Now on her second year of teaching at Oliver Ames, Ms. Schleicher teaches both Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus. Students who have had her would say she is kind, patient, and dedicated to her teaching and enjoys seeing students understand new (and difficult) concepts.
Originally from Norton, she now travels from Boston everyday here to OA. She went to UMass Amherst and studied math “with a teaching concentration”, while minoring in “education and psychology.”
Ms Schleicher says “I think a part of me always wanted to be a teacher. I dabbled in other things thinking I would maybe do something else, but it always came back to teaching. Obviously, my mom is a teacher so I was always visiting OA or seeing the environment. In my AP-Calc class in high school, we learned difficult concepts and some of my friends would not understand, and I was good at explaining it to them, which made me feel I would be good at being a teacher.”
From a students opinion, this still holds true to this day as Ms. Schleicher works hard at making sure she explains new, or old, concepts to her students slowly and carefully until they understand. She tells her students to never hesitate to come for extra help or ask questions in class.
She stated one of the most difficult parts of being a teacher is “the balance of wanting to make learning math enjoyable but attempting to meet the hundreds of standards (she has) to teach that are required by the state.” She wants “to spend (enough) time to have everyone understand”, but realizes she has to move at a pace where everything can get done.
Before coming to OA, Ms. Schleicher always knew she wanted to teach high school students. “I remember high school being some of the best years of my life for various reasons (education wise), high school is where it starts to count. When I was in high school I developed relationships with my teachers, some I am still close with, it is nice to have real conversations.”
Originally, she student taught for a full year at Northampton High School in Western Massachusetts. When asked how she got the job here at OA, she said “[she] got the job here from [her] mom setting [her] up with Mrs. Romans to see what an interview would be like [in a school] to prepare [her]. Originally, there was no opening for a teaching jobs here and one teacher ended up leaving and a position opened up, [she] applied, and got the job!”
She enjoys teaching both Algebra 2 and Pre-Calc, as Pre-Calc is her favorite concentration in math. Before she started teaching here, she had “student taught” these topics, so she was well prepared. Besides teaching, she is “the math team coach and the scoreboard manager at Lacrosse and Field Hockey games.” She likes to “volunteer for different things like chaperoning, dances, etc.”
Being one out of the three Schleicher’s in the building, I asked if she was ever confused with the other two. She immediately said, “Yes! Definitely in terms of parents emailing us, we get each other’s emails occasionally. Or chrome carts come to the wrong classroom,” which is pretty funny. She also loves working in the same school as her mom, as “it is nice because [they] are not in the same department so [they’re] not too close. If [she has] questions [she] can ask her” and now that she lives in Boston, she gets “to see her more regularly.”
One of her favorite things as a teacher, is building relationships with students. “Working with them after school, writing recommendations, etc. Having relationships that grow are validating and make [her] feel [she is] doing something right.” She has been able to make some friendships with students, and a “Couple of the things that have been nice, [are] having students for a second year in a row, community service students, and just having students who [she] does not have but they come to visit and say hello!”
Ms. Schleicher’s passion for teaching truly shows as she touches all of her students. She is devoted to helping them get a better understanding and education, is welcoming, supportive, and always a friendly face any student can approach.