I teach math and art to seventh and eighth graders at a Montessori school. Teaching was not my first career, or even my second. I was a graphic designer, a database wizard, a web developer, an artist. Growing up, my favorite subjects were art and math, but I loved (and still love) learning in general. I fell into teaching on accident and then fell in love with it. I am currently pursuing my Master of Arts in Teaching through Sierra Nevada University. 

 

There is a perception that people should be wired to like art or wired to like art. Many people feel that they are not wired to like either. I have never thought of art and math as "opposite" subjects. I feel they are very closely related because they require people to see the world in a different way than they are used to. They ask you to look deeply, think deeply, connect deeply. Art and math are disciplines of creativity, problem solving, understanding, and divergent thinking. 

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Prior to becoming a teacher, I was pursuing my art full time. As a teaching artist, my goal is to help people learn how to approach their own work as a process and trust their creative instincts. I believe that humans are fundamentally creative, but that our creative confidence can get lost. I encourage play, experimentation, noticing, personal expression, risk-taking, and failure. Through art, I try to help people strengthen their belief that their work and creative voice are worthwhile. 

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I minored in Mathematics as an undergrad at Case Western Reserve University. I love the push and the pull in math, the creativity within rules and constraints that is needed to solve a problem. One without the other is not enough. My goal is to help students notice and wonder, strategize, and apply what they know to new situations to create their own knowledge and build deeper understanding. 

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