Monica Weir, Math

Knight Errant: Where were you before you came to BSM?
Monica Weir: Before BSM, I was teaching in Nicaragua for three years. I was living in Managua, Nicaragua, and before that I was teaching at Edison high school of the Minneapolis public high schools. I was teaching high school math, Calculus and Statistics.

KE: What is your teaching background?
MW: I’ve been teaching for six years now and I’ve taught everything from Special-Ed Algebra to AP Calculus.

KE: What specific classes will you teach this year?
MW: I’ll have one Geometry, one Honors Pre-Calculus and three AP Calculus AB [classes]. I’ll be busy.

KE: Why do you enjoy teaching?
MW: This is not the reason, but it’s funny: when I was student teaching, seven or eight years ago, I asked my cooperative teacher “why do you like teaching?” and she told me that it was because she prefers working with kids than working with adults. I’m not sure that’s my reason but I really like interacting with teenagers, and I really like helping you guys understand things. There’s just something so exciting about when you guys have that “aha” moment when you understand something, so much more exciting than when adults do it.

KE: What aspect of teaching appeals most to you?
MW: Some people might say the summers off, but that wasn’t for me. I want to live my life where I’m always learning something new. I think that being in education allows for that because every single day I get to learn something new.

KE: How will you contribute to the BSM community?
MW: What I’ve seen so far is that it’s definitely a community. It’s very together. People are so positive here, and I like to think that I’m also a positive person, and that’s how I’ll really add to it. I have very high standards, and I’m very supportive.

KE: What do you look forward to in the new year?
MW: I’m excited to get to know the community, and I’m excited to teach at a school that has such a high standard for education.

KE: What is your favorite TV show?
MW: I don’t own a television; I don’t watch tv. I’m kind of a weirdo.

KE: Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, or Beyoncé?
MW: Oh, Beyoncé, all the way.

KE: Cats or Dogs?
MW: Dogs; I have a boxer, and she’s awesome.

KE: Favorite childhood memory?
MW: When I was growing up, I was a competitive figure skater. When I was 17 years old, I was competing on a team, and it was a brand new team. We were really new, didn’t really know what we were doing, and we qualified for nationals which was super exciting. So I got to compete for figure skating in San Diego, California.