About Me
Welcome to my page!
My name is Natashia Crutcher! I have my Bachelors degree in mathematics with a minor in education. I know what you’re thinking…why on Earth would anyone want to teach math?! Well, I love math. I have been great with numbers since a very young age. Math has always been a passion of mine and something that I truly enjoy doing, so it only made sense to build a career around doing something that I love. I discovered that I loved teaching math as much as I loved doing math when a classmate asked me to tutor them in college. I enjoyed it so much that she kept encouraging me to become a teacher. I realized teaching is what I was meant to do shortly after. I make a good math teacher because I pay great attention to detail. I am also very organized and goal-oriented. I start with the end in mind so that I know which direction each lesson needs to go, how long they need to be, and what needs to be accomplished by the end of each.
I was born and raised in Frisco, TX back when no one knew where Frisco was. I went to high school in The Colony, TX, and graduated from The Colony High School in 2005. I have two beautiful children, a son and a daughter, with my ex-husband. I graduated from Collin College in 2015 with an Associates in General Studies, as well as an Associates of the Arts in Teaching. I started at TWU in the fall of 2015, and graduated in December 2018 with a Bachelors in Mathematics and a minor in Education with a Math 7-12 grade Certification. I currently live in Denton with my fiancee, our five kids, and our dog, Desmond. We definitely have a full house, but our hearts are even more full.
Welcome to my page!
My name is Natashia Crutcher! I have my Bachelors degree in mathematics with a minor in education. I know what you’re thinking…why on Earth would anyone want to teach math?! Well, I love math. I have been great with numbers since a very young age. Math has always been a passion of mine and something that I truly enjoy doing, so it only made sense to build a career around doing something that I love. I discovered that I loved teaching math as much as I loved doing math when a classmate asked me to tutor them in college. I enjoyed it so much that she kept encouraging me to become a teacher. I realized teaching is what I was meant to do shortly after. I make a good math teacher because I pay great attention to detail. I am also very organized and goal-oriented. I start with the end in mind so that I know which direction each lesson needs to go, how long they need to be, and what needs to be accomplished by the end of each.
I was born and raised in Frisco, TX back when no one knew where Frisco was. I went to high school in The Colony, TX, and graduated from The Colony High School in 2005. I have two beautiful children, a son and a daughter, with my ex-husband. I graduated from Collin College in 2015 with an Associates in General Studies, as well as an Associates of the Arts in Teaching. I started at TWU in the fall of 2015, and graduated in December 2018 with a Bachelors in Mathematics and a minor in Education with a Math 7-12 grade Certification. I currently live in Denton with my fiancee, our five kids, and our dog, Desmond. We definitely have a full house, but our hearts are even more full.
My Teaching Philosophy
Mathematics is a part of our everyday lives although most of us are not willing to admit it. We use math when deciding what time to go to bed, what time to get up, and what time to leave the house. We use math when we are at the grocery store deciding how much of something to buy, comparing prices, and keeping track of how much we are going to spend. We use math when we decide what kind and how much of each material we need for building things. We use math when we are measuring out ingredients for recipes, doubling them to make extra, or reducing them to make less. Recipes are the perfect example of an algorithm. We use math when we are planning out road trips and vacations. We use math to pay bills, track our spending, and balance our bank account. We use math to make decisions every day. It may not always be apparent, but math is all around us.
From an early age, children tend to either love math, or they hate it. Once they decide they do not like math, it is nearly impossible to change their minds. My goal is to make math fun again. I know the task seems daunting, but I believe that hands-on learning is the key. Students need to see math in action in order to understand how it relates to them in the real world. Otherwise, they are never going to care about learning how to do it. Furthermore, using hands-on learning will help them to remember how they solved a problem, and will also help to develop problem-solving skills. I believe working together in groups or as a class to solve problems helps to foster new ideas and strategies that may not have been thought of while working individually. Students learn best in different ways. They may be visual learners, aural learners, physical learners, or verbal learners. Therefore, one problem-solving strategy may work well for one student, but not for another. Working through problems together in groups or as a class will help give students an arsenal of strategies to use.
I believe technology is another way to make math fun again. We are a technology driven society, and the students of today are the key to the future. Technology and computer science are a branch of mathematics. Careers in computer science are booming and the pay is very competitive. Introducing both in the math classroom, and showing the students they have the ability to be the next Steve Jobs is the perfect way of making math fun and of integrating technology into the classroom. Math is needed for the music they listen to, the games they play, and the apps they use. Math is all around us. All we have to do is look.
Teaching History
I already have two years of teaching experience in a public-school setting. I worked in Lewisville ISD at the Lillie J Jackson Early Childhood Center for a year as an inclusion special education paraprofessional. I worked with special education children with severe behavioral issues on a one on one basis. I also held the computer lab instructional paraprofessional position at Tomas Rivera Elementary for Denton ISD. During the students’ computer lab rotations, I conducted math interventions to promote STAAR readiness through a computer program called Reasoning Mind. I created lesson plans every week tailored to each grade level, 2nd through 5th, depending on where they were and what they were struggling with in the curriculum. I also pulled small groups of 4th graders for math intervention. I am proficient in Microsoft Office, and can use all office equipment. I currently have an Associates in general studies, an Associates in Teaching, and a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Education with a math 7-12 certification. I am super excited to be here at Braswell High School this year!
Mathematics is my love, teaching is my passion, and it is my pleasure to be able to combine the two into a fulfilling career. |