My name is Josh Spencer.
Math was never a pleasant subject for me growing up, and honestly, I did everything I could to avoid it! I believed that because I never planned to use math in my career (funny how that worked out) there was no point in learning it. Later, however, I realized that math is much more than simply learning how to perform operations & algorithms used primarily by scientists & engineers. Instead, math is about learning how to develop problem-solving skills that students can use in their everyday lives. It's about learning how to make sense of problems, use reasoning to evaluate and explore solutions and to justify and critique reasoning; both one’s own, as well as that of another’s.
Regardless of one’s background and personal experiences, I believe that we can all appreciate the benefit of developing problem-solving skills which can be applied to any situation (and not just those involving numbers). I am extremely excited about the opportunity to teach math to your 6th-graders this year! I will do everything that I can to help them to enjoy math and instill within them a deep desire to learn. I consider parent communication a vital part of your child’s success and welcome you reaching out to me at any time, for any reason.