Meet our new Math Teacher in Residence, Tracy!

This fall, we had the pleasure of welcoming an additional Math Teacher in Residence to our team here at NumWorks. This role is crucial in spreading the word about NumWorks, supporting our community of educators and making improvements to our calculator. Get to know our new Math Teacher in Residence, Tracy, by reading our interview with her below!

How long have you been a teacher?

I have taught high school math for 11 years! I was born and raised in North Carolina, and had the pleasure of attending and teaching at Wake County Public Schools since the age of 5.

Which subject is your favorite?

My favorite subject to teach is Calculus. I love having students who have been building their math skills over the years apply those skills at an advanced level. You can really see student’s confidence grow as they start to understand some of the most advanced concepts taught at the high school level.

Why did you choose to join the NumWorks team?

My personal goal is to find impactful ways to help support teachers and students across the globe. As a student who was discouraged from taking advanced math courses, I want to help all students cultivate their love of learning and have equal access to rigorous high levels of mathematics. NumWorks is devoted to providing students and teachers with access to a powerful tool that decreases the barrier to advanced topics.

What do you hope to accomplish in your first year at NumWorks?

During my first year at NumWorks, I hope to support teachers in their classrooms by providing workshops, professional development, and activities. I hope to increase student’s access to new and exciting technology that will help them reach their goals. Additionally, I want to help NumWorks increase their presence and awareness in the mathematical teaching community.

What is your favorite NumWorks app?

My favorite app is the Grapher app. I love the autozoom and easy access to features on the graph. I know that when I graph any relationship, I will always see the full shape and be able to quickly calculate zeros, extrema, tangent lines and so much more. This is also my favorite app because I love all the colors I can graph in!

What is your favorite feature of the calculator?

My favorite feature is that we offer our simulator and mobile app for free. There are hand-held devices that don’t allow users to access the device anywhere, and there are web-based calculators that can make it difficult for students taking exams. NumWorks is the best of both worlds! The handheld calculator gives users access to a great tool during class, and then they can access the same great device on their phone at home. This makes practicing mathematical skills easy to do even if you don’t have your hand-held handy.

What has been your favorite part of working at NumWorks?

My favorite part of working at NumWorks is the creative freedom to think outside the box on what we can offer students. Rather than resist the growing access to advanced technology, I love getting to collaborate with our incredible engineers to dream big on what our device could do!

What do you want to tell teachers?

I know that learning a new device feels daunting, but we ask our students to do that everytime we hand them a graphing calculator for the first time. NumWorks is a tool that is intuitive and supports students as they are learning math. Here at NumWorks we really care about teacher and student experience, we are striving to give every student the best possible education.