Q: You have quite a fearsome reputation as a math teacher. Would you like to comment on that?
A: I don’t think so. Did you ask lots of other people about my reputation? I don’t think I’m fearsome. It’s not the impression that I think my students have of me. I’m a challenging teacher with harder material, but I’m very approachable. I don’t think I’m a witch that eats people.
Q: Do you have any other official function at Paly besides teaching math?
A: No, currently I don’t do anything else at Paly.
Q: What did you do before you became a math teacher at Paly?
A: I was an architect before becoming a math teacher. It was my major in college. I worked for a firm in Washington DC a long time ago in the 80s. I designed high rise luxury condos in Rosslyn, Virginia.
Q: I’ve heard lots of rumblings from students in AB Calculus about a test you wrote where the median grade was supposedly 35%.
A: Thirty-five percent was not the average score. The actual average score was 55% before the curve. I think it was a fair test. The test was scaled to a median grade of 76%. Scaling is a common practice, you know. In college you could get an A with a 35%, depending on the scale.
Q: Are your tests normally this hard?
A: Test difficulty depends on many things. It depends on the topic, when the students learned the topic, like right before the test or two weeks ago, whether they got to master the topic before the test, and so on. But this wasn’t the worst test. You have to look at the overall grades.
Q: What kinds of test questions are your favorites to grade?
A: My favorite test questions to grade? I like the ones that are challenging and require the students to think. Those are my favorite questions to ask too. They’re the toughest to grade, but I like the challenge.
Q: I heard from an "anonymous third party" that your favorite questions to grade were the ones that students didn’t answer.
A: No, my favorites aren’t the blank ones. I think you have some subjective sources for your information.
Q: Students often talk about your funny one-liners in class. Is it just part of your personality, or is there some sort of master plan behind it?
A: What do you think?
Q: Well, I think it’s just your personality, but you can never be sure.
A: I think so too. I think I have a humorous side. It’s fun to joke around a bit, and math is a fun subject. By the way, what do you mean by scheme? I’m confused.
Q: Well, I’m sure Darth Vader would tell a joke to have an excuse to choke somebody.
A: No, I don’t scheme like that.
Q: Out of all your math classes, which is your favorite one to teach?
A: I like all of my classes. At any level, there are different challenges depending on the different grades, different subjects, and different people. Every class is challenging in a different way.
Q: Does the math department have secret meetings in the lounge that is off limits to students?
A: No, I think you’re thinking too complicated. The room is just our private area.
Q: Nothing suspicious?
A: Nothing suspicious. We don’t scheme about things.
Q: If you weren’t a math teacher at Paly, what would you want to do instead?
A: I would probably be a math teacher elsewhere. I like teaching math at Paly. I commute very far, from Alameda county, every day. I haven’t thought about switching careers for a very long time. Ever since I decided to be a teacher, I’ve been a teacher. I love teaching. It’s my fifteenth year teaching, and I have no regrets. Paly is a wonderful place.
Q: Speaking about your commute, didn’t you get into a car accident while on the way to school once?
A: Yeah, that was a while ago. That’s what happens when you drive 100 miles every day. Sometimes something will happen. Hopefully it won’t happen again.
Q: Did your car flip?
A: Yeah.
Q: Was your car totaled?
A: Yeah. That was a bad accident. I was the traffic jam.
Q: I’m sure your students are dying to know, is the next test going to be hard?
A: I never give any hard tests. When did I ever give you anything hard? It’s not hard, it’s challenging.
Q: So it’s not because the test is on soft paper?
A: No. If you prepare for the tests, you’re set.