After 20 years of teaching at our beloved ERHS, you’ve probably been in her class or at least seen her in passing, a crucial member of our team of science teachers…it’s Ms. Ramos-Lopez!
Life before ERHS
Born in Santander (a city on the North coast of Spain), Ms. Ramos has come a long way to be a part of our Eagle Rock Community. She attended high school in Spain, which as you would imagine is organized much differently than here in the states, but being the inquisitive human she is, she learned to adapt. From learning a new language to navigating teaching online, Ms. Ramos always manages to find a way.
On the topic of her time in Spain, she recalls her middle school science teacher to be a big inspiration in her way of teaching, “he made science entertaining…he was very good at talking and connecting [with the students].” This begs the question, what made Ms. Ramos want to become a teacher? Well it started with a love for math, then it branched out to physics (“a more practical way to study math,” in her words) and resulted in getting a masters in Physics in college. It wasn’t until after college with an open future that she enrolled in education classes for teaching and stuck with it until she became the Ms. Ramos we all know and love today.
@TheRock
Now residing in Room 310, Ms. Ramos teaches (AP) physics to 11th and 12th graders as well as 8th grade science, although she’s also taught math and life science classes back in Spain. Now, if she were to teach another subject she’d choose a subject that delves into her love of being outside, like a sport or horticulture. But at the end of the day, she’s chosen physics and done so for its prevalence in our world today and her belief that we must understand the world around us in order to try to improve it. In fact, her lesson on greenhouse gasses is one of her favorites because she finds major importance in educating her students on climate change and what we can do about it.
Now for some rapid fire Ramos favorites; her favorite part of teaching is the interaction and connection with the students (and her least favorite part is grading); even though it’s changed over time, her favorite grade to teach is 8th for their liveliness; and her favorite thing about our school is the close knit community and her classroom (she finds that it’s placement is optimal–where some find complaints in the three story climb she finds a free opportunity to exercise!)
A well-rounded teacher, she finds it essential to teach in a variety of methods, incorporating hands-on learning, reading, and problem solving. Not everyone learns the same way so teaching in this diverse manner ensures nearly every student can take something out of every lesson. And finally, she believes that science as a subject is best represented as an eagle–no, not for our school’s mascot, but rather she finds the eagle’s process of observing from above before attacking its prey to be very similar to the process we must use in science: observing and then determining what’s going on and our solution.
Outside of the classroom, Ms. Ramos has a passionate affinity for all things outdoors. While she's a local to the Eagle Rock community she can be found at the beach almost as often as around her home. This lends itself to a strong love of water sports of any kind as well (although she does have a slight preference to just regular old swimming). But when she's on land Ms. Ramos finds biking and hiking to be great hobbies for someone as active as her as well. She not only soars around the globe as she fulfills her love of traveling, but she soars above and beyond the standards of a great teacher.
Closing words
Finally, Ms. Ramos-Lopez urges you to be confident in your own knowledge and thought process, be conscientious of the way you treat our planet, and be prepared for the next stage of your life (and if you ever need guidance, don’t be afraid to turn to room 310).