Students, have you ever felt unheard, unwelcome, or wrongfully pressured by your teachers? And teachers, have you ever felt that your students just don’t seem to grasp your education? If you are struggling with any of this Mrs. Mandell has some helpful advice for you.
Mandell has been teaching at Victor for 24 years in the math department. She has taught all math from Algebra I to Pre-Calc. She cares about maintaining a joyful, healthy, safe environment for her kids to fully maximize students’ learning capabilities. She always brings a smile to work, plays background music for her students, never cold calls her students, and is very proud of her job.
Mandell teaches math with the philosophy that “anyone is able to do math it just takes a little bit of practice and confidence” which she said should apply to all classrooms. Making the students feel comfortable asking questions if they are confused about something benefits their comprehension, she says, and the more comfortable the students are with the teacher, the more it works. But, the students have to want to do their work to learn.
Mandell assigns just about a page or two of homework after every class. She states, “The more you give, the more they’re gonna try and copy off someone and just try to get it done. If you give a little amount, and they’re asking for things that are important, students will get it done to know what they’re doing instead of just getting it off their list.”
This definitely works as I am a former student of Mandell’s and the homework proved to be a large benefit to comprehension, while also remaining manageable. Mandell makes sure the homework gets done with a late policy but also understands if there are pressing at-home problems. “Practice makes perfect” she quotes, and the right motivation is key.
Furthermore, Mandell stated “I will try to establish a relationship with my students. Does that mean sometimes my students take advantage of that? I don’t know. Sometimes I think it’s hard to differentiate how I treat my own children versus how I treat my students.”
However, she does not run her classroom on relationships, she runs it on respect as she states, “If you’re just gonna be a mean, cold teacher then your students won’t respect you and that’s gonna be an issue. But, if you’re someone who’s lenient and your students walk all over you that’s gonna be another issue.” Clearly, a healthy balance between the two should help students reach their goals.
Alarmingly, new technology each year is one year closer to education, possibly being fully electronic. In light of this, Mandell believes electronic learning should be kept to a minimum. “Often old school paper and pens are what regents are gonna be on, so it’s really helpful to get your thoughts down on paper”. Evidently, she agrees with the old-school way that has many benefits that online learning does not. For example, it keeps students more focused and engaged with the task at hand.
Additionally, she believes that showing up to work with a positive attitude is always beneficial to the students. But, we all have our good days and bad days. Thus Mandell shares, “my first year of teaching I actually lost a student over April break. It was impossible for me to come back and see that empty seat so I was not able to hold it together. My students to this day when I run into them as adults were respectful of the fact that they couldn’t hold it together, and I couldn’t hold it together, and we could grieve together.”
Her story of how life can get in the way of work sometimes offers an example of how teachers should relate with their students, and be less hostile in teaching as we are all human.
Finally, Mandell adds, “I’m sorry I’m so loud and everyone can hear me in every single hallway of the school. Learn some math from it if you feel like walking by my door.”
So, maintaining a healthy classroom, and teacher-student relationship is essential to providing education. Also, trying your best, practicing, and learning the curriculum are essential to becoming a great student. Students and teachers alike have some homework to do to maintain the benefits of learning.
