Ms. Metcalf 8th/7th Honors/AVID Math

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About The Teacher Label:


About The Teacher
I have been teaching now for 10 years. I started out teaching sixth grade at Sisk Elementary. When that school switched to K-5 I moved over to the Middle School. I now teach 8th grade Algebra 1 and 7th grade honors math. I am also a trained AVID instructor, and I love it! I have a 16 year old daughter. She is an Honor student at Thomas Downey High School, and is a very involved student. She would love to attend Stanford University, where she was also born, and pursue a career involving mathematics. Together we have a little dog named Rusty. We love to travel and are rarely at home. If we are not on an adventure you can probably find us at the movies. I recently have taken up running and find myself being persuaded by my sister to compete in 5K and 10k races. I am currently training for a half marathon! One of my biggest accomplishments recently is loosing over 75 pounds.

Mission Label:


Mission
My goal is for students to become problem-solvers in their current and future world. By relating mathematics to real situations in the world, I hope to reveal to them how interconnected their learning environment can be, regardless of how the subjects are broken up for them in the school setting. I see myself as a facilitator of learning more than a lecturer of facts. This puts the focus on the development of a student's understanding of mathematics rather than my dissemination of knowledge. I strive to foster a conceptual understanding of mathematics. This involves going beyond the teaching mathematics as a fixed system of procedures. Mathematics is a boundless region of insight and discovery. It is the recognition of patterns. It is akin to music in its complexity as well as its simplicity. A good instructor of mathematics challenges the student to explore and investigate a math problem and to come up with their own strategies for arriving at a solution. This places the emphasis on the process rather than the solution itself. I try not to say "yes" or "no" when a student asks me if this is the right answer. I ask them to tell me how they arrived at their solutions. Relying on the solution as "the right answer" fosters a dependence on the teacher. The students must learn to rely on their own reasoning as justification. Thus a student develops mathematical competency. Key words that characterize my class are "process," "discussion," and "cooperation." The development of an understanding of mathematics is a process that evolves through discussion and cooperation among the members of the classroom. Mathematics is not a tedious, tired, and worn-out subject. It is a living and vibrant form of communication and problem-solving which I enjoy sharing with students.