Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Tannen

What defines any school is the people in it. For fifteen years, Mr. Tannen has been an integral presence at Masterman, first as a student and now as a teacher. Mr. Tannen recalls his early days at Masterman, beginning in middle school.  “I was a curious learner. I took my academics very seriously, but I was also involved in a lot. I played the trumpet in the all-city orchestra and the jazz band. I also did three varsity sports — soccer, tennis, and basketball, and was captain of the tennis and soccer teams.”

His journey back to Masterman was not a straightforward path. After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in international relations, he was placed by the nonprofit Teach for America to teach at Boys Latin Charter High School. He later taught with the TAPIF program, teaching English to students in France. While teaching there, he achieved fluency in French. He returned to Philadelphia and taught at The Philadelphia School. After being informed of a job opening at Masterman, he seized the opportunity and began teaching there. 

Reflecting on the changes he’s seen at Masterman, Mr. Tannen notes, “I think physically, the building is very similar, and traditions like graduation too. You still get motivated students from all over the city to come here.  The biggest change is the proliferation of technology. We didn’t have Chromebooks, smartboards, or instant access to our grades, everything was on paper and pencil.”

Fortunately, no matter the time or location, Mr. Tannen brings his unique, engaging approach to learning. “I emphasize debunking the misconception that math is not connected to your daily life, really, just being a punctual, organized person requires you to use math.” When encountering students who say, they’re just not good at math, he aims “to let students understand that you are doing yourself a favor by not using that type of language, because you're setting yourself up to shut down when you meet challenges. I understand where it may be coming from, but every day is an opportunity to re-establish a positive relationship with math.” He also likes to spice things up in class with his humor. “I just kind of like cracking some situational jokes, for instance, in my calculus classes, we like to reference some of the emails from students who find good calculus memes on social media.”

When asked what advice he would give Masterman students, he says, “Focus on growth. I think the more you invest in different interests and knowledge, and passions at this age, the richer your life will be moving forward. It's an exciting time in your life to be a student, to be focused on learning and areas that you're curious about.” Mr. Tannen truly exemplifies this philosophy; he plays basketball weekly, dances (salsa, stepping, the wave), runs half marathons, plays trumpet, speaks French, and continually expands his mathematical knowledge. 

Recently, he received the prestigious Lindback Award for distinguished teaching. He celebrated multiple times, at a Masterman pep rally and ceremony with the Superintendent of the Philadelphia School District.  “I’m always thinking about how I can be more effective or a better teacher, so it’s nice validation to hear that people see me as a teacher worthy of an honor like this. I feel like it's giving me new life and energy in my teaching this year.” However, when asked what his favorite part of teaching was, his focus was not on awards. Instead, he simply expressed, “I just feel being a teacher gives me such a big community of folks that I care about, which makes life better.”