From Diane Irmler, Mathematics teacher, :
I have spent 28 and a half years teaching at Sleepy Hollow HS and knew I fit the very first day I walked in. I have taught almost every course there is to teach in the High School Math Department and I have taught at every level from honors to remedial. It is such a rewarding job. Someone once said, it's not about teaching MATH, it's about teaching PEOPLE about math. And, I whole-heartedly agree. I have so many fond memories of my students through the years. It's funny, because some of the more, let's call them "challenging" students are the ones that I grew the fondest of. Many of them are teachers and, yes, even math teachers.
I am known for my "bag of tricks," these are just routines and strategies to make math easier to deal with. My students sing to handle quadratic equations, act out mathematical compositions and cheer trig formulas, whatever is necessary to help it "stick."
To this day, I have former students stop me on the street and they remember things. I recently saw a SHHS graduate from 10+ years ago. She said the following, "I remember something. Sine, cosine, cosine, sine, cosine, cosine, sine, sine. What is that?" It made me laugh. (By the way, you have to say it with a certain rhthym; it is the cheer used to remember the formulas for the sum and difference of trig functions.) I never expected her to remember that routine that long.
Each year that I have taught Algebra 2 Trig, I get to the part of the course where we study imaginary numbers. I'll say to my students, "Your parents were there for your first steps, for your first words, but I was there for you first imaginary number."
Will I teach anymore? I really hope I will. We will see what doors open. My hopes are to travel, devote some time to my family. The years have just flown by.
In the remodeled high school my classroom has been 211 West. Sometimes at the end of a lesson, I will say, "Good times, 211 West." Sometimes students will say it too. Thanks Sleepy Hollow, I will miss you!!!
Best regards,
Diane Irmler
