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Teaching the chai hypotenuse

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Contributed by: sybil kisken on 11/6/2006

Jennifer Swan ( jennifer_swan@dpsk12.org) is a top teacher for sure. She teaches ninth grade math at CEC Middle College of Denver, a DPS magnet high school that targets students who very often come from families where no one has gone to college;part of the school's mission is to help its students becomecollege-bound.

My charge andfourteen-year-old niece, Bianca, attends CEC and although a very wise and thoughtful student in many ways, shefinds math a particular challenge. I havebeen corresponding via e-mail with Jennifer Swanabout Bianca's struggles in math, and late last week,Jennifer sent me an e-mail invitingBianca and me to meet herSunday afternoon at a local Starbuck's.

Jennifer's policy is that if a student gets a bad grade on a test, they can retake the test as long as theyturned in a study certificate when they initially took the test,certifying that they indeed studied for the test. Bianca had turned in a study certificate for a trig test that she failed, and so Jennifer indicated that she would work with Bianca at Starbuck's on the test until she could pass it.

We arrived at 3pm, and Jennifer was all set up in a booth waiting for us. Bianca sat down, and Jennifer proceeded to explain to Biancathe four major concepts thathad been tested on the trig test and went through each area in detail until Bianca understood them. Then Jenniferdrafted questions, and told Bianca that as soon as she aced aset of problems (Jenniferavoided using the dreaded "test" word), Jennifer would consider that a successful make-up.

Jennifer spentthe next 2.5 hours (on a Sunday afternoon!) patientlygoing over problem after problem with Bianca, continuously comingup with suggestions for Bianca as to how toget each step of the problem right. It was amazing to see thelight come on in Bianca's eyes as she slowly started to understand the steps needed for each of the four problem areas (for example, remembering that the hypotenuse is opposite the right angle by putting your finger on the right angle and remembering that the hypotenuse is then the side that your finger is not touching).

By 5:30 p.m., Bianca had succeeded in transforming her failing grade to a B+! She was so happy and relieved -- she said, "thank you" to Jennifer and Jennifer said, "you don't need to thank me -- I don't give gifts in my class -- you EARNED this B+ with your hard work."

Within 2.5 hours, Jennifer was able toguide Bianca in understanding very difficult concepts, andhelp Biancafeel successful. Jennifer then explained that the reason she includes a trig lesson in 9th grade math, which manystudents don't get until 11th or 12th grade, is to make them realize that they can do very difficult math and if they can succeedwith the trig lesson, they can do anything.

Jennifer's positive reinforcement andstep-by-step instruction made Bianca feel like she is capable of learning math-- at the end of the day, Jennifer asked Bianca how shewas feeling, and Bianca said thatnow she doesn't see math as "evil" -- and it was clear that Bianca was feeling muchless overwhelmed with the prospect of returning to math class on Monday.

Jennifer indicated that she wouldset up another Sunday session with us -- she said that she has had sessions at the coffee house with 18 students at a time, all working on math. That a teacher (a) gives up her Sunday to help a student; and (b) inspires students to give up their Sundays to work on math challenges speaks volumesabout Jennifer Swan.

Jennifer approaches teaching as a team effort -- she has worked all semester withBianca, me and Jennifer as the "team" devoted to helping Bianca "get" math. Jennifertruly cares about her students and strives to help them succeed. But she doesn't lower standards to do that -- she gives the studentshard workand devotes as much time as necessary to helping them learn how to successfully do thework.

The mantra at the end of each e-mail Jennifer sends is a quote by H.G. Wells -- "History is a race between education and catastrophe." I toast Jennifer Swan with a chai latte -- "Here's to a math teacher who is winning the race!"

I nominate her as a top teacher, and indeed think that she shows the dedication, skill and compassion to earning the teacher of the semesteraward.

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sybil kisken

denver , CO

sybil kisken has posted 1 story and 0 comments since joining on 11/6/2006. sybil kisken 's average story rating is 0.

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