Honors Geometry and Algebra II teacher Mrs. McConnell received January’s Staff Spotlight. McConnell has been teaching for nine years, five of them spent here at CHS.

Q: What steps did you take leading up to working here at CHS?

A: “After high school, I went to college for Math and secondary education at Cabrini University in Pennsylvania. I got a teaching job in Philadelphia right out of college and I went back for my masters at Cabrini and got it in Education. I taught there for about 4 or 5 years, went to Hawaii, and didn’t do much education there because I knew it was just a pit stop. When I came to Virginia, I stopped by at a job fair and just happened to see Virginia Beach Schools there and thought, ‘Maybe I’ll get back into education. ”

Q: How would you describe your teaching style/your most successful teaching strategy?

A: “With math, for me, I really like to work through it with you. “I do, we do, you do”. I like to show kids what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, work through the problems with them, and be clear of any misconceptions. Then I like them to try it on their own. That’s how I learn it best, so I try to do a lot of it in class.”

Q: What is most rewarding thing about your job?

A: “The most rewarding part is the relationships that you get to build with students. I like that I come in and the day, for the most part, goes by really quickly because you really just get to hang out with students and it’s the most rewarding when you can actually help them in your content area or even if it’s in their personal life. When you actually see that you’re helping them, that’s the best part of it.

Q: How do you motivate your students?

A: “I try to reason with them a lot. A lot of kids come in and are like ‘Why do I need this class?’ or ‘When am I going to use this?’ and it’s really hard to answer that question because, for some students, they might be coming towards the end of their math journey so I try to motivate them by saying that this is just something they are going to do so either your going to do bad at it or your going to put your best foot forward and try your best. For me, I just don’t like doing something poorly, I don’t like failing or not putting in effort for something so I just try to motivate them to do the best they can.”

Q: What impact do you wish to have on your students? 

A: “I don’t, for the most part, care if my students remember what they learned in my class. I want them to remember how they felt in my class. I hope that they can look back and if they remember me, they remember that I was kind and I was understanding of their circumstances and that I tried my best to work with them to be successful.”