My brain hurts
December 18th 2011 02:49
“Contrary to popular belief, I’m not perfect,” Michael Zozos said to his second period class Thursday morning.
Zozos, a fifth-year social studies teacher at El Camino High School, had previously had his students sign a thank-you note. Unfortunately, the thank-you note wasn’t addressed properly and students needed to sign another one. But the 27-year-old announced his error, students listened and the class continued to study.
The sophomores didn’t laugh at Zozos’ joke, well maybe a pity laugh, but all had positive things to say about their teacher who was recently honored with the California League of High School’s Educator of the Year Award for the Bay Area region. The honor puts Zozos in the running for educator of the year for the state — the winner of which will be announced in February.
Simply put, “he’s a really good teacher,” said 15-year-old Ashley Jimenez, who is part of Zozos’ AVID class, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, an established program that prepares students in the academic middle for four-year college eligibility.
Unlike his traditional classes, which deal mostly with history, AVID can be a challenge for Zozos who may not have all the information on algebra or chemistry. When students are studying, he can, however, check in on them, ask about their logic and make sure they are helping each other — another teaching tactic.
Students notice the concern as each student interviewed similarly described Zozos as pushing them to do more.
“He knows what we’re capable of,” said 15-year-old Natalie Garcia.
Despite the positive feedback from students, Zozos wasn’t always sure about his career.
A curious little boy growing up in Santa Barbara, Zozos jokes his mom would say he learned to read from baseball cards. He still has unopened boxes of the cards at his parents’ home. Zozos didn’t dream of running the bases though, he wanted to be an attorney for a long time. Once at Santa Clara University, he found his true calling when Zozos signed up for a program that allowed him to prepare for a teaching career. After sitting in at local high schools, Zozos had found it. History had always been an interest for him, and also the topic of his bachelor’s degree. For his master’s in education, Zozos attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and was lucky to find a job at El Camino High School in San Francisco during a job fair. He’s been teaching there now for five years.
Taking the helm of a classroom is time-consuming and Zozos created the added challenge for himself of trying to be unique in the lesson plans. Students can learn about division of classes while acting as nobles and peasants. The peasants are on the floor while nobles can wander and get candy.
“If they enjoy coming to my class, they’re going to learn, whether they want to or not,” Zozos said.
The goofy side comes through with a quick look around the classroom which includes posters featuring Paris Hilton, Chuck Norris and Yoda alongside student-produced work. Classical music was played while students worked together to study for finals Thursday morning.
Those unique methods stick with the students, who noted sometimes giggling to themselves during a test when recalling a tidbit of information. His students notice a difference in their teacher and it’s simple — he actually enjoys his job, said Orange Richardson.
Students enjoy the extra critical thinking challenges like having a conversation made up of only questions. Those approaches, Ramon Avila said, make boring topics pretty interesting.
Believing in students already has results.
Sixteen-year-old Sonia Gomez said she’s raised her grades this year through Zozos’ encouragement and organization tips.
Challenging students can have consequences. Allyson Roa, 15, said Zozos makes them think too much sometimes.
What Roa doesn’t know is that’s Zozos goal.
“Sometimes students will say, ‘Mr. Zozos, my brain hurts,’” he said. “That always makes my day.”
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