Throughout my whole life I have never been that good at math. I never really saw the need for most of the stuff we learned, and I couldn’t understand how to do most of the lessons. A lot of the problem was because the class was so boring, and I couldn’t pay attention and learn it. In seventh grade I thought math class would be the same useless and boring class like always. That was not the case. I walked into class and met my teacher, Mrs. Cireniak, and I knew I would love her class from that day. She was so outgoing and made me laugh the whole class. Mrs. Cierniak was by far the best math teacher I have ever had.

Mrs. Cierniak was the only teacher who could keep me focused for the whole class. She taught us by using examples that would happen in real life, and by teaching us little songs to remember rules. To this day, I still remember those songs about adding and subtracting positives and negatives, and I still use them everyday in math class. The best part of class was when she talked in all her different accents and made us repeat the rules in those accents. Math class was no longer that class that I dreaded going to everyday. I actually looked forward to her class.

Another memory I will always have is when we had to make up our own raps and record everyone singing them. I still use those songs everyday to remember the rules that she taught me. In our class, some students were better at math than others, but Mrs. Cierniak always made sure everybody understood the lesson before moving on. She always offered extra help on her free time to stay after school and work with those who were a little slower with the lesson. She cared about each student and really wanted everyone to be successful. If it wasn’t for her, I would have never learned the importance of math, and how much we use it in our everyday lives.

With most teachers, the lessons are usually just memorizing it until the test and then forgetting how to do all of it. Mrs. Cierniak is the only teacher I have ever had that i could actually understand the lesson. She used real scenarios and games that got everyone involved so that the whole class was participating in every minute. I still use all of those songs and tricks she taught me to remember the rules, and I will continue to use them throughout my life.

Overall, Mrs. Cierniak is not only the best math teacher, but she is also a great person. She always came to class with a positive attitude that made the entire class want to learn. Since that year, I have gotten A’s and B’s on every math test that I have taken. I am nominating her for Educator of the Year because she taught me the importance of math, and without her I would have never gotten to where I am today.