Ellaina A. Taylor has worked in Rutherford County Schools for 31 years. In her time with RCS, she has worked at both Riverdale and Central Magnet School. She currently teaches 8th grade integrated Math I and Math 8, is an academic dean and math department chair at Central Magnet. In this Q&A Taylor answers questions related to her career and how she began teaching. Taylor is the 5-8 grade band representative for RCS Teacher of the Year 2022-2023.
Q: What has your teaching career looked like?
A: (Taylor) This is my 32nd year to teach. I taught in my hometown for one year, then came to Riverdale with my high school basketball coach. I’ve been here ever since. I taught at Riverdale, then taught as an itinerant teacher for 12 years (teaching math), and after that starting teaching at Central Middle.
Q: Why math?
A: (Taylor) I love math. I was told I’d be a good math teacher one day. It was later in my adult life I found out my father had been excellent at algebra and math. All I knew was that he couldn’t read. I learned it was because he had rheumatic fever as a child. Somewhere in his brain he hung onto the ability to do math and geometric equations. That’s where it started. We would work on building things together. My mother would say I would measure the house for fun – I guess it would fascinate me to see the numbers come together.
Q: What makes middle school your choice to teach at?
A: (Taylor) I did high school first. Middle school and high school are subject specific. I like working with eighth graders and freshman because they still are fascinated by the patterns they see. People in general become hesitant to explore and try new things the older they get. I love that hasn’t been squashed at 7th and 8th and 9thgrade. They’re willing to put themselves out there and try something new.
Q: What do you hope will be your impact after you’ve stopped teaching?
A: (Taylor) It’s not just that people have learned math, but I hope they’ve learned to be more confident about something than before they’ve come into the classroom. That they’ve learned to be kind. That they’ve learned to not be afraid to make mistakes and still learn. I try hard to teach honesty, and to preach it in my class. I’m going to be honest with them, they need to be honest with me. I’m going to celebrate their successes, but I’m going to let them know if something has gone awry. If we don’t admit our mistakes, we can’t fix them.
Q: What do you love about Central Magnet?
A: (Taylor) I love the people I work with at Central. I love that the district decided there could be a place for high school students who had a focus in math and science and accelerated learning. I feel like it’s an honor to be a part of it. I think there are amazing teachers in every building in Rutherford County. I think I’d be the same teacher no matter where I was.
Q: What keeps you coming back day after day?
A: (Taylor) It’s asking, what can I do to spark interest in our students each week. For example, I was teaching transformations one week. On a Sunday night I heard the cupid shuffle song. They slide to the right… They rotate… I thought, that’s how we start class. So, it’s the things I see every day or the things I think might interest our students. I know the math – but asking myself how I can get kids to understand that they can learn the math too. I’m asking myself how I can get them excited about it.
Q: What advice do you have to those who are starting a career in education?
A: (Taylor) Just like with my students – be honest with yourself about why you’ve chosen to be in that career or in that place in your life. Think about yourself as a student and recognize not every child is you as a student. Not everyone is excited about math. I never get excited about history. But if I was teaching history, I would try to make the student feel as if they are a part of it. Be confident you can do.
Q: What else should I know about you?
A: (Taylor) I love to bake. I love lots of craft things. I like to crotchet, and I like spending time with my family. We spend time together watching football and basketball.