I picked teaching first and foremost because I want to have a positive impact on people's lives. So many children grow up without ever having someone to believe in them or support them in their pursuits. Teaching is the perfect vehicle through which I can help students to see their value and what they are capable of doing.

My goal is to keep in mind three important ideas throughout my career as a teacher. First, I am there to help them. Whether it be in math or in life, my role as their teacher is to be their advocate.

Second, even more important than teaching my students math is for me to teach them how to think. In such a delineated subject area, it is easy to forget the larger goal. It is not enough that students know the cosine of thirty degrees of how many standard deviations from the mean the 99.7th percentile is. It is important that students know how to use the knowledge they gain in my class and for that reason I believe it is important to develop their ability to thin. Reasoning and problem solving are important in my classroom.