About Me
Hello, my name is Amy Phan and I am currently an 8th grade Math teacher at this wonderful school!
I was born in Vietnam, and by the age of 6, my family and I settled down in Orange County, CA. From an early age, my parents instilled in me the values of hard work and education. After high school, I focused on achieving a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, a teaching credential, and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of California, Irvine.
I believe I had a calling to become an educator, but one experience really stands out in forming my perspective. In 6th grade I had a phenomenal teacher who inspired me to love learning! But more importantly, I will never forget how she made me feel. From her, I see how one teacher can make a huge difference in a young person’s life.
I am currently on my 13th year of teaching, and in 12 of these years I taught high school math from algebra 1 to Pre-Calculus. I love that my career allows me to bring joy to learning and spark curiosities within my students. I like helping my students think critically, find patterns, and make connections. I want my students to develop a growth mindset. When they reach a difficult math problem, I want them to persevere and say “let me think.” I aim to provide a stimulating learning environment with technologies, hands on activities, and cooperative learning to help students construct a deeper conceptual understanding as well as procedural fluency. I believe the best learning opportunities are the ones that the students create themselves. For that reason, students will engage in learning by doing.
Over the years, it’s been so rewarding for me to have students come back and say that I’ve made an impact in their lives. They appreciate how much I tutored them, encouraged them, and helped them to see the beauty in math. It came full circle for me when a few years ago my former student told me that she’s going to be a math teacher because I inspired her!
Outside of teaching, I enjoy spending time with my husband and our two beautiful children, Ivan and Olivia. We love to cycle as a family, dine out, play board games, and watch action movies.