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2008: Public Middle School Teacher of the Year

Finding the Fun in Math
With PiDay and green-colored bagels, Fields brings color to the classroom

 

As a student, Linda Fields loved school. She often stayed after class and went to weekend events. So it’s not a surprise that she followed her passion for education and went into teaching.

Though she was educated at Catholic schools while growing up in Brooklyn, her first job, at 21 years old, was at a public school. When she walked into her 6th grade classroom, she was surprised at the diverse group of children.

“I grew up a little sheltered,” said Fields, 41. “It was a totally different experience, but right away I loved it.”

At Brooklyn Studio Secondary School, she is still surrounded by a diverse student population. In addition to a range of ethnic and economic backgrounds, Fields teaches students at a variety of learning levels. At the inclusion school, children with learning disabilities are educated alongside mainstream students.

There are two teachers present in each inclusion classroom and, at times, a paraprofessional for students with special needs. This allows Fields, a 6th grade math teacher, to devote more time to each student.
“I get more of a chance to circulate around the room,” she said. “I’m able to pull a chair right up next to a student.”

The approach also allows students to help each other, which fosters a sense of community within the school.

“Each child helps another child,” Fields said. “Children who would be lost in public education flourish here.”

The school’s principal, Martin Fiasconaro, said Fields has a knack for finding ways to push her students.
“She has a basic philosophy that all students can learn,” Fiasconaro said. “She’s able to find out what level the kid is at and structure the curriculum to match.”

“I’m relentless,” Fields said. “I don’t give them failure as an option.”

Fields, who said that math was her weak subject, combines rigorous repetition of examples and note taking with efforts to make the subject enjoyable.

“I don’t think people expect to write notes in math class,” Fields said. “But I also try to make it as fun as possible.”

On Pi Day, March 14, students in the school brought in pie and found the circumference—then ate their homework. On St. Patrick’s Day, the material consisted of bagels dyed with green food coloring. And one recent project, a Math-a-Thon, raised $4,000 for St. Jude.

Fields even assigns her students to take pictures of shapes found around the home or in nature, bringing photography into math.

“It’s just relating math to something fun,” she said

— Dan Rivoli