When I was a senior in college, I was unsure about how to use my math degree after graduation. I considered a number of typical career fields, including law school, graduate school in history and graduate school in several math-related fields. I opted for graduate study in math, mostly because the only thing I knew for sure was that I enjoyed math.

While in graduate school the first time around, I taught college courses and I volunteered as a tutor in secondary schools. I retained my love of math, but I also discovered a love for teaching mathematics and began to recognize that teaching was hard work. After some time off, I decided to pursue secondary teaching certification and some formal training in math education.

I completed teacher certification and received a Master's degree in math education. Then I began to teach in the Cincinnati Public Schools. I taught in a traditional middle school, a magnet middle school with an alternative curriculum and at a high school with a classically oriented curriculum. I now teach at Coffman High School in the Dublin City Schools. All these positions have given me a wealth of opportunities to use many different parts of my mathematics background.

I became convinced by both experience and research that the key to good instruction in mathematics is to engage students with the material. If a teacher sits back and waits for students to become enthusiastic, most students will decline the opportunity.