Michael Bravo

My name is Mike Bravo, and I am originally from Los Angeles, CA. After attending private school all my life, I moved up north attending UC Santa Cruz where I earned my BA in Linguistics, and later, earning my Masters in Linguistics at San Jose State University. I would say that I have always loved teaching in one way or another; explaining things clearly was just what I had always done, and it came naturally. If I understood it, I could get others to understand it as well.

      When it comes to mathematics, I must admit that I struggled with it growing up. In fact, I remember exactly how it felt when I did not understand a concept. I know what types of teaching techniques did not work for me, and more importantly, I remember what did work. As a result, I incorporated those techniques into my teaching. One day in college, while taking a math class, it just clicked, and it all made sense. So, when I became an elementary school teacher in 1997, teaching math just felt natural. Currently, I work as a fifth-grade teacher in Burbank, CA, where I have been since 2004. In addition, I teach a class called Inductive and Deductive Reasoning during my summers for the Center for Talented Youth at Loyola Marymount University. I have worked for Pacific Oaks since 2012, and I enjoy tutoring students in math who range from fifth grade to high school.

      One thing I wish I knew at the beginning of my teaching career that I firmly believe in and know now, is that there is no "math gene" that predisposes certain students to be great at math and others to never understand it, and that the teacher and the techniques and methods are truly responsible for how well students understand math. Furthermore, teachers should acknowledge the fact that math is seen and learned differently by students, and as a result, should be taught in different ways that utilize the various learning abilities of their students. I would say that this probably defines my teaching philosophy when it comes to math. This being said, new teachers must then be able to study math they will be teaching in order to discover the different ways to explain the same concepts.