Weiss Brings Enthusiasm and Energy to the Classroom

By Ellen Murphy '22, Communications Apprentice
January 22, 2021

Laura Weiss ensures that all of her students understand the material.

Laura Weiss, an English and Social Studies teacher, loves being part of the Cretin-Derham Hall community. 

“The students at CDH really want to do well, which makes it so much easier to be a good teacher,” she said.  

Weiss is the kind of teacher that makes learning fun and always finds ways to engage all of her students in whatever she is teaching. Her students describe her as genuinely energetic and positive and feel like she is always happy to be at school. 

Weiss aims to challenge her students and gives her students many opportunities to reach out to her if they are struggling. She is always wanting honest feedback from her students to improve how she teaches. 

She considers herself lucky because she always knew that she wanted to be a teacher. When speaking about how she knew she wanted to be a teacher she talked about her teachers being “really great at connecting [what they were teaching] to the present world.”  

Weiss grew up in a small town in South Dakota and had a high school graduating class of 37 kids. Despite the size difference between her high school and CDH, she sees a lot of similarities between the two communities and how much people are cared about at CDH.  

Weiss first joined CDH as a long-term sub in 2019 but she remembers thinking, “This is where I want to be.”  

She is now an integral part of the Admissions team and an advisor to the school newspaper, The Chronicle. She said that the community at CDH has supported her and helped her transition into her new roles

Back in April, Weiss' students dressed up for Beach Day.Weiss also feels that the transition to distance learning was relatively seamless for CDH because of how strong the community is and how much the students care about their academic success and each other. Last spring Weiss had dress-up days during online class, which she felt was a fun way to keep students engaged and get them up out of bed to partake in her virtual class and discussions.  

Weiss also does a really good job of keep students engaged in person. She always has fun activities planned to help students get a better understanding of what is being learned and does a really good job of including all students in discussions and making sure all her students have a voice in the classroom. 

“Ms. Weiss is the kind of teacher that makes you want to get up every morning and come to school,” said Tyler Mader '22. 


 

 

Ellen Murphy '22 is a Communications Apprentice. She sees herself as creative and a leader, and is also a member of the volleyball team, math team, and involved in The Chronicle. She is excited to share her writing and ideas with the broader CDH community.

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