Christopher Monschauer
Math teacher Christopher Monschauer is a new to the high school this year and has previously taught for four years. Monschauer grew up in suburban New Jersey, and in his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and his fiancé.
Why did you want to become a teacher?
When I got to college, I really liked it but could recognize it as really off-putting at times. Teaching for me has been a place where I get to be excited and nerdy about math, but also I get to make math a subject that is accessible for all students and that students see themselves as capable of doing. Especially if you put an effort, that is going to get you somewhere, and I try to build a class that supports that.
What courses do you teach?
I co-teach an Algebra One class and two Algebra Two classes and I have a learning center with sophomores so I spend most of my day with sophomores. I also teach the IMP (Interactive Math Program) class, which is mostly seniors. I love the Algebra One class, I think that’s my favorite to teach content wise, as a math person and a math fan.
How has your adjustment to the high school been?
The move [to Brookline] was because I got engaged to my partner, and I’ve been coming up here for three years to see him so I knew the area generally. It’s been nice to get to explore as someone who lives here. I had my own classroom before so to now be working with someone else is both exciting but made me a little bit nervous because that’s a different dynamic. I love getting to know students so it’s been nice, especially now that a couple of weeks have passed, and I get to know students even better and support them with math.
What are some of your favorite hobbies?
I think I’m a good hanger-outer with people; what I enjoy most is spending time with the people who I like. Especially since [the start of the] COVID-19 [pandemic], we’ve gotten into hiking; we like to go to New Hampshire. But to me, if I’m in the company of good people, then it’s going to be a nice time.
What is one of your goals for this year?
I think my main teaching goal is to make sure that when we do group math work, participation is equitable because I think when it comes to math, everyone sees things in a valuable way. It’s one of my goals for me and my teaching partner to make sure that when we’re working on math collaboratively, we really are building on everyone’s contribution so we have the benefit of multiple perspectives on a problem.