For a bunch of math nerds, our staff at Mathnasium is actually full of wonderful, interesting, three-dimensional people! We're excited to introduce you to some of our wonderful instructors and administrators, and the first on the list is none other than the incredible Rachelle Reiff! The photo above is of her, if you haven't figured that out quite yet. Here's a brief interview we did with her.
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Q: Rachelle, we're so excited to hear from you! To start off, where are you going to school, and what are you studying?
A: I go to UC Irvine, and I am majoring in mathematics with minors in philosophy and drama.
Q: That's awesome! How long have you been working Mathnasium, again?
I have been working at Mathnasium since April of 2017--so almost two years!
Q: Right on! We'll be sure to celebrate when we finally hit the two-year mark! So for something a little bit less formal, here, what is your favorite shape, and why?
I'd have to say... a fractal whose area is finite but has an infinite perimeter. It's crazy!!
Q: Excellent choice!! That's very cool. For our readers who may not totally understand what Rachelle is talking about there, here's a picture for reference. This one is called Koch's Snowflake!
Now, we were reading on our "Team" page that you were a Girl Scout for quite a while. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Girl Scouts was (and is!) awesome! I've been a Girl Scout since I was five years old. I've learned a lot about work ethic, initiative, and supporting others.
Q: How great! It sounds like that was a very worthwhile experience. We also hear that you're part of an improv team... What is that like??
VERY fun. We perform every two weeks and hold workshops on and off campus. My improv team is like a little family. They are my best friends, and people I can go to no matter what. We have a ton of fun making up stories on stage. I've learned to be open and vulnerable to create funny and beautiful scenes on stage, and to be open and vulnerable with my friendships.
Q: So cool. That sounds like so much fun! So, on to the math stuff, what has been your favorite math course so far? Can you tell us a little bit about it?
My favorite math course so far was actually an introduction to abstract math course. It really opened my eyes to what math really is, beyong just crunching numbers. We learned about infinity and logic and crazy shapes and all kinds of things! We learned how to find cool patterns and then prove why the patterns worked!
Q: Algebraic! To flip that question on its head a little bit, what is your favorite topic or course to teach? Any favorite math tricks to share with us?
I actually LOVE to teach people about proofs and why math is as it is. A lot of people think math only involves on right answer--but that's not always the case! In fact, there are some things we can never prove or disprove. But we've proven we can't prove or disprove them! It's some crazy stuff.
As an example of some of the crazy stuff you can do with math, here's a neat way to multiply any number by 11, no matter how big!
The answer to the problem will have the same first and last number as whatever you're multiplying by. All of the middle numbers you can find by just adding each number with the number to the right of it.
So! If you want to solve 1234 x 11...
The 1 and 4 stay on the front on back - 1 _ _ _ 4
And the middle numbers are 1+2, 2+3, and 3+4 - 1 3 5 7 4
The answer to 1234 x 11 is 13574!
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Here at Mathnasium, we love our staff. Not only are they incredible instructors, but they're incredible people! We believe it is important for students to be taught in the way that's most effective for them, so having access to a variety of ways to think and problem-solve is very important to us!
We would love to explain how our programs work to you to make sure your young student is getting the guidance they need. All students, especially those who struggle in a traditional classroom setting, need and deserve to have quality instruction through quality material to achieve quality results! Just another way that we make math make sense.
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