Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you gain something insightful from it. Now that you have read a blog post or two, let me tell you a little bit more about me.
My name is Rebecca and I started teaching high school math right after I graduated from college in the late '90s (I know, I don't look a day over 25! Thank you.). I started my career teaching in a large public high school. I did that for 7 years and then I decided to follow a dream of mine and move overseas. I was overseas for 7 years during which I taught at two international schools: one in Switzerland and one in Venezuela. (You can read more about my international teaching experience here.) I returned to the States in 2012, taught at an independent school for 10 years, moved to the other side of the country and got a job in a public school.
I prefer to teach Precalculus and Calculus, but I have also taught Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, IB Math Studies, IB Math SL, and IB Math HL.
As far as my style of teaching is concerned I have two main philosophies that drive my decisions:
(1) I want my class to not be boring. I am always looking for ways to make class exciting or interesting. Sometimes it's as simple as me making corny or silly jokes (e.g. "d plus 3d equals 4d - not to be confused with forty!"). I hate lecturing for an hour so I always try to shorten my lectures and use the extra time for activities.
(2) It is important to me that my students feel comfortable in my classroom. I want them to feel comfortable in the physical space as well as feel comfortable with me and their classmates. This is why I keep my room clean and organized. (See photos of previous my classroom here.) I want students to have a place to put their belongings and have space to call their own while they're in my room. I avoid using sarcasm (when I can 😉) and I avoid speaking in a patronizing tone; the last thing I want to do is send the message that I will make students feel stupid for asking a question or saying they don't understand.
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