paths. Before high school, students often view math classes as a place to learn a series of procedures and don’t recognize the power of mathematics to explain the world around them. In high school, students’ brains have developed the ability to think more abstractly. They finally have both the foundational skills and reasoning ability to apply their prior learning to understanding how things work. I enjoy facilitating this part of their development, knowing that I am helping them develop their potential as they continue their education.

 

A: At the end of each year, students should know that they have grown in their ability to think quantitatively. Students should believe they can use their growth to solve increasingly challenging problems. To accomplish this, I have students reflect on their learning throughout the year so that their growth becomes self-evident. I give students opportunities to consider multiple approaches to solving problems to help them better identify their strengths and challenges. I encourage students to practice using clear and precise language to communicate quantitative concepts. This skill allows them to convince themselves and others of their understanding. In the future, their ability to communicate clearly and think quantitatively will be critical for success in STEM fields.