By Jessica Jun

Staff Writer

@jesse_jun16

In the year of 2014-2015, when a former AP Psychology teacher left, there was much talk and curiosity regarding who the new psychology teachers were going to be.

When the news spread that Kristia Leyendecker was to be the new teachers for the next school year, there were many differing opinions coming from students ranging from all grade levels.

Leyendecker, former World History teacher, was given the opportunity to change courses and teach a brand new subject within her composite. Beyond excited to teach psychology, Leyendecker spent much of her time learning the new course over the summer.

“I am not an expert in psychology,” Leyendecker said. “I spend just about everyday going through materials, just looking at it, and reading up on the background.”

As Leyendecker is still adjusting to her new role, she is open to offering mediums to many different learning styles. A few students have offered suggestions as to how she can improve their experience in her class.

“She’s definitely very dedicated and putting a lot effort into teaching us and helping us through this course,” CHS sophomore Rohan Morar said. “But one thing I would like is a more formal review. Not just the topics, but an actual review to study.”

CHS senior Ludia Hong also enjoys Leyendecker’s enthusiasm.

“She’s super energetic and I love that,” Ludia said. “But I hope she can change her lessons so that instead of so many activities, she can just teach and lecture us as opposed to flipped videos.”

However, Leyendecker seems to have a unique reasoning for her way of teaching the class. Recognizing that students learn differently, Leyendecker is trying to find ways to reach out to all students. She creates diagrams to help visual learners, has flipped videos for auditory learners, and has reviews for hands-on learners.

“When it comes to learning, true learning is not memorizing, but understanding and then being able to apply it,” Leyendecker said. “I think where a lot of the discontent comes from is that this is not what they’re used to. Students want to know exactly what they need to know so they can repeat it exactly on the test. That’s not learning.”
Leyendecker’s goal for her students by the end of the year is that they will be able to walk away with a new perspective and understanding for learning. Students also hopefully will, by year’s end, learn to recognize and appreciate the amount of work and effort each teacher puts into teaching their students in the best way possible.