6-8th Grade Math Teacher
What is your teaching philosophy? I believe all students can learn, but I do not believe all students have the same aptitude for the individual subjects. The trend in modern educational philosophy that all students are equally able has put teachers in the impossible position of having to be everything to every student so they can all perform at the same level of competency. In my experience, students learn different subjects at different rates, dependent largely on their innate intellectual affinity for, actual interest in, and willingness to work at the material they are presented with. This situation seems especially true of the subject of mathematics, which is a subject that requires the development of particular skills. While “drills” are, in my opinion, invaluable to math-skill fluency, I have found the most successful instructors are those who challenge their students with difficult or “impossible” problems, vary their explanations for how math operations work, provide relevant historical and/or anecdotal contexts for their explanations, employ interesting visual aids, and take their students into the world to think about and solve real problems.
Is there anyone in particular who has inspired you as a teacher? Several people, actually. My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Keeling, was first to show me how important it is to take an active interest in your students. I still keep in touch with her. Mr. Mehlbach, my high school world history and psychology teacher, was the first to really challenge me. He taught me how to question. Don Hyndman, igneous petrologist and specialist in natural hazards, taught me how to be willfully precise with my thinking. Don Winston, my dissertation advisor, showed me the value of honestly connecting with students. He taught me perseverance and to trust my own judgment. I think of these four in particular when I’m teaching in the classroom.
What was your most rewarding experience as a teacher? I attended a conference in the fall of 2006, many of the students I taught at the University happened to be there as well. It is sometimes hard to tell if you’ve made a difference for your students, but several of them approached me at various times to let me know what I had done for them. It was probably a small thing to them, but it was a real boon to me. It made me feel like I was on the right track.
What do you love most about teaching? When a student asks a really good question, and when a student makes an unexpected intellectual leap forward in the understanding. Often those two go hand in hand, but it still surprises me that students sometimes actually care about what you’re trying to bring across to them enough to build a conceptual bridge from their side of their own accord. It’s very encouraging.
What do you like to do when you are not teaching? All kinds of things. I’m a geologist by training, so I’m very interested in rocks, or, more to the point, how the world works. I’m a philosopher at heart, though, so my mind is always turning on the metaphysical and the search for truth. Coloring both of these pursuits is my one real innate talent, and that’s art. Mostly that comes out as pencil drawings and photographs, but I have a growing pile of architectural drawings. I like to use my hands and learn new skills. I love to watch movies and good anime (yes, anime) and play certain computer games. My brother and I are writing some fiction books, and I enjoy that process very much. I like to sing songs, mostly to myself, and listen to those that do it better than I. My favorite activity, though, apart from very good conversation over something warm to drink, is hefting my pack and going to visit the high country. It seems I get little time for that these days, but it’s good for my soul.
“I have found the most successful instructors are those who challenge their students with difficult or “impossible” problems, vary their explanations for how math operations work, provide relevant historical and/or anecdotal contexts for their explanations, employ interesting visual aids, and take their students into the world to think about and solve real problems.”
- Matt Zunker, Mathematics Teacher for Grades 6-7 and Social Studies Teacher for Grade 8