As a math teacher at Granada High School for 15 years and loved by all of her students, Kakali Tripathi has gained the title of Teacher of the Week. Mrs. Tripathi displays kindness to all her students causing her to be a very impactful teacher on campus. Students are grateful for Mrs. Trapathi and only have great things to say about her.
Mrs. Tripathi’s students all enjoy being in her class and a few students shared why. “She explains the problems and makes us do problems so we actually understand everything,” says freshman Sidhanth Lall. Math is often heard to be one of the most difficult subjects for students to learn, being able to teach it well and have your students understand is crucial in the teaching world. Mrs. Tripathi teaches in a way that her students understand the work and curriculum that is needed. Another student, Natalie Novak, shares that, “She’s good at connecting math problems to real-world situations.” Mrs. Tripathi loves to help her students with whatever they need and see them succeed.
Keeping students’ attention is pretty hard, especially with kids who don’t want to be learning the subject. But, “I’m able to pay attention more,” says Luke Debenning, a sophomore in Mrs. Tripathi’s class. Being in a classroom for 70 minutes learning math isn’t a place where lots of students would like to be. Malia Aguilar (9) explains, “She does an example before we actually do it and since I am more of a visual learner it helps a lot.” Teaching things in a way that all of your students understand as Mrs. Tripathi does is necessary in a classroom.
Isabel Tran (9) is currently in Mrs. Tripathi’s geometry class and describes how she is impacted by Mrs. Tripathi’s teaching, “The way we take notes is really helpful because it’s like, we fill in the blanks for the notes and I really like the set of notes she gives us and you know what to do when you’re absent.” Organizing the notes and having what your students need when they’re absent allows a teacher to be great. Constructing things as a teacher, and knowing what everyone needs and wants is something that Mrs. Tripathi is exceptional at.
Mrs. Tripathi explains why she loves teaching math saying, “It’s logical you don’t have to memorize much, you can understand and progress; that’s the thing I love about teaching math. [In] history and social studies you have to memorize right, math you don’t have to. And you can relate with science, daily activities, and personal life.” Mrs. Tripathi shares how you have to memorize things in other subjects and do it a certain way but in math, you can relate it to anything and that is why she loves to teach it.
When a teacher piles on loads of homework with no explanation, it can be really stressful for a student to understand the topic they are learning. This is the opposite of Mrs. Tripathi. Malia Aguilar (9) explains, “I’m actually getting all As on my tests like the first time, last year I would barely pass and then I would have to retake it, but now I don’t have to retake any tests.” The way a teacher teaches her class has an effect on how they comprehend assignments. Luke Debenning (10) describes one of the ways that Mrs. Tripithai has positively impacted his grades, “I’m able to understand the concepts better when I’m in her class rather than other math classes.” This just really goes to show how important it is that Mrs. Tripathi teaches math in such a way that the student’s grades are going up rather than down.
Along with her kindness, Mrs. Tripathi has an optimistic attitude and point of view at school. After asking Mrs. Tripathi what makes her have a good day at school she explained, “ I always have a good day. Like they learn in class, and then we are all doing work, they finish the work, I check their work. I always have a good day at school. So that’s what I like here apart from personal life at home and here I get to forget everything about my personal life.”
School is a place that makes Mrs. Tripathi’s day better and she enjoys her students working hard which just ties her day together. Mrs. Tripathi wants to be at school and is in no rush to leave it because she loves it and loves her students. After being asked “What inspired you to start teaching” she responded, “So I can influence people’s lives to make like good decisions and then help kids become good citizens.” Mrs. Tripathi has definitely influenced students to want to enjoy learning at Granada High School.
Having more mature students can really help a teacher teach because they work and focus harder. Mrs. Tripthai has experienced this firsthand and says, “They are like young adults, that’s what I like, they are smart, intelligent, beautiful.” Watching students grow intellectually is something Mrs. Tripthai enjoys a lot. Mrs. Tripathi loves to share her love for math with Granada. Students may think they don’t need math in the future but this is false. Students can apply math to all life situations and skills which can help them in the future.
Granada’s campus is lucky to have an amazing teacher like Mrs. Tripathi to teach math to students. She teaches and writes her notes in ways students can understand better than all their previous classes. After interviewing over 10 students they all came to the conclusion that they would love to have Mrs. Tripathi in the future. The title teacher of the week goes to the most respectful and impactful teachers. Mrs. Tripathi is able to succeed in this by saying, “Because I love my students and because I’m always there for them.”
