This is the story of a "math convert."

I'm Laura Nelson, the owner and lead consultant at MathwaysNW. I work with elementary teachers all over the Pacific Northwest and support them in developing and delivering effective and engaging math instruction.

I really love what I do.
 
But I didn't always love math. In fact, I got my first degree in journalism, partly because it required no math classes. After a few years of pretending to be an advertising and PR junior executive, I hesitantly looked into getting my teaching license. I figured I would be fine if I didn't have to teach math. I would be a great writing teacher, I told myself.
 
Of course, my first job as a teacher was -- wait for it -- as a 5th grade math teacher. I was terrified. So much so that every night I'd prep for the next day's lesson like it was the SAT.

​But something happened during that year. Math began to make sense. My students and I connected ideas and concepts that I had never given much thought to before. And all of a sudden, math was my favorite subject. Turns out I didn't like teaching writing, because it's hard to teach something you never had to learn for yourself. Math? I had to learn it all, and keep my students engaged and challenged at the same time.

After 14 years in the classroom, I had an opportunity to share my enthusiasm for creative and effective math instruction by working as an elementary math consultant (and textbook designer!) for Shannon McCaw. Shannon is a thought leader in math education, and is the author of the top-ranked EdGems Math program for middle school. I worked for SMc for more than four years, until I launched MathwaysNW in January 2019. Shannon and I still collaborate and take on clients together, along with my other math muse, Jen Hunt at New Math Minds. We may all have different business cards now, but we are one big nerdy math family.
 
Converting from a reluctant mathematician to math fanatic has been a completely unexpected, and totally appreciated, journey. I hope to be able to share my enthusiasm for teaching and learning mathematics for years to come!