Faculty Focus: October 2024

I have a Bachelor's of Science in Integrated Mathematics Education from Miami University otherwise known as “Miami Ohio.”

I was teaching in Ohio prior to Fenwick! I taught at two different high schools, both in the suburbs of Cincinnati. I have also worked many seemingly random jobs while in school or over summers. I have been an underwriter, a paralegal and a research assistant, to name a few. 

I am currently reading “Beach Read” by Emily Henry, clearly trying to soak up the last vestiges of summer before we hit spooky season.

It depends on the season. If the weather is nice, you will find me swimming in the closest body of water. As soon as the weather gets cold enough, I am skiing at any open resort within driving distance. I love to cook and bake to relieve stress, and am an avid reader of virtually every genre.

When I was a student I was a member and choreographer for our dance company, Orchesis. I was involved in choir for my first three years of high school (for everyone's ears it should have been one). As a senior I acted as a classroom aide/teacher's assistant for one of my former teachers. I helped tutor freshman students in his Algebra I class, which helped spark my interest in teaching.

Nothing currently, but I will be potentially helping choreograph for Banua in the Spring!

Every Fenwick student I know has relentless determination. Whether it's academics, athletics, or personal achievements, every student is incredibly hard-working and achieving when it comes to their goals. Above all, Fenwick students show a kindness and compassion to each other that everyone should replicate.

Throughout my high school experience, my friends and I always helped tutor one another in various subjects. I started to truly enjoy it while helping as a classroom aide in a freshman math class. When I started college, instead of following my gut, I took a detour and spent two years studying engineering and working in a research lab. I hated every minute of it. 

I spent Christmas that year thinking about what I truly enjoyed doing, and I kept coming back to all the great moments I had helping teach those freshmen. I changed my major within the first week back from break and never looked back. The first person I confessed to about switching was my younger brother who was still in high school at the time. He told me rather bluntly that I was the last person to figure out I was meant to teach. I have had plenty of ups and downs, but I know I have picked the best possible career for me!

There is a term coined in academia called, “The Teacher Curse.” To summarize, it's hard to remember what it was like/who you were before you learned something in school. It's hard for us as teachers to go back and remember what it was like to not know what polynomials are, or logarithms, or (insert concept from your chosen subject here).

I am an empathetic person by nature. I am very good at picking up patterns, especially patterns of behavior (it comes with the territory of teaching math). I am always listening to students and on the lookout for repeating patterns of mistakes - what potholes tend to appear with this topic, and how do we avoid them? These mistakes can change with each group of students. I am always adapting my teaching to what students need at the present moment. As such, I am always a student first and teacher second. We never stop learning, and we never should.

I have worked at several schools at this point in my career between Ohio and Illinois. From every school I have taught in, I have students that email me life and school updates quite regularly. It is always a good day when I get one of those emails, especially since every single one of them mentions how much they miss our class. It also doesn't hurt when they mention I am still their favorite math teacher.

"I see this as an absolute win." -Avengers: Endgame

I think many students today are stretched too thin and asked to walk a very narrow tightrope. We have high expectations for our students, but their expectations for themselves are even higher. It's seemingly impossible to fit everything they do in a given day. I think we are constantly challenging the modern student to be perfect. I think as an educator it is important to remember that this is the age to make mistakes and learn from them. As such, it is important to maintain expectations, but also offer students some much-needed grace.