I had the pleasure of teaching Erin last year in Trigonometry and this year in Pre-Calculus. She was usually one of the first to enter the classroom, frequently singing (Phantom of the Opera is what comes to mind). She had a killer seagull impression and would share with anyone who would listen her passion for turtles.
Last year, while being observed by my vice principal and department chair, I gave the class a challenging problem to solve. A couple of the students were able to answer the question and we went over their work as a class. Just as I was about to go on, Erin raises her hand and said, "I did it differently". Given the fact that I was sick and being observed I almost blew her off. Instead I decided, arrogantly, that I would hear her out and find some flaw in the way she attacked the problem.
Erin started to describe her thought process and as I wrote down the equation she had used to solve the problem, I remember thinking, "Son of a gun. This is going to work." Not only did it work, but it made more sense to the rest of the students than the way we had discussed earlier. When I gave the class an exit pass at the end of the period, nearly all of them chose to do the problem Erin's way.
Thank you, Erin, for sharing your time with us. You are missed.
