I’m deeply passionate about mathematics teaching and learning, and I’m excited to help others develop both love and mastery of mathematics. I strongly believe that learning should be a joyful endeavor; we all benefit by putting more play into mathematics learning.
Beyond this emphasis on joy and play, my perspective on teaching is trauma-informed and attuned to the complex emotional experience that students face in math class. For most students, math class is fraught with feelings of shame, embarrassment, fear, incompetence, uncertainty, frustration, confusion, and boredom. Even students who identify as “good at math” face some combination of these feelings on a daily basis, and navigating that emotional minefield leaves almost everyone hating math by the time they finish schooling.
My professional mission is to promote a genuine love of mathematics, and I’m excited to work with students, parents, and schools in the Puget Sound area in order to realize that mission.
Day Camps
I’m excited to be running Math for Love day camps in Seattle and Bellevue for 1st to 5th graders. Click here to see our current offerings and to sign-up.
Working with Families
My private practice focuses on supporting parents in their math educational journey; nurturing a household culture in which your children can fall in love with math involves choices of what to put in front of them, when, and for how long. And nurturing healthy relationships with math involves reflection on how and when we offer help, praise, and criticism.
If you’re looking for support creating a healthy culture of mathematics learning in your household, I’d love to work with you – click here to schedule an initial consultation. This call is an opportunity for us to get to know each other and to make a plan of action to address your mathematical moment.
Working together to create a thriving math culture in the home is quite different from the more familiar model of tutoring. If you’re looking for one-to-one tutoring, I’m only taking on new clients as a means of raising scholarship funds for the day camps I’m organizing. If you’re in a financial position to help me in my mission to provide equitable access to math enrichment programming, I’m happy to discuss working one-on-one with your child. E-mail me at Paul.gafni at gmail dot com to find out more.
Working with Schools
Creating a culture of love for mathematics is a multi-faceted endeavor, and I’d love to support your school in developing and implementing a cohesive plan toward that vision. These plans are tailored to your school’s needs; they might include any of the following elements: Math Circles for students, Math Circles for teachers, curriculum planning support, inquiry-based teaching support, classroom observation/feedback, visiting classrooms as a Mathematician-in-Residence, math nights, and more. If your school is looking for external mathematical support, I’d love to hear from you at paul dot gafni at gmail dot com.
Paul Gafni 