Whether it is formally instructing Mathematics instruction at a university, and directing music for a youth drama troupe, or demonstrating how to knit, teaching is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life. Over the past nine years, I have taught many diverse subjects from mathematics and computer science to music (piano and voice) and drama. In addition, I home-schooled a student in grades six, seven and eight mathematics, who won first place on a provincial Junior High Mathematics Competition. I have served as a mathematical enrichment instructor for junior high school, in which I presented six weekly workshops for gifted students. At Cornell University, I was a teaching assistant for computer programming and discrete mathematics, and an instructor for freshman-level Calculus (Math 111).
In all of my classes, I stress the fundamental concepts and believe that the basics must be solid before we can build new material on top of them. At the same time, I feel it is very important that students feel completely comfortable in an interactive atmosphere. I've found that the students respond well to my teaching style. Some of the comments from my students have been: "Tara is great. She really knows what she is talking about and really knows how to help students who are not understanding the information", "Tara is a really good TA! She is always vibrant, enthusiastic and excited in section, which is a great help when learning something as inherently boring as Math".
Click this link for a recently updated copy of my teaching statement.