I had the privilege of teaming with Emily O'Connor starting with the pandemic, working with her and David Berg to transition Making Math Real (MMR) from in-person classes to a distance learning Institute.   Emily generously offered up her creative vision and positive spirit to this incredible process at a crucial time in our shared history, enabling MMR's vital professional development services that so many educators were relying on, to continue just as society was shutting down.  

Emily’s contributions to this unprecedented effort enabled MMR to keep shining its light for parents and educators from around the country and the world, when so many other educational communities were forced to shutter.  

The experience was so successful that MMR permanently adopted the online format.  Emily brought her unique role as Zoom Host & Class Moderator to online course after online course, holding space for a diverse population of teachers, tutors, learning specialists and homeschool parents, empowering them to get the most out of each and every class they attended and returned for again and again.  Her dedicated service supporting David Berg, Making Math Real’s founder, director and instructor, throughout each and every online course year after year, provided a foundation that equipped him to focus 100% of his teaching expertise and innovative talents on delivering his acclaimed methodologies to hundreds of eager learners.

Emily ended up working closely with David for over three and a half years.

Throughout this special collaboration I learned that Emily is kind, empathetic, steadfast, intuitive and wise.  It was my honor to join forces with her and David to make math real for so many dedicated educators and their students during such a challenging time, and in the years that followed.  As the MMR community now mourns the tragic loss of its distinguished founder, director and teacher my gratitude for our era of teamwork runs deep.

Tracy, Making Math Real Office Manager


Emily has been transformative for our daughter from 3-10th grades. Our daughter struggled with both spelling and math due to her dyslexia. After spending hours on simple math and spelling that even she didn’t know what it said, she required an IEP. Unfortunately special education teachers were not trained to actually provided the skills she needed to learn how to decode and ultimately become independent with 504 and straight As. The impact on positive self esteem was huge. Emily spent tireless hours learning how to best connect and motivate our daughter for the long road and extra work required. The effect helped empower our daughter to know what she needed, how to advocate for herself through school bureaucracy, and be a true success. We cannot thank Emily enough. As our schools have said to us, they wished every student could have this opportunity for kids with similar needs. Our daughter finished her junior year with straight A’s with AP classes. Her work with Emily is a foundation of her success.

Anne and Sam S., parents


Watching Emily work with our son for the last six years has been such a privilege and honor. With her warm, calm and welcoming demeanor, she effortlessly formed a connection with him. He quickly felt comfortable with Emily and realized it was a space where all questions are welcomed and encouraged. The Making Math Real curriculum yielded phenomenal results in our son. He went from a frustrated 9 year old who got lost with all the steps and concepts in elementary math to a confident, successful 15 year old who excels at math and experiences such joy helping his younger siblings with their math homework. Emily weaved lessons of resiliency, self-advocacy and finding joy in the little things into all her sessions. She is a natural educator who inspires a love of learning, which is far more important than grades on a report card. Time with Emily was life changing for our son. We will forever be grateful for Emily.

Heather M., parent


My daughter has tutored with Emily since fourth grade.  That was SEVEN years ago.  Emily’s work with my daughter with math through the “Making Math Real” methods has been amazing.  My daughter has learned math fundamentals and truly understands it.  She has excelled in math in middle school and high school because of this.  Math is only one aspect Emily has impacted with my daughter’s growth. Emily has helped with developing my daughter’s confidence and independence in math but other facets of life.  Emily’s impact truly stems from the relationship she builds with her students, approachability and kindness. Both my daughter and I are forever grateful for all that Emily has provided us! I cannot recommend a better tutor.

H. Tan, parent


In the third grade, my daughter was still unable to add a number plus one. We had mixed results at her school with math support, but in the end, we ended up finding Emily, pulling our daughter out of math time at school altogether, and working with Emily two times per week instead. Within one year, my daughter went from not being able to add simple numbers to knowing her times tables. We worked with Emily for over three years. When my daughter reached sixth grade, she was operating at grade level but didn't feel confident enough to face math on her own. At this point, Emily supported her with schoolwork and with concepts around the work to be sure she had the tools to succeed in the classroom. More than that, Emily is a kind, understanding, patient, person who has outstanding rapport with kids. So when my daughter felt that teachers had given up on her, she had Emily in her corner to show her that she is a worthwhile learner. This in itself worked wonders for her in the classroom. We were so nervous when my daughter decided she was ready to stop working with Emily. All of us went through grief at not seeing Emily's kind, beautiful face each week after so many years! But my daughter is now in the seventh grade and an A math student. She has the confidence and skills she needs. Most of all, she knows that if she begins to fall behind again, we can always go back to Emily. She knows that she can ask for help and compassion and receive it. We are so glad we found Emily!

D. Scheidler, parent


Emily O’Connor taught and tutored my son for three amazing years.  He came to her as a fourth grader with first grade level math and reading skills, low self-esteem, and no confidence that he could ever learn. Mrs. O’Connor turned his skills and attitude around quickly.  She has a comprehensive knowledge of how students with dyslexia process information, and countless strategies for teaching them in the way they learn.  Even when explaining complex concepts, her humor and empathy shine through.  My son and I were delighted to find out that he could in fact learn math and reading, and have fun while doing so.

