Ms. Quindy Salomante, a first-year teacher of Algebra 2 and Geometry S/T, is the newest addition to ERHS’s math department, located in room 114. Ms. Salomante is a Texas native, having graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a major in mathematics and a minor in secondary STEM education.
Prior to teaching at Roosevelt, she was a student teacher at a magnet school in Mesquite, Texas. She describes the role as unique, saying, “I filled in the spot for a teacher. So a lot of it because of that, I was pretty much thrown into it.” At 19, she was a substitute teacher at an elementary school, which she loved so much that she thought, “Let me actually go to school for that.” When reflecting on how Roosevelt’s 45-minute classes and no block day schedule have affected her teaching, she admits it’s a challenge: “Especially with the pacing, you pretty much have to be like bam, bam, bam.” On a positive note, she adds that it helps her be more organized and “you gotta, I feel like, stay more on top of it with a 45-minute schedule because there’s a lot of leeway within an hour and a half.”
Despite such challenges, Ms. Salomante finds herself in a good position as she continues her new role as a math teacher. In her classroom, she has introduced teaching methods that are unique to a math setting, incorporating a digital notebook and online platforms such as Desmos to engage her students as well as help neurodivergent students who have trouble with keeping physical items organized. “I’d say that Ms. Saeed and I, since we’re both the young math teachers, we’re kind of like the iPad kids, because we both include the most amount of technology in our classrooms,” she notes.
As far as her teaching goals for the school year, she adds that she wants to continue using “much more engaging activities, rather than direct teaching with my students, is something I’m trying to strive for. Like, I try to avoid, or I try to give them an even amount of tests and projects because there are definitely students who do well on tests, but there are also students who, you know, aren’t great test takers, and those tests aren’t reflective of what they actually know.”
Ms. Salomante’s students have an optimistic outlook for the upcoming year with her and have warmly welcomed Ms. Salamante into the Roosevelt community. Charlene Hyousse is a 9th-grade geometry S/T student in Ms. Salomante’s 4th period and has taken a liking to Ms. Salomante’s teaching style. “One thing I noticed is she actually allows us to be more interactive.” Hyousse noted that this hands-on approach to teaching has made the class as a whole very enjoyable and a positive learning environment “as opposed to other math classes, [where] it’s more like if you get it, you get it and if you don’t you don’t.” As a whole Hyousse has very high hopes for her year with Ms. Salomante: “I see myself being very successful in this class because she allows me to like process stuff more.” In her short time at Roosevelt, Ms. Salomante has created a very positive and productive learning environment for her students.
With her enthusiasm and commitment to the new school year, Ms. Salomante has made a lasting impression, setting herself up for a prosperous first year at Roosevelt.
saran • Oct 8, 2024 at 8:48 am
I like that you incluced what she thought about the 45 minute class peroid, because that is a big difference between us and other school that do block days.