From Middle School to High School: Redwood’s Newest Math Teacher, Ms. Moran, gives some insight into who she is as a teacher and what it feels like being a teacher at Redwood.
By Andrea Oyervidez
Ms. Moran has been a teacher for 2 years now and teaches Math 1 here at Redwood.
This is Ms. Moran’s first year teaching at a high school. She says, “Well, I started out at a middle school at Green Acres in Visalia, and I just really liked the district, and I knew I wanted to be teaching at the high school level.”
She explains what made her want to become a math teacher. “I’ve always really liked math. Math always came a little easy to me, but I knew it didn’t for everyone. So I wanted to be that person to help people see the fun in math and see the uses of math, kind of get them there.”
Ms. Moran elaborates on how she motivates students who believe they are “not good at math”. She says, “I really try to celebrate the small wins, you know, even if we’re not going to 0 to 100 the next day, just celebrating a good milestone, and every step of the way let them know that we’re working as a team.”
She believes it’s important to motivate students with encouragement and praise.
“Embrace the struggle; the best way to learn is to just sit in that struggle, and you have to get it wrong first to really understand why you’re getting it right.”
Something interesting about Ms. Moran is that she did theater her whole life. “I did theater growing up. I studied it my whole life, and I even went overseas and studied it in Europe,” she says.
She adds, “I started doing on-stage acting when I was seven. I’ve done at least 30 to 40 productions in my life so far,” she says.
While in college, Ms. Moran studied abroad. “So I was studying math and getting a math degree, and then I was minoring in theater. While I was minoring in it, I was given the opportunity to study abroad in Prague, the Czech Republic,” she says.
She recalls some of the many plays she has acted in. “I’ve done so many. I’ve done a few Shakespeare plays.”
Not only is she a math teacher, but she also has acted in many plays. “ In high school, I did The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I did The 39 Steps, High School Musical, The Musical. I did Chicago.”
She thinks back to many of the plays she’s acted in. “I’ve done things like Cinderella. I’ve done things like Peter Pan. All the way down to student-written ones in college and, you know, stuff I’ve written myself.”
She also added, “ I’m excited to be here at Redwood. I’ve felt nothing but a warm welcome from everyone, students and staff alike.”
Ms. Moran ends with, “Embrace the struggle, and to never think that where you are is where you’re going to end up.”
Andrea Oyervidez
Andrea Oyervidez '30 is a student life reporter and this is her first year in journalism. She loves to talk to people and loves to create stories.
Tags: Andrea Oyervidez, first year teaching, Gigantea student life, high school, Ms.Moran, rangers, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, rhs, Taryn Moran, Teachers and Students, visalia ca