Shannon Koenen, parent


We’ve spent years looking for a tutor like Emily for our 7th grade daughter, Ella.  Our daughter has dyslexia and though her spelling is a challenge, math was her main struggle in school. Since it took us years to figure out how best to support Ella, her understanding of math was significantly behind for her grade level. Even with years of previous tutoring services, she still couldn’t grasp concepts like multiplication, fractions and division. After just a few short weeks with Emily, Ella is finally understanding these concepts and more importantly, feels more confident in math. Emily is amazing and Ella LOVES going to tutoring. 


Gaylen Beatty, parent


As a classroom teacher and faculty leader, Emily O'Connor is consistently innovative, forward thinking, data driven, and results oriented.  Over three years we recorded student gains in math and reading that were unbelievable--multiple grade levels gained each year by students designated as low performing. They certainly are high performing now! I absolutely credit these gains to Emily’s research based instruction and cutting edge teaching. She is truly a dedicated and knowledgeable instructor.


Jacqui Kennelly, former co-teacher


In second grade, our son struggled mightily with math and spelling. We sought greater understanding of his learning profile by having a professional assessment done, which revealed he is dyslexic and has dyscalculia. We first attempted to support him by working with a general math tutor. We quickly learned that this was not enough to help him develop the basic math sense he was struggling to attain due to his learning differences. Fortunately, we were referred to Emily O’Connor for math support using the Making Math Real methodology. Emily was incredibly skilled at keeping our son focused on the work during their one hour sessions, week after week for seven school years. His progress has been incredible and his confidence has grown tremendously. When Emily first began working with our son, we were concerned that he would never be able to complete grade-level math requirements. His teachers now say he shows great comprehension, and just as importantly, has the confidence to answer questions aloud in every class. We attribute the incredible growth in our son’s math skills to his consistent work with Emily. We recommend her highly to anyone seeking educational support for their child.

S. and J. Carlisle, parents


I had the pleasure of working as Emily’s teaching assistant in a math class during the 2013-2014 school year. She had thrown herself into the Making Math Real program, and spent many hours researching the methodologies, networking with mentors, and pouring over her notes. She was very enthusiastic about the program, and her enthusiasm spread like magic throughout the classroom. There were kids in that class who, at the beginning of the school year, were violently opposed to learning math. “I can’t do it,” they said, “I hate math.” By the end of the year, these same kids were amazed at the ease with which they could perform all of the mathematical operations. Emily made numbers come to life for her students. Her way with children is gentle, humorous, and truly caring, yet she is confident and unafraid to get down to business. She showed me how to inspire a lifelong love of learning in students, and as I pursue my own path of earning my Masters in Teaching, I thank Emily every day for what she has taught me. I mean, she makes lesson plans at home for fun. She is a true teacher.


Dan Kimbro, Teacher at Park Academy


After a friend suggested that the root of my son’s difficulties in school might be indicative of dyslexia, our family ending up coming into contact with Emily. Not only was she able to confirm our suspicions in a very direct, professional and compassionate manner, she was able to explain to my son why he was experiencing learning differently from his peers, giving him a tremendous sense of relief and empowerment. Though my son is profoundly dyslexic and the path is not easy, he makes progress with Emily in every session. She emphasizes his strengths. She gives him a variety of tools he can carry with him to assist his learning in many ways. She is very engaging and keeps him on task, without making his lessons seem like a chore. I am confident my son will not end up another statistic that falls through the cracks, but he will be able to move forward with confidence and success in his abilities. I am also certain he will flourish as a strong, differently-abled role model for others. I cannot thank Emily enough!  
 

Jenn Dawson, parent


Before meeting with Emily, we had tried two years of Orton-Gilliam tutoring three days a week, a semester of a specialized dyslexia school and multiple IEP support systems. Absolutely nothing provided the results that merely 5 sessions with Emily provided for my daughter. I witnessed my daughter have an A-Ha moment using the Making Math Real and watched her move from a confused and frustrated learner to an inspired and confident student. I'm immensely relieved to have found Emily for my daughter as it is with her skilled help my daughter is finally  experiencing success.

Molly Padulo, parent

 


Over the last seven years Emily has supported Sophie in more ways than one. Emily has not only given her practical tools to help her understand and complete her math homework and exams, she has given her confidence and the encouragement to believe she could succeed. Beyond this, Emily reframed what it means to be dyslexic for Sophie and our family, examining the labels and barriers of a system that rewards one way of learning.

At school, Sophie’s math teacher attributed her low participation to a behavioral issue, as unfair labels often follow children with different learning styles. Emily went to bat for Sophie, offering a different approach to her math teacher to meet Sophie where she was, instead of punishing her for not understanding.

I believe Sophie now sees herself as capable in math, still having to work harder than many, but able to navigate with the tools she has acquired through her time with Emily.

Veronica Flinn, parent


Emily is supportive, caring and makes tutoring fun. She’s taught me to advocate for myself and talk to teachers regarding my dyslexia. I’ve always felt supported and excited to go to math tutoring. Emily has helped me not just improve but be excited to learn.

Sophie Presnell, student