Teacher Spotlight: Mrs. Schiffer

For the second teacher spotlight, Gabby and I decided to interview Mrs. Schiffer. Last year, she taught us IB Math Analysis. This year, she’s our teacher in AP Calculus BC. Mrs. Schiffer teaches math with great enthusiasm, energizing us as we watch the sunrise when we have to be at school early for BC. Who knew that a teacher could make calculus fun?

If you want to know more about our favorite MIT alumna and her favorite media, continue reading this interview!

Emma: How did you become a teacher at LBHS and how long have you been here?

Mrs. Schiffer: My first year here was Hurricane Sandy, 2012, so I’ll never forget that. Before that, I was a teacher at West Hempstead High School for four years. I originally worked in finance but I didn’t like it at all because it was really harsh and scary. I really loved math and getting other people to see how cool math is, so I left finance and went to get a masters in teaching and I became a teacher!

Gabby: What do you teach and do you like it?

Mrs. Schiffer: I love it! I teach AP Calculus, AB, BC, IB Analysis, and Pre-Calc. I love calculus, isn't it great?

Emma: Yeah! And we can tell how passionate you are about it- it makes it easier to learn.

Mrs. Schiffer: Yeah AP Calculus is my favorite! I'm obsessed with it and I like to see the differences. I think that’s what makes a good teacher- you see the pitfalls of where kids get confused and I like to convey that.

Emma: What’s your favorite memory from LBHS?

Mrs. Schiffer: Hmmm… There’s so many! A favorite memory could be when I found out I’ll be teaching in this room. This is just insane, this room is amazing!

Gabby: What’s your least favorite memory from LBHS?

Mrs. Schiffer: When I locked my keys in my car! I was in the parking lot after extra help, there was nobody here and I was getting something out of the trunk, put some things in the trunk then I closed it and they were in there. I had to get a locksmith to come and open up my car.

Emma: What impact do you want to leave on your students?

Mrs. Schiffer: I want them to love math as much as I do, love calculus as much as I do, and have a really good understanding of it. I want them to go to college and either get college credit or have them take calculus in college and do that much better in it because they have already been exposed to it. And I think they are going to do better because here, they have a more one-on-one connection but in college they are in a lecture hall with a lot of people and a teacher doesn’t care like they care in a high school.

Gabby: If you could go anywhere in the world right now where would you go?

Mrs. Schiffer: I would love to go on a safari in Africa and just look at all of the wild animals and observe them in their habitat. I just think that is so cool. I love animals! I find them so fascinating.

Emma: What’s your deepest, darkest secret? No pressure though!

Mrs. Schiffer: My deepest, darkest secret is that… My password is the last eight digits of pi.

Gabby: What’s your worst fear?

Mrs. Schiffer: My worst fear is house centipedes. It's like they know you see them when they scatter away.

Emma: Do you have any advice for your students?

Mrs. Schiffer: Yes, it is more important to work hard than it is to actually know facts and how to do things. Work ethic is everything. An employer would rather hire someone who doesn’t necessarily know everything they need to know for the job. But if you show passion and determination, if you show up early and you leave late, and you say “I want to know everything about this”, they would rather have that person than a person that thinks they know everything because they’re going to come right when they need to and leave right after they are able to leave, and not put forth the passion and the effort to do the job. So that’s important, you have to show that you care and that you're going to work hard then you could do anything!

Gabby: That’s really good advice! Next question, who is your favorite band and why?

Mrs. Schiffer: My favorite band is the Beatles. I think that they are so talented, like the later Beatles. The songs would be in different sections if you know what I’m talking about. Like this section of the song would do this then it would morph into something else, then morph into something else again. I just think that they were really incredible and so talented and just great, the original great band.

Emma: This is our last question, what is your favorite movie or movie genre?

Mrs. Schiffer: My favorite movie is The Truman Show. It’s been my favorite movie since I saw it, I think it came out in the late 90’s. I remember my cousin saw it in the movie theater and she told me that it was terrible and I was like, “oh wow it was terrible”. But then I watched it and I thought “this was amazing!” I realized that Jim Carrey only did at that point, The Mask, Ace Ventura, he did all of these ridiculous movies where they were supposed to be hilarious. Then all of the sudden, he did this movie, The Truman Show, and all of these people thought that it was supposed to be funny but it was really dark. I felt so bad for him. Also, now, in 2024, how cool is it that it was so ahead of its time? It was basically predicting the reality television shows that are around now, following people around. Each time you watch the movie, you would always notice little details that you didn’t notice the last time. It was just really original and well done.

We would like to thank Mrs. Schiffer for being both a phenomenal math teacher and interviewee! See you at the next teacher spotlight…