This month’s teacher spotlight is Jennifer Larsen! Jennifer currently teaches at Salt Lake City School District and is in her 12th year of teaching. Her nominator declared “Jeni spends a great deal of time planning and trying new methods of instruction to reach all children. She knows exactly what every student in her class knows and doesn't ‘yet know’. When I came back from the UTCM conference earlier this fall with an idea for using rotations during Tier 1 instruction, she immediately met with her partner to plan what that would look like…”
Jennifer discovered her love of teaching by volunteering in her own children’s classrooms. She actually started out with an accounting career, but loved her time in the classroom so much that she decided to pursue her degree in education. And we are so glad she did!
“As a math teacher I think that giving students the opportunity to have hands-on experiences and project based learning is an important part of giving them a deep understanding of the concepts. I also think that it is important to create at atmosphere that students can feel safe enough to become risk takers and not be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes help us learn! The most rewarding part of teaching is seeing students gain confidence in themselves”. —Jennifer Larsen
Jennifer is also a mother to two teenage boys. She enjoys traveling, movies, reading, theater, health, and fitness.
On behalf of the Utah State Board of Education, we would like to thank Jennifer for discovering her passion for teaching, and her outstanding contributions to mathematics education.
*Know an outstanding mathematics educator? Nominate them HERE*