Welcome to Mr. Karpiloff's Page!

Hello all, and welcome! It is my pleasure to welcome you to my page. I hope you find it useful and helpful. Let me tell you a little about myself. I became interested in teaching as a young teenager when I would stay after school to tutor students in middle school math. From there, the passion just took off! All throughout college I was a substitute teacher in over 10 different schools, teaching age ranges from 2 to 14 years of age. It's my calling to teach; I love coming to work every day and serving your children on their road to becoming a well rounded citizen.

 

I've been at PS 246 for ten years, both in 4th and 5th grade classrooms. Last year, I began my journey in teaching outside of the classroom as an Academic Intervention Specialist in math for Grades 3, 4 and 5, and I've loved every minute of it. To put it simply, I pull small groups of children out who have difficulty mastering the math being taught to them in the classroom, like a group tutor and homework helper who specializes in upper elementary math specifically.

 

It's a real joy to assist children who struggle in math and set them on the road to progress. We first work on changing the mindset from a fixed one, where they may say, "I'm not good at math," or "I'll never understand this..." towards a growth mindset, where they'll instead say, "With more practice I'll become smarter in math," or "Mistakes help me learn and make progress." Once the attitude towards math becomes positive, then we focus our efforts on mastering the 4 operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), then turn to fractions, measurements and geometry. Last, but certainly not least, we connect all these concepts to real life word problems so students can apply the math knowledge they've gained during our time together towards scenarios that require solutions. This not only preps them for the state test, but for real life as well.

 

I do not just focus on students getting the correct answer, but rather on the process and effort they show to calculate their final answers. In other words, math is not just about solving for "x," but about knowing "y." I'm also known in the school as a Rubik's cube nerd, I still enjoy doing cool things like snowboarding, horseback riding, playing electric guitar, and hiking up north. Hope you enjoy this little blurb about me.

 

Cheers :)

Mr. Karpiloff