Unhinged Math Teacher *Stuff*
Once you’ve been teaching math for long enough,
and you accept that this is your path forward and you decide that you are not going to change careers for the foreseeable future, I think you naturally start to morph into the unhinged math teacher and truly own it. You no longer worry about students’ perception of you, and you look for ways to bring energy and a little bit of crazy into the classroom.
This year’s group of seniors, C/O 2025-26, left a lasting impression and mark on my room with the decorations they gave me. I have been testing students’ Derivative skills and creating Deriver’s Licenses when they earn their license for years now (see blog post HERE about this process). For the first time this year, my students created a Deriver’s License for ME! I’m not sure where they found this amazing side-eye photo of me, but regardless, this is now proudly displayed by my desk :)
The senior class of 2025-26 delivered AGAIN on their last day of high school ever when they presented me with my very own flag: with me depicted as Newton, on an Austrian flag background (I love that they remembered my family lives there!), with the class’ running joke about their mispronunciation of Euler’s name (How many times did I have to say, “It’s OIL-er, NOT YOU-ler!”). Again, how they found another side-eye photo is beyond me, but it’s impressive.
Ahhh, this day will live in infamy. That time I wore a 6-7 shirt on the 67th day of school, which just so happened to be the same day our school brought in professional photographers to get updated photos of our students. Not only did they take photos, but they also filmed and created a video compilation of numerous students and teachers - I can’t believe I’m wearing a 6-7 shirt during the part where I feature in that video.
The senior class of 2024-25 really went all out for this one. I had to leave school for four weeks starting the second week of May, right before the AP exam. I came back before the end of the year, but after the seniors’ last day, so I never got to see them again in class. To make my return to school special, they made what seemed like 200 copies of a photo of me taken by a student right before Christmas break. I look completely ridiculous in the photo, which makes it even more perfect for this prank. They hung this photo ALL over my room, some as displays on the board, some on the windows, and many more hidden throughout my room for me to discover later on. I just recently found one hidden under my desk almost a year later! I took many of them down, but I will probably never take down the ones taped on my window (see photo at the top of this page). They serve as a perfect sun shade and it makes me smile every time I look at it.