This time it's Mr.Robertson.
In the leftmost room in the Math Wing area of the school, the light-saber arms orbit around a themed clock face. The proud owner of this clock is Mr.Robertson. This coffee-enthusiast is one of the newest members of Lin-Wood Public School. If you ever want to hear long lines of humorous jokes or need assistance with any sort of math problem, he is more than willing to inform.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: In Keene, although according to my wife and family, they say I never grew up.
A: In Keene, although according to my wife and family, they say I never grew up.
Q: What college did you initially want to go to? Why are you happy you didn’t go to said initial college? [When did you realize that Math was the subject you wanted a career in?]
A: Originally my plan was Carnegie Mellon, in Pittsburgh, PA, [to become an engineer] and I did not go in because my guidance counselor had written ‘do not accept this person. He will fail’. So I went to my backup school, [Hobart William Smith, in Upstate New York] which was not an engineering school... where I started as a physics major because my thought was that I’d be a physics major for 2 years and transfer to an engineering school. And I was failing physics, which I was like, 99 percentile on the achievement test,ed [so] I was a strong physics student. So ... the first time I passed in my physics report and the physics professor said that this was a failing report, I was so frustrated. I asked what I was doing wrong. And, he said "Well, Mr. Robertson, everybody knows you put two spaces after a period." [This was the days of typewriters. So I was trying to teach myself to type, and the reason why my lab report is failing is because I didn’t put 2 spaces between a period.] I love physics, but it wasn’t the department for me. At the same time, I was taking Calculus and I was like, "Oh, this is easy." And, it [math department] had good teachers. So, I switched to the math department ...
Q: When did you realize you wanted to become a teacher?
A: I took some time off from college... and I became a teacher’s aid. I never wanted to become a teacher, actually, but I took some time off school and interned in at Norman Howard School in Rochester, New York. And I worked as a teacher’s aid for a semester. And it is the most exhausting job I’d ever had. It was incredibly frustrating. It was a school for emotionally and learning disabled kids, and the kids were amazing. But in terms of being a teacher, you’d work with someone for a week, and they’d finally get the concept but that next Monday it’d be gone. It was such an incredible challenge, and I was good at it. So I was like "I want to do this." ....
A: I took some time off from college... and I became a teacher’s aid. I never wanted to become a teacher, actually, but I took some time off school and interned in at Norman Howard School in Rochester, New York. And I worked as a teacher’s aid for a semester. And it is the most exhausting job I’d ever had. It was incredibly frustrating. It was a school for emotionally and learning disabled kids, and the kids were amazing. But in terms of being a teacher, you’d work with someone for a week, and they’d finally get the concept but that next Monday it’d be gone. It was such an incredible challenge, and I was good at it. So I was like "I want to do this." ....
Q: What is your favorite part of being a teacher?
A: I get to meet cool new people every year. And I get to help people figure out where they’re going to end up. I get to see people grow up. Most people only get to see that with their [own] kids or nieces and nephews. ...
A: I get to meet cool new people every year. And I get to help people figure out where they’re going to end up. I get to see people grow up. Most people only get to see that with their [own] kids or nieces and nephews. ...
Q: What is your favorite possession in your room?
A: I don’t really have one.... If this place burned down tomorrow, there isn’t anything I couldn’t replace. I mean, there’s the painting by my wife, but she’d paint me another one. So that would be a drag, that would be a pain, but there's nothing in this room I wouldn't be able to replace.
