By SASHA SAVEL and ELLA WEBB
From the volleyball court to the geometry classroom, Ms. Taylor Geen aces it all! Ms. Geen enjoys math and finds it fascinating, and as a new hire is eager to teach all her students no matter what their learning level.
Ms. Geen wanted to be a teacher since preschool. Her love for kids deepened during her work as a camp counselor and babysitter, and this made her certain of her future career. When asked as a child what she wanted to be in the future, she responded “a teacher.”
In high school, she was able to grasp academic subjects easily. However, college forced her to think of new techniques to study and this has helped her to relate to students who understand educational concepts easily and those who don’t.
Ms. Geen attended Binghamton University, majoring in math and Spanish and minoring in education. She then earned her master’s degree at Hofstra University in math education including STEM integration. Ms. Geen has been a teacher for 4 years. She completed her student teaching at Farmingdale and later served as a teacher at Portledge.
Ms. Geen is very appreciative of Jericho’s working environment. She said, “Jericho has an extremely supportive math department and a lovely, welcoming community. I feel so grateful to be a part of it. I’m very excited for my journey here.”
Ms. Geen tries to make class as entertaining as possible in order to keep her students engaged. Ms. Geen frequently incorporates group work to encourage discussion and thinking into her lessons. She also does a lot of interactive activities and relates math to real life situations so students understand that math is necessary and useful in the real world.
Ms. Geen assists her student by explaining the exterior angle theorem to him.
Curriculum Associate for Mathematics Ms. Kriegstein was impressed with Ms. Geen during the interview process. “She had a level of confidence which made her stand out. On her math assessment, she did a great job and led a great demo lesson where she engaged with kids,” Ms. Kriegstein said.
Many students have positive feedback about Ms. Geen. Freshman Queenie D. said, “She is very nice and a thorough teacher. She puts a lot of detail into things.”
Sophomore Ryan S. added, “When she teaches, she’s very descriptive, which makes you get more out of it.”
There is more to Ms. Geen than just being a math teacher. In her free time, Ms. Geen enjoys playing various sports. She particularly likes dodgeball, volleyball, and soccer.