Boundary County Middle School
 |
What is surprising is that Mrs. Anderson is our seventh grade MATH teacher! That is correct, our seventh grade math teacher is being tagged as arguably our students’ and parents’ favorite teacher.
It shouldn’t come as any surprise then when staff frequently states that she may be one of our best teachers. I agree with everyone. Sara Anderson is a rare talent who can explain math in a way that connects with students, tries her hardest to do what is best for students, is excited to be a part of our program, and uses all opportunities to reflect and grow.
Sara is a great math teacher. She has a special way of describing the math process which most students can understand and grasp. But more than that, she recognizes when students do not understand and spends time to make sure they do.
She teaches a variety of ways to do the math and complete the problems and uses great real world problems to make a connection to the math that students will understand. On one lesson, she used musical rappers and the fastest speaker on record to teach about rate and unit rate. She uses hands-on experiments like bags of colored marbles to help students understand probabilities and percentages. She uses her own class participation rates as a precursor to lessons she teaches.
Amazing! Connecting real world student interests to math and making sure the proper time is spent on topics so that students understand is what every teacher should seek to do.
Sara is also dedicated to students. She is constantly trying to find a way to connect with students on a more personal level while at school. She takes notes, asks questions, and is willing to try just about anything to get students motivated and helped in the right direction if that is what they need.
She comes to me with ideas about how to help students, even in other classes and/or with their behavior!
When she doesn’t have ideas, she is the first to seek out solutions to any problems she might have (she is a math teacher after all). She has instituted Brain Gym in her class out of a desire to solve the boredom and lack of physical movement during the school day.
Brain Gym is a short time each day set aside for students to “move” in a precise way to music she plays. It is rare to see students not engaged in this activity.
Sara is also the first to participate in any event we have going on at school. She loves to be a part of our entire program. Is it a hat day? She will be a crazy hat! Is it a dress up day? She will be wearing a crazy outfit. Is it a competitive day? She will be signed up and competing against students or staff.
She is very active in our school and the visibility helps her connect to the students at their level.
Finally, Sara is very open to growth opportunities. Just a short discussion with her about what even needs discussed will lead her to think and reflect and make changes if needed. She is always looking for opportunities to learn more and grow as a teacher. It is refreshing to have a staff member who wants to learn and always improve.
Every building needs a Sara Anderson. She is uplifting for the whole staff and makes her mark daily. It is my privilege to have Sara Anderson make student connections, help students in need, participate in our school events, and make math awesome!