Tell us a bit about yourself, where do you teach and what grade/subjects. 

My name is Andrina Alvarado. I am a math teacher at Champaign Central High School, currently teaching Accelerated Algebra 2 and Geometry. 

What inspired you to become a teacher?

Since I was a child I always had a knack for explaining things in ways that could be understood easily. As I continued through the education system, I came to realize that math ultimately was the hardest class for many of my peers. Many of them came to me for assistance in their mathematical studies and through the culmination of years of doing this, I realized I could do and provide something a lot of people can’t. I could help people not only understand the processes of math, but the why’s too. The reason I chose high school specifically, is because at this age students are working through so much and there is a lot going on in their lives. This age group can have real, deep conversations too and that can help continue to kindle interests that they are passionate about. This is also a critical point in their life where they are in need of support and life skills that will serve them in the world beyond. Some of the life skills that I can help cultivate within each of my students includes: problem solving, reasoning, how to approach problems from a different perspective, being able to respect other’s ideas, and being able to explore and evaluate those ideas.

What are your hopes and goals for the upcoming school year?

 My goals for this upcoming school year are to really hone in on the first week of school in not only developing relationships with my students and getting to know who they are and what they value, but also giving them the opportunity to begin to get to know each other better. This, paired with some of the activities I have planned in the first few days will allow for a more dynamic classroom where students are (more) comfortable with being able to share ideas even if they may be uncertain about them. I want to focus on stronger group collaboration this year because students often don’t know how to work in a group with other students, and also just don’t seem to know many other students in their classes which inhibits participation and collaboration. Another reason for this focus is that students seem to sometimes forget that they are all sources of knowledge and experiences that their peers and myself can benefit from and I want to bring that to the forefront in my classroom. 

How do you connect with your students on a personal level and create a supportive learning environment?

I connect with my students by always finding time to have conversations with them or at the very least greet them by their name on their way in. Throughout the day and my lessons I will take time to listen to my students and let them share whatever they’d like as we go. Oftentimes this includes extracurriculars and upcoming events, family birthdays and dinner outings, upcoming work shifts or problems at work, etc. You never know what you’ll learn or be invited to attend, but I love giving the kids opportunities to share who they are with me in whatever way they want. I am even starting a wall this year where students can add photos, artwork, notes or anything they would like to celebrate who they are and the communities they are a part of. 

Can you share a fond memory from your time as a student or a specific teacher that influenced your teaching approach?

I remember in my senior year of high school, my math teacher and I had numerous highly intriguing, non-course related conversations together. The topics we addressed included things from möbius strips to the wasted space of spheres to linear systems within matrices and more. I even remember running my own experiments to try to find some of the answers to the questions and topics we worked on and we would revisit topics throughout the school year. This inspired me as a teacher to make time for some of the ideas and questions students have that are less related to the core content of the class. Sometimes in my classroom, we will together as a class go down these mathematical rabbit holes stemming from genuine, but random questions. It’s a great way to have a little change of pace and show the students that you are also interested in the answer to the question(s) they have posed. This also helps demonstrate that it is okay to play with ideas and math and simply explore possibilities and what their implications would be.