Teaching

Mathematics is a human endeavor, and humans tend to respond to storytelling with engagement and interest. I aim to teach in a way that explains the math at hand as a story, complete with emotional highs and lows, and inspires curiosity as to what the next plot twist means for the main characters. I think deeply about what the best storyline is for a specific area of math, and do my best to engage students with this strategy. Not only does this keep students' attention, it also shows them math is a colorful and unexpected world.

I find sharing the joy of math with others, through collaboration and teaching undergraduates, to be incredibly fulfilling. I aim to treat each student with respect, and take the time to listen to each students' thoughts and ideas. After giving a student space and time to describe their personal mental picture of the problem, I try to give them the specific nudge in the right direction they need. I hope to provide a space for underrepresented groups in math to see the beauty and joy of math, and see their own potential.

I believe in Federico Ardila-Mantilla’s axioms from this article:

• Axiom 1. Mathematical talent is distributed equally among different groups, irrespective of geographic, demographic, and economic boundaries.

• Axiom 2. Everyone can have joyful, meaningful, and empowering mathematical experiences.

• Axiom 3. Mathematics is a powerful, malleable tool that can be shaped and used differently by various communities to serve their needs.

• Axiom 4. Every student deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.