Stacey Kao

Biography

Since graduating from San Jose State university in a Math Teaching program, I have been working in school K-12 both private and public. I worked in both general and special education settings where I found that helping students individually with their math literacy was the key to them gaining confidence mathematically.

Math is a beautiful language with unique definitions, formulas and yes, proofs. I want to encourage students to be comfortable with using numbers and formulas to see that they can write formulas to quantify and solve problems in real life. Math is a subject that many people fear because it is so black and white. But just like learning a musical instrument or a sport, solving math equations takes patience and understanding. I hope I can help students enjoy the productive struggle as we work together to understand new concepts. I had my fair share of crying over math homework and even infamously told my calculus class that math was pointless. But my calculus teacher and then math professors inspired me to see the algebraic, graphical and infallibility beauty of math that I hope I can share with students.

My tutoring philosophy is the growth mindset that every student has the potential to understand and develop their math literacy. I will start with ground rule definitions and formulas before helping students with examples. I believe students should try a problem and endeavor to find where they need help first and they play an active role in their learning.

In my free time, I enjoy trying new baking recipes, needlework or crochet, and catching up on period dramas. As a Bay Area native, I love going to the parks and lakes in the area and soaking in the sun.