Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m not a math person?” How about, “I’ve never been good at math?”
While students often say this during moments of frustration, it can reflect a type of imposter syndrome in the classroom. At Archer, spaces like Math Lab break the binary of having “math people” and “non-math people” by giving students the necessary time and resources to improve their STEM skills. Taking place outside of traditional class time, Math Lab is a student support space for upper school mathematicians during three FLX blocks each rotation in room 229. Science Teaching Apprentice L Retterer runs these sessions, helping students prepare for assessments, complete homework or explain unfamiliar concepts.
Students often seek extra help with learning math concepts, Retterer said, but it can sometimes be difficult to find time where both the student and their teacher are available. Math Lab gives students the chance to work with Retterer and get the help they need.
“It’s an open session where anyone can come in with any math homework that they’re struggling with. I can help you work it out or general concepts you want to review,” Retterer said. “The other day, we even had a few girls come in that needed a little help with chemistry, and I was able to help them with that … We’ll talk about the problem, and hopefully [students] can leave understanding the concepts a lot better.”
Eva Fischer (‘28) said her math teacher Leila Chakravarty encouraged her to attend math lab after she found class concepts difficult and requested additional help. Fischer said she attends almost every available Math Lab session she can; most often, she attends Math Lab to prepare for major assessments such as tests and quizzes.
“Math lab is very studious. You can focus very well in it, you can eat in there and you’ll feel motivated because your teachers are behind you to support you and not get sidetracked,” Fischer said. “Ms. Retterer helped me a lot because they gave me a lot of studying and resources to better understand my class work.”
Retterer explained that the attendance of Math Lab can fluctuate depending on how busy students are. Sometimes, a singular student will attend for help, while other times, a group will come in to work together. In the future, Retterer hopes to do small lessons for larger groups of students.
Math Department Chair Jillian Faucett said Math Lab is inspired by the student support groups on college campuses. In past years, juniors and seniors have been tutors for younger students. Given how successful Math Cafe — the middle school iteration of Math Lab — was in creating a “shared language” for math regardless of students’ prior experience, she wanted to expand it to the upper school.
Chakravarty said she also hoped to encourage teachers to remind students that learning math is a collaborative process and that everyone builds understanding at different paces.
“Of the students that I’ve recommended attend Math Lab and have actually gone, I’ve seen an increased confidence and deeper understanding of concepts,” Chakravarty said. “I can’t speak to if that’s Math Lab specifically or just having one-on-one support because only a small number have actually gone, but there is visible improvement.”
Although Retterer currently focuses on teaching science at Archer, they majored in mathematics at the University of Southern California. Retterer said math was a challenge for them when they were younger, but when a tutor showed them that there are many ways to approach a problem, it changed everything. This is what they hope to do for students in Math Lab.
“I think it’s really great to help a student understand how to solve a problem … But in the long run, being able to show them why that methodology works for that problem is going to help them in the future,” Retterer said. “Next time they approach a problem, and maybe it’s on a test and it’s a little bit harder, or their teacher isn’t available, or they’re not in Math Lab, they [will] know the reasoning, [then] they can apply that to another problem.”
