Bio
An innovative math educator and a Math for America Master Teacher, Jason Garofalo creates a collaborative environment in his classroom. Students work together on engaging problems to explore mathematics while developing their understanding of the subject. For his students, many of whom are English Language Learners who speak Spanish, Yemeni, Bengali, or West African dialects, his classes are part seminar and part mathematical workshop, where the focus is not on the right answer, but on robust comprehension. Says one student, “My brain often hurts in that class, but I feel better for it.” A recent graduate, who received a four-year scholarship to Hamilton College, notes, “I came to the US when I was 14 from the Dominican Republic. To find someone in my first year in high school who was ready to believe in me was a special gift.”
