Jonathan Muster: Teaching with Urgency

Jonathan Muster of Edison Computech Middle School is the child of two teachers, but that wasn’t the career path he had envisioned for himself. While he planned to go into computer science, the thought of sitting alone in front of a screen didn’t excite him. After consulting with those who knew him best about what to do instead, the unanimous recommendation was teaching.

When multiple people who’d never met each other all recommended that Jonathan Muster become a teacher, the answer was clear. Now, a decade into teaching, it seems they couldn’t have been more right.

With a few years under his belt, Jonathan has now placed an emphasis on advising and mentoring the younger teachers around him. “After about ten years of teaching, I’ve gotten more involved with working with new teachers. It’s something that’s become a big part of who I am,” Jonathan said. He credits the teachers who helped him his first few years with getting him to where he is. So in turn, he does the same for incoming teachers when he can. “I’m involved with probably seven or eight district committees, helping out new interns and teachers […] giving back to everyone who helped me when I first started,” Jonathan said.

Jonathan says he has a “sense of urgency” in his classroom. “It makes students feel like they’re moving along in the learning and not getting complacent,” he said. While he has that urgency, he also balances that with wait times and an understanding of how long his students need to process the concepts they’re being presented with. “A lot of timing things have helped me keep the kids on task,” he said.

Jonathan has a sense of humor in his classroom too. “I have a very sarcastic sense of humor that middle school students love,” he said. “I have students tell me sometimes, ‘you’re my favorite class. I still hate math, but you’re my favorite class.’”. Whether they leave his classroom loving math or not, there’s no arguing that Jonathan makes a personal impact on the students he teaches.

Photos courtesy of Jonathan Muster