Regina Alumna and Mathematics Teacher Emphasizes Different Ways That Females Can be Leaders
This week’s Feature-a-Teacher is Hailey Frederick ’13, one of our mathematics teachers.
What have you found most rewarding during your first year teaching here?
I have found many things to be rewarding in my first year of teaching. I think one thing that speaks volumes is that every day the girls will thank me on their way out of class and that goes a long way as they know I put many hours into their lessons. The girls see that I am super passionate and they are starting to vibe off of it.
Describe what it means to you to be working at your alma mater.
Working at Regina as an alumna is amazing and has made the transition to being a new teacher all that much easier. I love the feeling of being back home and helping the girls celebrate in the various Regina traditions. I think that this has also made building rapport with the girls easy.
How does the all-girls aspect of Regina Dominican influence your teaching?
I think the all-girls environment allows me to emphasize to my students the different ways that females can be leaders. This environment gives me the opportunity to teach them to be leaders and to be confident in mathematics. I am teaching my girls to have a growth mindset and to break the stigma that boys can only be good at mathematics.
What are some of your goals for your math classes for this school year?
My goals are to have the girls be confident in mathematics as well as in themselves. I want my girls to feel that they can accomplish anything. I want my girls to feel that they can go up to any teacher and ask them questions and not feel dumb for doing so.
Your algebra classes are learning matrices right now; can you tell some unique ways you teach this?
I am teaching my girls how to do matrices by hand and by calculator. I find that students learn best when they get to choose a method that works best for them.
Do you have a favorite area of math that you enjoy teaching most and why?
My favorite area of math is all of my algebra classes. I enjoy that there is always an answer and that there are many methods to solving a problem. It is a joy to see the girls come up with new and different ways of thinking about mathematics.
