If numbers are your kryptonite & math anxiety your companion, I'm your secret weapon. A math specialist and educator turning "I'm not a math person" into "Oh, I get it"

Find out more about Cynthia

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I have always liked math and first began tutoring students in math when I was a
  sophomore in high school. My job when I went to college was as a residence hall tutor
  as a member of the A-Team. That was the name of our unit! I tutored any and everyone
  who lived in the on-campus housing in college algebra, statistics and essay writing. It
  was more than just a means of making money, but something I enjoyed doing so much
  that I majored in education and proceeded to get an advanced degree in education as
  well.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  For the past 17 years I have taught math in the adult education system, which means
  that I have taught learners aged 16-70 at various levels. I have had students with a 2nd
  grade math level in my class and other times students with Ph.Ds in physics or
  engineering in their native countries. Consequently, the topics I like to discuss vary, but
  all have to do with understanding concepts and building learners’ confidence in their
  ability to critically think and reason about anything. Topics I don’t enjoy discussing are
  the ones that begin from a place of deficit. Too many people begin their math stories with
  what they lack or what they struggled with or that they’re “bad” at math rather than
  starting with what they know, what they can do, what they have accomplished etc. I like
  to talk about their strengths.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  My father was my role model. Growing up he pushed me to value my education and to
  work to excel both in and out of the classroom. I didn’t know it at the time, but he
  struggled with his studies when he was in school. Knowing that although academics
  were tough for him yet he still placed such value on education motivated me more as an
  educator.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  Being a good tutor, to me, means being willing to give learners time to think, time to
  process, time to understand and making sure that the learning environment feels safe.
  Too many people have experienced trauma in math classes and thus don’t feel safe. My
  first priority is helping a student to feel safe and to know that their thinking is valued.
  Allowing learners the opportunity to discover agency and self-efficacy in each and every
  session matters.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  Currently, I work as a math specialist meaning that I train and coach mathematics
  teachers and instructors. One day I was doing a full day session deepening
  mathematical content knowledge. We were working on the concepts of integer
  operations. This was a challenging lesson for the teachers because I was pushing them
  to reason and model why the rules for multiplying or dividing integers exist. This was out
  of their comfort zone, because the comfort zone is to just teach the rule: when the signs
  are the same the answer is a positive and when the signs are different the answer will be
  negative. The task I gave them was going to force them to understand and demonstrate
  why. One of the teachers in the front of the class engaged in productive struggle. You
  could actively see her trying to stretch her brain. So I sat down next to her and began to
  offer push and support. I asked her questions not to get her to my answer but to hers.
  You could see the light bulb above her head getting ready to turn on and then it
  happened…She yelled out, “oh, hold on…wait…I get it!!!” She had an ah-ha moment.
  Everyone in the room turned and looked at her. She actually teared up and exclaimed
  that she had been teaching for over 15 years and never knew why those rules were
  rules. But now she did. That moment made my entire week. It is one of my teaching
  philosophies–I TEACH FOR THE AH-HA MOMENT.

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  A challenge that I faced while learning math was dealing with teachers who didn’t want
  to explain why. As a student I would ask why very often and get shut down by my
  teacher. It was only after I began growing in my own career as an educator that I came
  to understand why. There are hundreds of math teachers out there that don’t know why
  they are doing what they’re doing. They teach like they were taught, which is I do, We
  do, You do. Don’t ask why, just mimic and memorize. Consequently, they couldn’t
  answer why because they didn’t know. I took it upon myself both as a teacher and a
  learner to start to understand why. Do I know the underlying concept behind every rule or
  algorithm in mathematics? No, but I do force myself to ask why am I doing what I am
  doing, and that is how I begin to understand more everyday.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  My passion is helping learners to feel mathematically or numerically powerful. My heart
  breaks for students or individuals that I meet who are disempowered. They feel like they
  didn’t win the birth lotto of getting to become a “math person.” There is no such lotto. It is
  not the haves and the have nots. My passion is to help deal with any math anxiety and
  trauma that may be present and then to get learners to the place of saying, “I may not
  know how to–fill in the blank–yet, but I can figure it out. That is empowerment. Believing
  in one’s own abilities to reason, problem solve and think about anything.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering this interview questions :-P)?

  I love teaching and learning. Tutoring offers me the opportunity to get to do both. Every
  session I get to participate in someone’s learning journey. It is rewarding, humbling and
  simply what I do. Being a teacher is not what I do. It is who I am.