Mycah Segers
Nashida Bertrand is one of several first-year teachers at Memorial.
Memorial High School has hired a few new teachers in its second year of existence. One of those is Nashida Bertrand, who teaches financial mathematics.
The Memorial Messenger sat down with Bertrand for an interview to discuss her thoughts on her students, her career before she became a teacher and what it’s like working at Memorial.
Q: What’s the hardest and easiest to teach being a first-year teacher?
A: I wouldn’t say it harder or easier, I would say everyone’s different. Everyone understands at a different level, so it is not just about what’s the hardest/easiest thing to teach. It is the fact you have to give certain students more explanations or you have to repeat it more times than to others. Also teaching students classroom management. Teaching that it’s OK to talk because you’re a kid but be respectful when the teacher is teaching, that you be quiet and when doing group work you can talk.
Q: What made you decide to become a teacher?
A: To be honest, I love math and sometimes it may seem boring but l just wanted to show people that you can have fun doing math. I want to be able to show people the ways of math and the uses of it in the future, not just because someone made up letters and numbers.
Q: What’s your first impression of the students?
A: To be honest, they at first didn’t do anything that I didn’t expect. They just talked a lot so it wasn’t anything that was unexpected. I grew up in a different culture. The classroom is different so when I was in high school, when the teacher arrives we stand up to greet them, then sit down. Here students already enter class so they don’t have a chance to do that. It’s not necessary, but it’s just very different. Also, they have to warm up to you, so when I first came they didn’t know who I was and didn’t know how I would treat them, and they were more standoff-ish. I expected that because they want to get to know you first and before they’ll probably be more closed off.
Q: What other subjects do you teach or want to teach?
A: Maybe something to do with engineering or manufacturing engineering. That’s what I majored in university. I love engineering. I love the aspect of seeing something come to life just from the idea until the end product. So if i had to choose, it would be something like engineering or manufacturing engineering.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I grew up in the Caribbean. My country is Dominica. I went to primary school there and then an all-girls high school. Then a two-year college back home, then came up here to Western Illinois for my bachelors degree.
Q: What was your career before you became a teacher?
A: I wanted to be a manufacturing engineer, I had an internship in Illinois. I worked with environmental engineering and public works. I also did my internship in safety, but I would have preferred to be a manufacturer engineer. In everything I did and where I worked, the No. 1 thing that made me happy was seeing numbers. I always loved math.
Q: How is it teaching at Memorial?
A: My students, I would say, are very good. They started off cold, but they warmed up to me. Not all obviously, but I’ve seen a lot of them grow in terms of wanting to actually ask questions and being interested to learn. So I actually enjoy my classes. It gives me joy. Teaching is a really hard job, so many different personalities, but my classes I’ve actually liked. Teaching so far hasn’t been bad and I’m hoping it gets better.