Ms. Snyder:
What clubs/extracurriculars do you sponsor? Why do they interest you?
I sponsor the Tennis Table Club and Glee Club. Table Tennis Club was founded by a former student of mine who asked me to sponsor, and I couldn’t say no. The club is very welcoming and encourages friendly and sometimes fierce competition. I also sponsor Glee Club, which includes a subgroup of students who specifically enjoy and appreciate K-pop. I enjoy listening to K-pop as it reminds me of the boy bands and girl groups that were all the rage when I was younger.
How does science inspire you?
Science inspires me to be curious and to seek out answers. My students always come up with the most interesting questions, which are a blast to discuss and dig into together. I enjoy being able to help students as they grapple with challenging problems and seek out answers to questions that they might have thought they couldn’t initially answer.
How do you want your students to feel when they leave your class?
Exhausted and accomplished. I want my students to reflect on their work over the course of the year and feel proud of how much they’ve grown and to ultimately walk away knowing that they are capable of doing hard things.
If you could teach any other subject outside science what would it be and why?
Maybe in another life, I might have been an art teacher, but currently, my artistic side is really underdeveloped. I really enjoyed art history as a student and think that it would be fun to teach, as there is so much to analyze and analyzing art and architecture can feel like a puzzle.
What’s your favorite teaching method and why?
My favorite teaching method would be using student created models to see what my students are thinking and inquiry activities to allow students to come up with their own ideas and understanding. In class, this looks like drawing before and after diagrams and particulate models and POGILs – the group activities with models to analyze and stop signs that have us pause and confer with one another.
What’s the best part of being a mom?
Everything! The cuddles, sleepless nights, playtime, messy meal times – it’s all so special! But I think the cuddles are #1.
Ms. Lu
What is your favorite and/or most useful calculus concept?
My favorite is the infinite series. The most useful is the integration technique. First of all, the integration technique is very important when you continue in college. Second is that you can also apply it to other subjects. The infinite series was my favorite because that’s the one that got me into math. I was not what people call a good student- I did not like school, I just behaved but I didn’t like to study that much. Then, during the time I was a small child, I was wondering why point nine repeating was equal to one, and then my father told me that you have to learn the infinite series concept, so that made me start learning math on my own. So by the time I was 13 years old, I finished calculus, then I figured out why point nine repeating equals one. So all these infinite series concepts really got me into math.
What is the best thing a student can do for a teacher?
Do homework. The best thing students can do for teachers is to do homework, we do homework every night, except on a no homework night. And the other thing is just, like, I really like students to be respectful to teachers and also to their peers/classmates. I think generally speaking, everyone should be nice to each other so we can create a very healthy and happy environment so people can help each other and learn more.
Where did you think you would be if you were 16?
When I was 16 I always wanted to be a detective. But my mom said I cannot run fast so even when I liked math so much I still wanted to be a detective. But no, eventually I became a chemical engineer and now I’m a teacher.
If you could teach any other subject outside of math what would it be and why?
I really want to be good at language. Right now I’m learning Spanish. I really hope I can make some progress in language so I can teach some language class or something but I am just not good. At least I could study Spanish or I want to learn dance, but I cannot move. I also watch video(s) for Spanish. Yeah, those things take time. So if (I) don’t do math, I want to do language.
And then what’s the favorite thing you like to do in your free time?
I like to travel. And I also like simple, good food. During spring break, the summer time, in the winter break, or Thanksgiving break, I always travel. I always reserve about two weeks to go to see my mother.
What are your favorite books?
A Brief History of Time- this is a physics book. Infinite powers- that’s a math book. And the other book I like is the first calculus book- calculus made easy. I like all these books. I (have) read the infinite powers like three times and A Brief History of Time- I don’t know how many times I read it.
