My experience with teaching
The self-promotion in this post is of the naked sort. I got to TA for twenty-five math courses at UCLA, and I am proud to have received effusive reviews from my students. If you’d like to see more than just the captions on this page, here is the full collection of reviews, warts and all.
Teaching is a calling for me, but “becoming a teacher” isn’t my choice. I think the right perspective is that teaching isn’t one job which takes place in a classroom; rather, with the scalability of modern tech, people with the inclination can become mentors and expositors in all kinds of ways (including this blog). I’m blessed that my math background gives me leverage to enter tech, which seems destined to reshape the way people learn, even more than it already has.
“The professor was often hard to understand and felt distant, but any questions I had from lecture were almost always addressed by my T.A. without me asking.” Anonymous UCLA student, Winter 2017
“He has the ability to predict areas of confusion and clarify them.” Anonymous UCLA student, Winter 2015
Without a doubt, the best TA I have encountered thus far in terms of effectiveness of explanation and concern for his students. Anonymous UCLA student, Winter 2016
“Eric is the most helpful person I’ve met at UCLA. He is clear, concise, and knows how to teach well.” Anonymous UCLA student, Winter 2017
“Personally, I feel Eric was single-handedly responsible for my deeper understanding of the material.” Anonymous UCLA student, Winter 2016
“I never feel afraid to ask a question or clarification.” Anonymous UCLA student, Fall 2014
“…comes to class each day energetic and ready to teach us as much as possible.” Anonymous student, Winter 2015
“He busts his butt to ease any calculus anxiety. He’s a very personable man, too.” Anonymous UCLA student, Winter 2015
“I have not met a TA that is more passionate about helping students than him in my 2 years at UCLA.” Anonymous UCLA student, Winter 2015
Not even exaggerating, you completely switched my outlook on Math…I hated everything that had to do with Calculus. But your discussions really solidified the material and by the last chapter, I actually caught myself saying wow this stuff is interesting if I wasn’t a CS major I’d definitely major in Math. Nathan, Winter 2016
Here’s a video of one of my very first lectures. Not my best work, but not terrible.