Introducing Manhar Dalal

"I have my 8th Grade yearbook by my desk, in it they asked me 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' My answer was 'Math teacher' - so I have been on this train a long time," recalls a smiling new MyEdSpace math teacher Manhar Dalal.

"Math was definitely my thing. My dad was very keen on getting me into it from a young age, so even before I could read he would be setting me these little math challenges to solve. So, I was pretty hardcore into math from a very young age."

With a love for numbers and problem-solving established long before kindergarten, it's perhaps no surprise that by 8th grade Manhar was harboring dreams of a career in the classroom. But, he says, his love for the subject really ramped up a notch in high school, where math competitions were a huge focus.

"I was lucky that the high school that I went to had a very, very strong math competition team which was spearheaded by these two incredible teachers. We had like 200, 300 kids that would go to some math competitions on a Saturday morning. It really helped me to excel in math because it gave a focus to my whole year, which basically revolved around the math competition calendar. The competitions started in January. So, from August to December, it was all about getting super prepped for the content. We'd have after-school practice and tests, and there was this whole social side to it. I was so lucky that I just happened to be in this high school, in this small town, at the right time."

"I remember one State-wide competition when I was maybe in Pre-Calc, with something like 1,500 kids and I managed to get a clean-sweep of Top 10s, across all the different specialities. That was pretty awesome. My mom still has my old trophies on display."

Alongside the competitions, Manhar's thoughts increasingly turned to how he could make his dream teaching career a reality - even if it meant joining a local rival.

"I was very motivated. I knew I wanted to be a math teacher. There was no question in my mind. So, I had a pretty singular focus," he begins.

"In high school I took a ton of AP classes and I did dual-enrollment, so I started college with 59 credits, which allowed me to graduate in three years. In my second year of college, I started volunteering at a local High School that was kind of a rival of my old high school math team. Volunteering there opened up an opportunity to do a teaching internship at that school, and then because I did a good job, they offered me a job. I worked there for four years until I left to go teach in Dubai."

Dubai proved to be the first stop on a teaching career which would take Manhar into a huge variety of classrooms around the world - giving him experiences which shape the teacher he has become.

"Teaching is dramatically different everywhere you go," he explains. "In Florida I was working in an elite-school, so the students were all outstanding. Then in Dubai, it's the complete opposite, teaching kids who are miles behind in math. In China I had students who were super keen, super motivated and had this incredible support system behind them. Then, I came back and taught in Baltimore public schools, and that's different again. It's really helped me to become a better teacher, because I have the experience to recognize all these different types of learners, or situations, and pitch the lesson accordingly. I think one of my strengths is reaching my students where they are- and that comes from building up all those different experiences."

Two of the most defining came in that first stop in Dubai.

"I remember early on in my time in Dubai I was stood at the white board writing out a problem and I heard this commotion behind me. I turned around and two students have climbed up onto the desks and are jumping from table to table, chasing each other and fighting. I thought 'what have I walked into here?!' Coming from an elite school in Florida, I hadn't experienced this sort of thing before, and it taught me a lot about managing a classroom."

"Then, a few months later I met this kid who was in Grade 10 I think, but his math was miles behind where it should have been, I think like a Grade 4, or 5. He approached me after a lesson and said he really wanted to get better. He'd recognized that math would be important for his future and he thought I could help him. For the rest of that year he worked so hard. We'd do lunchtime lessons, after-school classes, everything. I still remember him spotting me across the quad at the end of the year clutching this piece of paper. He came running over so full of joy. 'Sir, sir, look', he said, thrusting the paper into my hand. It gave a score that showed how much improvement students had made in math, and over the course of that one year, he'd made the equivalent of five years worth of improvement. The number is impressive but what I remember is his joy and the feeling that he'd worked hard and got the results he wanted - and deserved."

After his time in Dubai, Manhar returned to the US to complete a Master's degree at Harvard University.

"They had this awesome program called 'Math for Teaching', which combined high-level math with classes tailored specifically towards teaching math."

"Attending Harvard was an amazing experience, but definitely a little intimidating at first. You're walking past all these buildings with 100s of years of history and there were some nerves. I remember thinking 'OK, this is real now, I have to go and sit in that room with everyone and make sure I don't embarrass myself', you know? That said, I was lucky in that I went to Harvard when I was in my 30s, so I was pretty confident in my ability - and I was in a position where I could recognize and appreciate how special it was to be there and to really take it all in."

Manhar's confidence was well-founded and he graduated with a 3.85 GPA, earning the highest honors available.

"Graduating was really special. My wife graduated from Penn State the same year and we took some photos together in our caps at my graduation. I really savoured the whole experience and they're really special memories for me. I mean, graduating from Harvard and having my wife right there with me? That's just an experience you never forget."

Harvard scroll in hand, Manhar's teaching career took him to China, for a few years, before he again returned to the US, but now with a renewed focus. Having seen the dramatic impact quality teaching could have on students, Manhar was on a mission to spread that impact far beyond classroom walls.

"I saw MyEdSpace and this is an awesome way to have a positive impact on more than a select-few group of kids. Here, I have the opportunity to teach 100, 500, 1,000, hopefully 10,000 students at once - and I don't think there's anything else in the world right now where one person's skill and experience can help so many people at once. That's really exciting."

We agree Manhar. We agree.