Angela Zier (staff) is the new AP Biology and advanced biology teacher this year. The position opened up after former teacher Tamara Pennington retired last year.
Zier graduated with a wildlife and fishery sciences degree from Texas A&M. She previously taught at a local community college in North Carolina until moving to Colorado and accepting a job at Windsor High School.
Throughout her teaching, Zier really tries to make sure her students are learning. Presley Krasuski (10), an advanced biology student, explained, “Mrs. Zier always puts a lot of thought into her lessons and the way that she teaches things. Right now we’re doing kind of like two different things, but it’s all learning about the same thing. So we’re learning about fruit flies’ traits, but then she also found a game that teaches us about how traits are dominant and things like that.”
Not only does Zier put extensive effort into her lessons, but she also checks on her students to make sure they are learning. Due to the nature of a science class, students are often working on their own or in groups for labs. “She comes around, asks questions, she makes sure we know, know what we’re doing. She makes it so everyone has something to do,” AP Biology student Sadie Warne (11) said.
Zier values fun in a learning environment. She explained, “If I can’t get my students interested in what we’re doing then I don’t think that they’re gonna walk away with that really deep understanding.”
While teaching, Zier makes sure to have content that is both in-depth and makes students understand the material; she also prioritizes content that gets students interested. “My first goal is to find, to plan things in such a way that my students want to understand how something works. I want it to be engaging, I want it to pique their interest,” Zier said.
This system of teaching greatly benefits the student, as a majority of students are likely to claim that they learn better when they are interested in the topic and having fun. This system works extraordinarily well for science classes as when students get to work hands-on while learning they are more likely to have fun. “When it comes to science, definitely more hands-on, because I feel like not only do I learn better, it’s just more fun,” Krasuski said.
Whether it’s an interactive game or a microscopic lab, Zier always makes sure students are learning the content and enjoying it at the same time.
