T H O M A S W R I G H T
Teaching Statement
Over the past decade, I have taught, graded, and led recitation sections for a number of different courses in mathematics. I have also taught in other disciplines, specifically economics and music. My philosophy of teaching comes not only from my experience teaching mathematics but also in reflecting upon commonalities between pedagogy in mathematics and pedagogy in other disciplines. I believe that I have enacted these philosophies with extraordinary success.
Experience
I have been the professor for Number Theory and the instructor for Introduction to Calculus and Calculus I .
At the Hopkins-affiliated Center for Talented Youth (CTY), an academic summer program for gifted high school and middle school students, I have also served as the Instructor for Cryptology, a course which teaches elementary number theory and basic probability and uses these to discuss the history of encryption and decryption. Additionally, as a graduate teaching assistant at JHU, I have led recitation sections for
Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III , and Linear Algebra. As an undergraduate at Bowdoin College, I was also a teaching assistant several times for Introductory Microeconomics .
Moreover, I have extensive experience in teaching other disciplines. In addition to the aforementioned economics course, I have much experience teaching music, both in classroom settings and ensemble settings. Working at Camp Encore/Coda, a summer program for musically advanced students of varying ages, I helped with and, at times, led classes such as The History of Jazz and Jazz Improvisation and acted as an assistant conductor for the jazz bands and combos .
More recently, as assistant conductor for various ensembles, I have had the opportunity to conduct and teach bands such as the Johns Hopkins Wind
Ensemble, the Johns Hopkins Jazz Ensemble, and the Westminster High School Jazz Band, as well as smaller groups.
Philosophy
In music education, one of the first principles that must be taught is that every musician, while worrying about his own part, must keep awareness of how his or her part fits with other parts to make a cohesive ensemble. Without such awareness, music quickly dissolves into a cacophonous collection of individual ideas. In a sense, the same can be said to be true for mathematics as well; without some sort of panoramic awareness, mathematics becomes an endless string of formulae to be memorized, regurgitated, and forgotten. It is not enough to simply teach how to solve problems; I always try to give a sense of how this problem or skill relates to other ones we’ve learned or how it will help us toward a goal later in the course.
If a student can see the current concept as a single step in larger process, the current task will seem more important and hence more interesting. Moreover, if a student can see a concept as the logical outgrowth of a previous one, the student can garner valuable intuition about how the current concept should work.
As an example, in teaching multivariable calculus, one must teach how to find local extrema for a function of two variables. To motivate the discussion, I look back at how the analogous process worked in the one variable case. Why did we set the derivative equal to zero? What did the second derivative do? How much of that can apply in the two variable case? What might we need to watch out for? If a teacher asks these questions, students can gain an intuition for how the process should work in two variables, as well as what might have to be changed in order to adjust for the extra variable. Once we actually formalize the rules, the students see that they already knew much of the process, and they also understand why computing the Hessian is a necessary step.
Obviously, the “big picture” overview is only the first step in keeping students engaged. Energy and enthusiasm are also important to a class. As a mathematician, I naturally find mathematics exciting; if I can communicate that excitement to my students, they, too, may begin to believe that mathematics can be exciting (or at least not boring). Enthusiasm is also important because it conveys to the students that the lecturer is prepared, accessible, and interested in the students’ learning of the material. Over the years, I have received numerous plaudits for my enthusiasm from students and professors alike.

Of course, the single greatest potential impediment to classroom dialogue is the students’ fear of sounding stupid in front of peers or the teacher. To combat this, one must convince students that it is possible to be
“wrong” without being “stupid.” Perhaps the single most obvious way to convince students of this is to be specific when addressing an incorrect answer. If a teacher says, “That’s wrong,” the student will become frustrated; if the teacher says, “That works in cases where x is positive, however, you have to be careful about when x is negative…” the student, though incorrect, realizes that he or she has said something of value. Additionally, patience in explaining concepts and answering questions is of utmost importance; if a student’s repeated questions about a concept are met with increasing irritation, the student will become irritated as well, and he or she will be discouraged from asking questions in the future.
On the other hand, if a student says something insightful, I make sure to refer to that student by name when relaying the idea to the rest of the class. A friend from CTY used to have the approach when teaching his campers that if a camper were the first in the class to come up with a lemma, the lemma would bear that camper’s name for the remainder of the course. While using such an approach overtly in a college setting might come off as patronizing, one can still use the essence of the approach by referring in lecture to
“Dan’s insight” or “Jill’s idea” if Dan or Jill had a particularly interesting assertion.
It can also be useful to ask questions where the students are not expected to know the right answer; for instance, when learning about the limit as x goes to zero of (cos x-1)/x, one might ask the class, “Which do you think goes to zero faster: x or cos x-1?” Such a question allows students to speak out without fear that being wrong will make them sound unintelligent.
Evidence of Effectiveness
I have received significant recognition for my teaching. In the 2007–2008 school year, I was nominated as a finalist for the Johns Hopkins University’s Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Assistant
Award, sponsored by the Dean’s Office. Additionally, I received the Mathematics Excellence in Teaching
Award in 2009 and the William Kelso Morrill Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics 2006.
My teaching evaluations have been similarly glowing. At Johns Hopkins, teaching evaluations allow students to rate teaching assistants in five areas on a 1 to 5 scale (1 being worst, 5 being best). Over my entire JHU career, my average rating in the “overall” category has been a 4.75. In my most recent semester, reviews were particularly impressive; I received averages of 4.98 for overall score, 4.93 for knowledge of material, 4.93 for voice clarity, 4.59 for board work, 4.9 for concern for student welfare, a
4.85 for explanations, and a 4.98 for enthusiasm. Every student in the class also answered in the affirmative when asked, “Does this assistant deserve a teaching award?”
Quotes
From a student in Calculus I: “Tom really is concerned about each and every one of us. No question is a stupid question and he makes sure that his students actually understand the material. He harbors a safe learning environment and is the reason I am passing Calculus.”
From another student in Calculus I: “My TA is willing to help us through difficult homework problems and while he does so, he will always be sure that we understand the general concept behind the problem, which is most helpful.”
From a student in Calculus III: “Tom Wright could teach Calc III to fifth graders. He is that good.”
From my official teaching evaluation from CTY’s cryptology course: “Tom is extremely energetic in the classroom. He moved constantly throughout the classroom; his energy seemed to keep the students energized and engaged. Furthermore, Tom worked to make sure that the students did not ‘shut down’ after wrong answers; instead of telling a student that he or she got the answer wrong, Tom used the more tactful method of telling the student he was ‘almost right’ or ‘almost had it.’”
From a student in Linear algebra: “He's always positive and enthusiastic. Very Knowledgeable. Always willing to help. Exactly what you want out of a TA. Better than most the professors I've had. Great at teaching. Sincerely wants people to learn.”