Teacher Appreciation Column: Mrs. Sherman

It’s not easy to start a school day – you’re groggy, tired, and don’t want to do anything at all in the morning! That’s why I’m fortunate to have such a charismatic teacher as Mrs. Sherman first period to wake me up and get me into the learning mood!

She’s not just an interesting person, Mrs. Sherman also an exceptional teacher. She teaches in a way that isn’t just a copy of what the textbook says but instead is in a way that students can understand her. Even if they don’t understand after the lesson, she works very hard to make sure everyone is on the same page. She will help people out one-on-one before school, during advisory, and after school. Mrs. Sherman believes that each and every single one of her students can succeed and sees it through 100% of the way! She understands her students very well and works with their schedules to make sure nobody is overwhelmed by math. Mrs. Sherman’s classroom is full of inspirational messages, and she always ends class by telling everyone, “Have a great day!” and even has that written on her whiteboard.

It’s such a great experience to be able to expect the unexpected during class, and Mrs. Sherman never fails to disappoint. One day, I walked into class to see a polar bear puppet on her hand, and she told us in class about how she also enjoys puppeteering and proceeded to have a conversation with her polar bear, Morris, for part of class. It is unexpected things like these that helps me to enjoy my time in math class with Mrs. Sherman and make me happier. For all her classes, Mrs. Sherman will have a new joke every day on the table, with each joke cheesy enough to make anyone break a smile. I like how she is able to combine her teaching life with her normal life, and she feels like such a genuine teacher because of this! One day she brought a large stuffed potato named Spuddy to class and told us all about when she lived in Idaho. She has also told us many times about how she gets so involved with math that she practically lives it, even away from school! During our chapter on limits, she told us “I have dreamt limits, I have done 1000 limits in my sleep, and my husband was like, ‘What is wrong with you?’ and I was like, ‘I just need to be in school!’ It’s things like these that show her dedication as a teacher.

Had you done anything before you started teaching?

I’ve taught for so long, I started teaching right after college! I’ve always taught. Even when I was in high school, I was teaching. My senior year in high school, my math teacher got really sick. He was an eighth grade teacher and the substitute couldn’t control their class. It was bad. And so the principal took me out of PE, and I taught the eighth grade math class for two months! For about two and a half years I went to work at ACT, I sat in a cubicle, and I hated it. I’m a teacher, always have been.

What is your favorite part of teaching?

Helping students. especially if they don’t like math, and then they start liking math, or if they’re really confused and can’t do something, and then all of the sudden it clicks, that’s the best part. Writing tests? No. Grading tests? No. This craziness, helping students, that’s the best.

Why did you want to become a teacher?

This is a silly story. In third grade, I had a very good teacher, but she was very mean, she had zero patience. My best friend had problems with math, and the teacher would throw stuff at her and scream at her and whatnot. It made me feel so bad, and so I would sneak a math textbook outside at recess, and we’d go behind a tree, and I would teach my best friend how to do math, and so she got better and so the teacher wasn’t as mean to her. We were so afraid of her, but now my friend’s an elementary teacher, and I’m a math teacher!

What has been your favorite memory so far at City High?

Oh, wow. Just a lot of positive students. That’s probably been my favorite so far. I’ve only taught, well, this is my fourth year at City, so I haven’t taught that long at City High. When I taught out in Idaho, I got to teach an outdoor class out there, we would go hiking in the mountains to teach environmental science and I got the math part of that, and that was fun stuff, but for City High, it’s definitely the amazing students.

Why did move from Idaho to Iowa City?

My parents getting old. So, I moved back to Iowa. And I love it. So you’re stuck with me for a while. And I’ve got people that ask, when are you retiring? I’m one of the oldest now teaching, that’s bad, but you’re stuck with me teaching for several years.

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Favorite Flavor? I like Butter Pecan. It’s so good. It’s little candy, like Heath bars. It’s little flecks of that. It’s like a toffee type thing in vanilla ice cream. It’s delicious! That’s my favorite so far.