Hi there,
I’m Chanie

Educator for 20+ years
Math Coach for 10+ years
Master in Educational Leadership
Founder & CEO of Coffee & Pi

my mission

To foster a love of math in teachers and their students. To teach them how to feel comfortable, and even joyful, around numbers. To show them that math isn’t scary, but a creative (yes, creative!) language that they can master with the right strategies and tools.

I believe that every self-professed non-math person has a math person hiding inside them. And it’s the teacher’s job to unleash it.

The methods I teach are relatable, user-friendly, effective, and surprisingly fun. They save teachers loads of time and prevent them from barking up the wrong trees. They’re both highly researched by the bigwigs of academia and tried-and-true by the hundreds of down-to-earth teachers I’ve worked with. They give teachers the confidence they need and deserve to teach math with joy.

I never thought I'd be a math teacher. But after spending a few years teaching 2nd and 3rd grade Judaic studies, I was asked to take over a 4th grade general studies class. 

Initially hesitant, I jumped in head-first—and I LOVED it. I was reminded how much I enjoyed learning math as a kid. My students started to catch that excitement too.

After 3 years of 4th grade, I asked the principal if there were any openings for a math-only departmental position, and the rest is history. 

my story

Lessons in Non-Linear Paths

Almost 15 years later, I still meet former students who tell me that they remember loving 8th grade math. And it still makes my heart sing.

Solving for the Success Variable

Soon, I was teaching math full-time to multiple grades. Educating many grades at once gave me a unique perspective on how math skills progress from grade to grade and a big picture view of how they should be taught over the course of a child’s schooling.

I became obsessed with understanding how students learn math and why so many fall through the cracks, leading them to believe that they can't master the subject.
 
I researched, studied, and took courses. I dedicated countless after-school hours and weekend mornings to analyzing math education books over coffee. 

I discovered that number sense is not just something you “either have or don’t have”—that it was my job as the teacher to develop this number sense in my students

I started practicing Number Talks exercises (a method focused on enhancing number sense and mental computation skills) on my friends, family, and of course, my students. The results were magical. It was like waking up dormant math muscles that they didn’t know existed. 

I found myself working with students through the lens of curiosity: what path do I need to take to locate their inner math person? It wasn’t a matter of whether they could, but how I could help them get there.

Creating Exponential Impact

In 2013, a few colleagues suggested I share my tools and insights with other educators. I fell in love with guiding teachers on how to ignite a love and enjoyment for math in their students.

Since then, I've coached teachers in over 40 schools across NYC and conducted workshops from Florida to California, Michigan and at regional conferences. I’ve coached hundreds of teachers, who, in turn, have touched the lives of thousands of students. The scale of this impact still astounds and deeply humbles me.

Working with teachers, both rookies and veterans, I've seen firsthand how many educators carry their own math traumas, often stemming from rigid, black-and-white teaching styles that focused on rote memorization.

When they confess to me that they don't see themselves as "math people", I can't help but smile. I know we're on the cusp of a transformation.

There's nothing more rewarding than witnessing their revelations, their exclamations of, "Wait! Why didn't we learn math this way?" or "I can't believe how much I loved teaching about fractions!"

With my schedule at capacity and a growing waitlist for in-person math coaching, it was clear I needed to expand my reach. Thus, the idea for Coffee & Pi online courses was born.

3 Little-Known Facts About Me

i play a mean game of scrabble

There’s equal part word skill equal part math skill in that game. My mom was by far my best Scrabble competitor.

I cannot do my own taxes.

This is not math.

I got a taste of how math anxiety feels...

... when I decided to learn how to swim in my 30s. I gained so much more than swimming skills in the process. I learned that:

1) People really do learn things at their own pace. 
2) The right teacher and methodology make all the difference.  
3) For the student, even the tiniest win feels like a miracle.

This project is dedicated to my favorite student.

I know teachers aren't supposed to have favorite students. But I do. She was also my biggest cheerleader. My inspiration. My mom.

My mother, quintessentially British down to her 4 o'clock cup of tea, was brilliant in so many ways. A polyglot who spoke five languages, she was known for her high-level Torah classes that provided spiritual nourishment to those seeking more. She was a beloved mentor and guide whose wisdom was sought out by many.

She was also a self-proclaimed math phobe who deemed herself "hopeless with numbers." Mysteriously, those fears were nowhere to be found when she was mentally multiplying double-digits and calculating percentages for work, or competitively adding up Scrabble points when hitting a triple word score. Something didn't add up. (Pun intended.)

I’d put on my professional hat: “Ma, you do know math. You’re doing it.” And she’d say, “Really, you think so? Me?”

Still, she loved to tell people about the time she bought a book called Overcoming Math Anxiety but was too afraid to open it up.

During Covid lockdown, she joined my online classes for Bais Rivkah students, incognito as “Rivka” from “Administration”. She decided that this was her big chance to learn fractions and Algebra along with the other kids. I’d teach the same lesson twice in a row, and she almost always joined both. “I love watching you teach. And besides, I could use the practice,” she'd say.

My mom received a sudden diagnosis in September 2020 and passed away just a few months later. A couple months afterward, I was sifting through some mail and found her math notebook from my classes. It was filled with correct answers. No surprise there.

My mom would have been thrilled about this project—and telling everyone, as she always did, how proud she is of her kids. And I hope this project makes her as proud as she always made me feel to be her daughter.