“As an incoming freshmen, I did not know what to expect. High school seemed tough, with rumors about teachers giving difficult and large amounts of homework. I figured the academic part would be the most stressful, especially math. Little did I know Ms. Chuang would change how I viewed high school and math as a subject, overall.

On the first day of school, Ms. Chuang already gave off the impression that she would make freshmen year enjoyable. Not only did she seem like a good teacher, but also a friendly one. We did class introductions and luckily, we didn’t do any math on the first day. After the bell rang and everyone scattered out of the classroom, I immediately felt relieved and knew high school wasn’t going to be quite as miserable as I thought.

The first few lessons taught by Ms. Chuang went by quickly, because I actually felt motivated to learn. I paid attention and I felt like what she had to say about the lesson was valuable to my success in the class. Usually, I tune out to what teachers say in math, but this was different. Time went on, and I continuously did well in her class. I don’t know if it was her teaching or her joyfulness that caused me to do well. Now I know that it was both that helped me succeed.

In the past, I always had math teachers that wouldn’t really teach, he/she would only expect students to do well by listening. Ms. Chuang was different. She walked around after she finished teaching her lesson and made sure we understood the homework before we completed it. We were also allowed to exchange answers with our classmates to check our work. This helped me prepare for tests. Doing workout problems on white boards helped for test preparations as well, since the whole class got to discuss the problems and understand what we were doing wrong.

Another thing that I appreciate Ms. Chuang for is how much she cares for her students. She wants everyone to do well on both tests and homework. Practice tests and quizzes are given, so all students know what to expect the next day. Good communication happens as well, with plenty of people raising their hands and helping everyone out. It also helped that she listened to our concerns on the amounts of homework and adjusted them accordingly. She creates a good environment for all students to learn in and build strong friendships.

Halfway through one semester, I can proudly say that Ms. Chuang’s class is still my favorite out of all six of my periods. I look forward to math sometimes, which I never used to feel. But most of all, I want to thank Ms. Chuang for helping me transition from being a clueless 8th grader, to a hard-working high-school student.” —Anonymous