Virginia Ansaldi is the new science teacher at Gables.  She is excited to be working with high school students and hopes to have a great school year.

Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A: I have actually been teaching for a while but, it’s my first year teaching a high school classroom. I decided to become a teacher because I love teaching and I missed working with high school students. I used to work with an outdoor education program, and for the past year and a half I have been working as a yoga teacher – not as a student teacher.  I just missed really working with high school students, and I have some friends that teach here and they told me they were in need of some science teachers and that’s what I teach, so I applied to work.

Q: What is your preferred teaching style?

A: My preferred teaching style is working in the outdoors and creating experiences for people to learn about science indirectly. Creating experiences for people to see and be with the things we are talking about as opposed to the casual learning style of just hearing and reading about them.

Q: Where else have you worked as a teacher?

A: I have worked as a teacher for outdoor education programs, I used to manage the University of Miami’s shark research program. I also worked at a camp for the Catalina Island Marine Institute, which is out in California. I have tutored kids in the department of juvenile criminal justice – so kids who are either in jail now or on probation.

Q: What is your favorite and least favorite thing about teaching?

A: My favorite thing is seeing kids get excited about learning. My least favorite thing is being constricted to a classroom, because that classroom is really a set up for just a small percentage of kids to follow and do well. I do find that I’m more successful like I said in other teaching styles than just using the classroom. Probably the most difficult part is getting used to being inside and talking about the outdoors, but being indoors.

Q: What do you love the most about teaching?

A: Like I said, the thing I like the most about teaching is just really being with high school students and getting them to see and understand things about their worlds. Also, seeing them progress beyond what they thought was possible for them or get interested in things they thought they would’t be interested.

Q: Do you feel like you have any impact on your students’ lives?

A: Yes, I hope so. I think that in the short time I have been here I have gotten positive feedback at least towards my enthusiasm towards teaching and my enthusiasm of wanting to be here. I don’t know though, you gotta ask a student that.

Q: Aside from teaching, do you have any hobbies or things you like?

A: I teach yoga. Yoga is a big hobby and thing that I like to do. I’m also an outdoor educator; so I enjoy the outdoors. I like anything out doors like sand or paddle boarding, going out to the beach, hiking – just anything outside. Those will probably be my biggest hobbies.