Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007
Colin Reinhard was a self-described ‘‘memorizer” in his high school math classes, knowing when to perform functions but not understanding why. It was not until he saw the applications of mathematics during college-level civil engineering classes that the ‘‘why” made sense.
‘‘It all clicked,” he said.
Now, as a fourth-year math teacher at Paint Branch High School following jobs as a civil engineer, Reinhard tries to make math ‘‘click” each day for his students while having fun in the process.
‘‘It’s cliché that you learn something new every day, but it’s true,” he said. ‘‘That’s why I enjoy it so much.”
Reinhard, 28, was honored last month as one of four outstanding teachers statewide by the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The award came as a surprise to Reinhard, who applied two days before its deadline only at the suggestion of Eileen Greenberg, chairwoman of Paint Branch’s math department.
Greenberg was impressed observing Reinhard teach various levels of math, particularly how he engaged calculus students by mixing their newly learned skills with prior knowledge to solve problems. Moreover, Reinhard allowed the students to arrive at answers however they wanted to, only afterward ensuring the underlying concept in the lesson was understood, she said.
‘‘I saw exemplary teaching,” Greenberg said. ‘‘He just sees the big picture.”
Reinhard sees himself as another student in the classroom, working with classmates toward a common goal. ‘‘I may have a little more knowledge, but I’m sharing it with them and together we’re going to see what we can do,” he said. ‘‘Nothing makes a kid feel like they know how to do it than to see everyone can do it differently and we all got to the same place.”
The strategy is mutually beneficial, Reinhard said. The students feel more at ease and confident to share their ideas and Reinhard can then incorporate the ideas he did not consider into future lesson plans. ‘‘I provide them with a toolbox and I don’t tell them what they’re going to make,” he said.
Rajna Swaminathan, a 16-year-old junior who has Reinhard both as a calculus teacher and coach for the school’s math team, said the teacher makes math fun.
‘‘Calculus can be dry, but he makes it a lot better,” she said.
At the same time, however, Reinhard demands a lot from his students, asking more from his calculus class than what is required on the Advanced Placement exam, Swaminathan said.
Reinhard believes the contrast is a necessary balance. ‘‘It’s OK to be silly because we get the job done,” he said. ‘‘If we remain serious all the time, it takes the excitement out of it.”
Reinhard knew he would one day become a math teacher after taking, on a whim, an introductory education course on secondary mathematics as a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh. He just did not know when. Reinhard interned with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers while still in school and then was hired to design retention ponds with a small Maryland State Highway Administration contractor following graduation, moving to the area after his future wife, Melissa, got a job as a software engineer in Baltimore.
But Reinhard said after two years of designing retention ponds, he was simply plugging numbers into ready-to-use formulas instead of using his own math skills, like a chef using someone else’s recipe. It was an appropriate metaphor, considering two of Reinhard’s favorite hobbies are cooking, particularly recreating recipes of dishes he has eaten at restaurants, and do-it-yourself home renovation projects. So he went to graduate school for teaching at Johns Hopkins University before starting at Paint Branch.
‘‘I knew I needed a career that I could reach as many people as possible,” he said.
On Monday, Reinhard attempted to reach the freshmen and sophomores of his honors geometry class about congruent triangles and the rules that govern them. Reinhard moved back and forth between demonstrating postulates on the white board (he is allergic to chalk, an irony he enjoys), and helping students with individual work. Students called out answers in a conversational manner instead of waiting for Reinhard to call on them.
Reinhard spoke calmly, slowing to emphasize key terms, and kept a smile on his face throughout the 45-minute class. He frequently bantered with students, teasing one boy about his favorite football team and asking a girl who used to have long hair her reaction when she cut it short.
Reinhard jokes that the state teaching award will give him ‘‘Olympic gold medallist syndrome” and leave him wondering what is next. But he believes he can maintain his teaching passion for the foreseeable future.
‘‘I don’t think I’ll ever lose that spark,” he said. ‘‘I live for this.”
