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Hello from Virginia!
My name is Anne Zumbro, and I teach at a small, private school in rural Virginia. My educational background is in Economics, Geology, and Counseling Psychology (quite divers and non-math related, I know!) I was originally a homeschooling mom (12 years), who re-learned a LOT of what I missed or forgot from high school subjects, such as Algebra. I now teach Algebra 1 and an 8th grade math class, along with Earth Science.
I took the 12 week MMMTM course this summer and loved it! I also read “Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics” and am ENERGIZED to make some major changes in the way I teach math! I’ve started doing more group thinking tasks at the whiteboards, as well as making a transition to standards based grading. The challenge I am currently facing is that I want to do all this while still allowing my students to work at their own pace, showing mastery of concepts before moving on to the next topic or unit. I have found this to be rewarding on so many levels (to the students as well as to me)! However, I also recognize that I need to challenge their thinking and not simply have them mimic my teaching. Thankfully, I have a very small class this year, which makes this transition period more manageable for me.
Looking forward to learning from everyone in this community!