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01/25/2024 09:55 AMJanuary is National Mentoring Month, and that’s a great time to recognize and thank the people who support and guide others toward achieving success in their lives. Teachers like North Haven High School (NHHS) 10-year math veteran Lisa Zarcone is certainly one of those people—both for her students and future educators in her field.
Lisa is certified “to do anything” among the various branches of mathematics, with a primary focus in algebra at the freshman level at NHHS. Accompanying Lisa in her classes is a senior student teaching assistant (TA) for honor level students and two apprentices, including a first-year teacher and a college graduate who is on track to also become a teacher.
Lisa feels that having a TA serving as a second mentor in the classroom is valuable for students who may be struggling and need to have someone who is around the same age conveying their understanding of the subject.
“I think the main thing is just for her to get to know the kids. So, we always spend time in the beginning of the semester [when] she sits and observes and she watches just like I would as a teacher,” Lisa says of her current TA. “I want her to use her strengths. So, when I delegate tasks that have to be done, I might put her with students that are at a lower level because I know she's at a high level of math understanding. I just tell her, ‘Think of it like you're helping a friend you know.’”
Some of Lisa’s previous TAs had no desire to become teachers, but Lisa says that they still recognized the importance of supporting others and looked to her as an example of how a successful math class can translate to other fields. Lisa notes a previous TA who has the “innate ability” to want to help others, specifically children and young adults, and wound up going into nursing after high school.
Lisa’s early years teachers are on different levels than the TAs, as will they sit in for her as the one in charge of the class. Lisa shows them “every possible thing you could do” and gives them “a bag of tricks” on how to handle any situation that may arise. There is also more collaboration between Lisa and those teachers that includes “a constant flow of communication.”
“The support is different because they're building their career, versus the seniors,” Lisa says.
Classroom management is an important quality that newer teachers need to be well-versed in and is typically one of the areas in which Lisa provides the most support.
“They’ve never been in control of 27 students and all their personalities and all the quirks that they have,” she says. “Experience is the best teacher and they have to go through it, and it’s my job to talk them through and be like, ‘Alright, what happened? What did you do? What do you think you should have done?’ And, did it work? Or if not, then we'll find another way.’”
As she navigates those personalities and quirks, Lisa emphasizes that one of the most important aspects of being a teacher is establishing trustworthy relationships with students, without encroaching upon friend territory. Discipline is important, but so is creating positive interactions with students who may find that they are excited to show up to class.
“I always try to show them [to] find that connection, show them that you care for them, because once they know you care for them, everything else kind of falls into place. If they trust you, they'll work for you. They’ll know the limit, and it’ll make their job as the teacher easier because they're not battling all these behaviors,” says Lisa. “Even the worst math student—if they trust you, if they like you, if they know you care—you'll get something out of them, and you will mean something to them. That's really what we want as educators.”
Lisa is also the leader of NHHS chapter of the national Mu Alpha Theta mathematics honor society, where mathematically proficient students entering their senior years are celebrated for their achievements in the subject. Events with the honor society have slowed since the pandemic, but have been celebrations for those students nonetheless, such as those on March 14, also known as Pi Day.
“3.14 is Pi, so we make this whole celebration about celebrating mathematics.” Lisa says. “It's a silly thing. It's not a real holiday, but we had pie-baking contests and pi memorization and all these little silly kind of like carnival-type games that promote mathematics. The kids love it because they get to run it. They get to decide what activities to do.“