ABOUT
Students should feel seen and heard in math class.
Students should feel seen and heard in math class.Dr. Darling is passionate about instruction that welcomes every learner and supports teachers in creating inclusive classrooms. She teaches students and educators about unleashing the power of productive struggle, mistakes, risk-taking, false paths, and neuroscience in learning math. She is a Full Professor at Santa Rosa Junior College, where she teaches GED, teacher education, and Playing with Mindfulness and Math (for Brain Health) courses. Also, she is a Lecturer at University of California Berkeley, teaching social-justice-oriented Precalculus and Calculus 1, blending her commitment to equity in STEM with her drive for social change.
Felicia is a first-generation college student, who lived in poverty and experienced homelessness. Therefore, she takes an empathy-informed approach to teaching. She specializes in instruction that serves students who are under-represented among those with bachelors degrees and in STEM careers. While earning her PhD from Stanford in Math Ed in 2016, she won a Fulbright for documenting innovative approaches to solving community math problems in a Mayan village and working with local teachers to pilot active math tasks that built on students’ funds of math knowledge and fostered a positive mindset around productive struggle.
Felicia is an author and wrote Teachin’ It! Breakout Moves that Break Down Barriers for Community College Students to guide teachers to reach and teach students from groups who have been historically left out of college. She wrote Empathy Unchained™ Heal Your Trauma, Uplift the World to make the world kinder. Her Empathy Unchained™ DEIA Conversation Deck helps nurture conversations that create a culture of belonging in classrooms and campuses. Contact her to get as many free decks as you like. Felicia weaves her yoga, social justice, and mindfulness expertise into her math and teacher education courses to reduce math anxiety and create a more inclusive classroom community. You might laugh while reading her books, since she illustrates them with her untamed Professor Funnies©. Her groundbreaking work has been spotlighted by prominent platforms including Inside Higher Ed, Education Week, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, and Chronicle of Higher Education.
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