Juan Paniagua teaches math.

What grade levels do you teach?

I’m teaching mostly 10th graders and 11th graders. But there are seniors in some of my classes. There is one freshman in one of my classes. I have students from all four years.

What do you like specifically about teaching math?

I like the fact that teaching math is basically like teaching a language. It’s the language that scientists use to communicate with each other. What I like is that math is precise, and for most of the problems there is a unique answer to it, so there is an exactness that you

Has there ever been a specific moment when you feel like you love math or made others love it as well? A moment of realization?

We typically think about angles in terms of degrees, so we think of 360 degrees being a full turn of a circle. But now in order to prepare for calculus, in this pre-calculus class, we are working with another measure of angles called radians. And with radians, students for the most part are really afraid of them because we are so used to thinking of 90-degree angles, but we are not used to seeing Pi over two radians. Today we were looking at different angles, and I was kind of pushing the students to think in terms of radians rather than degrees, and at some point there was an “aha” moment when I basically indicated the way to go. Many times the way I teach is based on my own experience and the things that work for me. So today, I was able to explain this concept in a way that they didn’t have to think about converting, but to think more like, “Oh, Pi over four is 45 degrees. So five Pi over four is five individual 45-degree angles. They would visualize what was happening when you move 45 degrees in intervals of 45 degrees for five times. And I loved it because they could see clearly in what quadrant they were. It was a very good class today because most of the kids got this feeling of, “Oh, I hadn’t seen it that way and now it makes much more sense.” So that happens occasionally, I cannot say that happens every day, in every class, but it’s really nice, feels good when you feel like you got the point across and the students understood something that they didn’t before.

What differences do you see in Brookline compared to other schools?

I see many differences and one of the things that I really like is the open campus policy. It really makes you feel like you are in a very free place. I like that the students are very respectful and courteous. It feels good to be here. I look forward to coming here everyday, and and the students are responsive for the most part. There are always the exceptions, but for the most part they do their homework and if they are absent they reach out to you. They advocate for themselves, so I think the policy of freedom and responsibility really resonates with me, and that’s what I find that is different in Brookline. I also like the fact that there is no bells to tell you when to switch classes. That allows for a little bit more freedom if you want to keep the class one minute and use it to convey something.

How would you compare your life as a student in the past to that of one at Brookline High?

I was a student many years ago and in a different country. I was in Spain. Back in those days, the education was very traditional. We

Do you have any passions outside of teaching?

One thing I’m very passionate about is theater. I am the artistic director of a theater group, a non-profit organization, and a community-based theater group in Jamaica Plain. The plays are in Spanish, and that’s my passion. We usually do a couple of productions a year and

Would you ever consider bringing your passion to the school, possibly starting a club?

Ideally that would be great. But I don’t see that happening in this first year. Maybe next year, just because of how busy I am. But related to that, I have already spoken with some of the teachers in the word language department. I have made connections with the Spanish teachers, and we will see how we can maybe bring a workplace here and possibly get the students to see our plays when we present them outside. I’m definitely looking to combining this passion of mine with some of the stuff that’s happening at the school. But at this point, with all the stuff I’m in charge of, I don’t see a club happening. Hopefully the work will improve, and it will be better in the future.

Have you had any difficulties so far?

The only thing is that I notice, because there is this freedom, and the kids are used to having their smartphones so available, I have to remind some of the students when I see them checking their iPhones or devices during class. I bring that to their attention, but I don’t like to let those things bother me too much. I tend to be what some people would tend to call soft on that, but I prefer to let the students take responsibility and very rarely would I confiscate a phone or something like that, but some of these policies students tend to abuse a little bit. There’s really no real line that “this is right and this isn’t” because every teacher has their own way of approaching it, so in some cases you have to pay attention to that. Other than that, I don’t have anything else that’s not really working for me. I also appreciate the five minutes between classes. That makes for a good amount of time to transition to the next class. When I used to teach in other places, we only had three minutes, so it felt very rushed. So overall, I’m adapting very well to the different policies here.

If you could change anything what would it be?

I don’t know if I have enough of an understanding of the school or an overall understanding is not so full at this point. I don’t think I have anything that I would like to change immediately. But the things that I really like are with the new schedule. I really appreciate that the teachers are provided with a 40-minute block at the end of the week on Fridays to collaborate and work together. That extra time to sit down with another teacher who is teaching the same class, I value it very much. I also like the overall relaxed atmosphere I see in the school, so as I mentioned before I see students who are very well behaved for the most part and make for a pleasant place to come everyday.

Conor Amrien can be contacted at [email protected].