MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Mountain View High School Math Teacher Elliot Beck believes everyone can be a math person and he tries to show that to his students each day when they walk into his classroom.
In his classroom is a wall of well-known mathematicians; in the center of that wall, his students come face-to-face with a deliberately-placed mirror.
“It takes the students a while to recognize why the mirror is there. Well, I hope at the end of the day they can see themselves as mathematicians,” Beck said.
Beck is one of the nine nominees for the University of Arizona Athletics' Teacher of the Year Award.
A graduate of the U of A himself, he is now in his fifth year of teaching. For the last three years, he’s been at Mountain View High School in the Marana Unified School District where he teaches three periods of Algebra I to freshmen and two periods of College Algebra to seniors.
He says his approach to teaching math is flipped from how many have been taught.
“So I don’t start with, ‘Hey here’s everything you need to know, let’s practice it’. It’s, 'I’m going to give you a little bit, let’s see if you can work through the rest and then at the very end if there are some questions or things that I can pull back together, I’m going to do that',” he said.
He says he wants his students to be able to think critically and persevere through challenging problems.
“If you’re making mistakes, you’re learning and we can use that to then build to the next thing they need to know. Versus, as a teacher, if I’m the one who is doing all the work, well then they’re just expected to regurgitate it and they never get the chance to actually think for themselves.”
After mentoring seventh-grade students while in college, he knew teaching was what he wanted to do. Now five years into his teaching career, he says it's his faith that drives him to do what he does.
“I think it’s a calling, to be honest with you,” Beck said. “It’s not like I’m doing it for the paycheck, it’s not like I’m doing it for students to nominate me for an award. I do it because I believe it’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Displayed in his classroom is the word “Yet” because when a student says they don’t understand something, his automatic response is, “just not yet.”
“I know math can be difficult, it’s confusing, it’s frustrating,” Beck said. “I’ve had my fair share of frustrating experiences, we all have, and I have to remind myself, ‘Okay if it’s not where I want to be, well it’s because I’m not there, yet.'"
The University of Arizona will announce the Teacher of the Year at one of their upcoming basketball games.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
