Dan Wekselgreene

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and went to school at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, PA.  I graduated in 1999, and moved to San Jose, where I spent two years volunteering in AmeriCorps.  After that, I got my teaching credential from San Jose State, and taught math for 10 years in downtown San Jose.  In 2011, I began working at Capuchino High School, where I teach various levels of math as well as computer science.   I have a strong belief that all students are able to learn math proficiently, as long as they can develop a growth mindset.  I spend a lot of time in my classes teaching students what a growth mindset looks like, and how this way of thinking is critical to their success not just in math, but in learning in general.  I tell my students all the time: if you don’t experience confusion, then you probably aren’t learning!  Confusion and getting stuck are a normal and expected part of the learning process; it’s how you respond to the obstacles that determines whether or not you learn.  My passion is for helping students with a weak foundation in math learn to tackle their misconceptions head-on, rebuilding their foundation so that they can succeed in math in high school and beyond.

I live in South San Francisco with my wife Jen (who is a science teacher at Cap!) and our two awesome kids, Lev and Ezra.  Aside from regular toys, they love to play with fraction circles and pattern blocks and other math manipulatives - it’s never too early to start!