Huntley Middle School teacher helps DeKalb students when math isn’t adding up

DeKALB – Jenni Smith, a veteran educator who’s been teaching for about 25 years, said she always likes to remind her eighth-grade math students at Huntley Middle School in DeKalb that you can’t get from the bottom to the top-most landing without doing all the steps in between.

She said it’s all about building on the skills necessary to ensure that a student doesn’t fall behind.

“The idea behind that is they find those mistakes before they get to an assessment, before they get to a quiz or a test, so that they aren’t making those mistakes going forward,” Smith said.

It’s a concept that Smith said she’s been using to help her students master scientific notation and exponents.

“It is probably one of the harder concepts,” Smith said. “Second semester in eighth grade, it’s pre-algebra what we teach.”

Smith said students usually do well when she divides up the material into chunks so it’s more digestible.

“My ultimate goals are used to get them to love math, but I think because it is that polarizing thing, I think sometimes people are afraid of it. I want to change that perception of it.”

When asked to describe her teaching style, Smith said she can be very strict yet approachable.

“If students do need something, they can come to me,” Smith said. “I do expect them to always be doing their best and try to instill some of those skills, especially as eighth graders are going on to high school.”

Smith has a student-teacher in her classroom this year. She said she takes great pride in building a space for a future educator to learn and grow under her mentorship.

“It’s about trying to always look for ways that I can improve, too,” Smith said. “Is there things that I can do better that then I can also help that student-teacher do better going forward? All of my student-teachers have always gotten a job, sometimes within the district, sometimes within not in this district but in other districts. So, I pride myself on that part of it that I’m helping to prepare them. It is probably just the teacher in me.”

Northern Illinois University student-teacher Maranda Gonzalez said she’s learned a lot from working with Smith.

“I’ve learned so much going into this in the beginning of the year,” Gonzalez said. “I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. Like from [Smith], I learned little things about class management, but I’ve also learned the best way to stay organized. Because as a teacher, papers [are] everywhere. So, I literally learned how to organize, how to manage and also how to have fun at the same time in the classroom.”

Gonzalez said she is starting to feel ready to manage a classroom of her own.

“I’m getting close to the end of my student teaching here,” Gonzalez said. “I’ll be done at the beginning of May, so I feel like I’ve definitely grown a lot. A lot of it is because of her. So, I think I will be ready.”

Smith said her end goal is to get students in a position to like math, if not love it.

“I think that math is very polarizing, and kids either love it or they hate it,” Smith said. “When I meet my students, the very first thing I tell them is that, ‘You might be in a position where you hate math. I need to get you in a position where you like it. You may not love it.’ My ultimate goals are used to get them to love math, but I think because it is that polarizing thing, I think sometimes people are afraid of it. I want to change that perception of it.”