Mr. Spencer, Math Teacher

It was the first day of high school and, along with the four hundred or so members of freshman class, I was trying hard to look like I knew where I was going. I had gotten my locker opened and managed to find my first two classes within the allotted time.

The next class on my schedule was Algebra. I found the classroom easily and was feeling pretty confident that high school was going to be a breeze. I walked into the room and was greeted by a large man with a crew cut. No one had crew cuts anymore unless you were in the military.

went to take my seat when I noticed that the desks were not set up in the traditional rows of individual desks. They were put together in groups of three. We were told to find a seat we liked because that would be our seat for the year. In my other classes the teachers made us sit in alphabetical order. He called the class to attention and began to tell us about himself. His name was Mr. Spencer and he was a former Marine (that explained the crew cut). He taught ninth-grade math, Algebra, was a part-time dean of discipline and the coach of the junior varsity football and baseball teams. Mr. Spencer gave us a brief outline of the class. He said to expect homework almost every night because the best way to learn math was to do a lot of problems. There would be a test every other Friday. In addition to a final exam, we would be expected to take the New York State Regents' Exam in Algebra. It was at this point that I knew that I was not in junior high school anymore. He went on to explain that the desks were arranged in groups of threes so we could work in teams. The person in the middle, the "team captain", was the student who received the highest score on the prior test. The captain was responsible for helping his or her fellow teammates if they had a problem. When we left the class that day, we were all complaining about getting stuck in this class! There was no doubt in our minds that this class was going to be a lot of work and what little time we had would be spent doing algebra homework or studying for algebra tests. We were not looking forward to spending the year in this class with this teacher. We quickly realized how wrong our first impressions were. Mr. Spencer was true to his word. We did get homework just about every night, but, if time allowed, he would let us start on it at the end of class. If you had trouble with a problem, your teammates were there to help you out. His love of math was obvious and he was teaching us to love it too. He made the classes fun with his enthusiasm and by getting all of the students involved. Since he expected everyone to do their homework and come to class prepared, he had no problem calling on anyone in class for an answer. He teased, cajoled and challenged us to do our best and always seemed to know which approach worked best with a student. One thing Mr. Spencer never did was to demean or ridicule a student for not being prepared or giving an incorrect answer. He respected all his students and expected us to respect each other. When a student was speaking, we were expected to be quiet and listen. Mr. Spencer's tests were legendary through the school, because while they were tough, they were also funny. He was a big fan of the Peanuts cartoon strips. He had personalized cartoons of Charlie Brown and the gang scattered throughout the pages of each test. The cartoons poked fun at students and school events. Everyone's goal was to be the subject of a cartoon at least once during high school. After a few minutes of chuckles, we would settle down and begin the test. The Mondays after test days were also great fun. Grades would be posted and everyone would huddle around the board to see how they did. There would be congratulatory comments next to the names of students who showed the greatest improvement from the prior test. If a student's grade dropped from the last test, it would also be noted in a teasing way. It was at this time that the team captains would rotate. He would announce changes and the class would applaud the new captains and their achievements. I was very fortunate to be team captain for most of my time with Mr. Spencer. I did not like it when I lost, what I considered to be, my seat. He recognized my competitive spirit and desire to get back in the middle. He would gently tease me until I did. I was privileged to have Mr. Spencer for three years of math. Like most of his students, I came to love and respect this man. As a future math teacher, I am still inspired by all the things he taught me. He taught me about hard work, discipline, teamwork and respect for other classmates. He truly liked and respected his students. I never say him denigrate a student for getting a wrong answer. No student in his class felt left out. His sense of humor helped put us at ease and helped make difficult subjects easier. Like most students, I have had my share of good and not so good teachers but I have had only one truly great teacher- Mr. Spencer.

-- Naureen Kelly, Florida Atlantic University