Middle School Math Magic: Nick Niederquell's Passion for Teaching

In this week's episode of the Hornet Hive podcast we sit down with Nick Niederquell, a passionate 6th-grade math teacher at Williamston Middle School. Nick shares his unique journey into teaching, the benefits of being a part of the same school community as his children, and his philosophy on the growth mindset in education. Here's a deeper look into the topics discussed in this enriching episode.

Choosing Williamston: A Personal Decision

Nick Niederquell's decision to teach in Williamston is both a personal and professional choice. As a father of twin 8th graders, Nick finds an unparalleled joy in teaching in the same environment where his children are growing up. He talks about the immeasurable value of seeing his children and their friends every day, whether in the hallway giving fist bumps or on the soccer field where he assists in coaching.

"It is a priceless thing to teach in the same classroom school hall hallways as my own kid," Nick said, emphasizing how this crossover enriches both his family life and his professional life. Williamston offers a small-town vibe while being conveniently close to Lansing, making it an ideal location for raising a family.

The Path to Teaching Math

Nick didn’t always know he wanted to be a teacher. Initially, on the engineering path at Michigan State University, he soon realized that working with people was his true calling. After struggling through upper-level math courses himself, he understood the importance of not only being good at math but also knowing how to overcome difficulties.

"Spending days with people and training up the younger generations was a lightbulb moment for me," Nick said. His personal struggle with difficult mathematical concepts has equipped him with the empathy and techniques necessary to help students succeed. By transforming his classroom into a space where mistakes are just steps toward progress, Nick makes math both challenging and achievable for his students.

Creating a Positive Environment

What sustains Nick in his teaching role is his love for his colleagues and students. He spoke highly of the close-knit team of dedicated educators at Williamston Middle School, each bringing their unique strengths to the table. Drawing inspiration from his fellow teachers, he has found his own voice and methods for motivating and educating 6th graders effectively.

The Power of a Growth Mindset

One of the standout moments in the podcast was when Nick talked about the importance of a growth mindset. Inspired by Carol Dweck’s body of work, he emphasizes “Practice makes progress” over the older adage “Practice makes perfect.” This shift removes the pressure of perfection and encourages students to view each attempt as a step towards improvement.

"I have loved bringing my energy by doing pushups in class and saying, 'Alright, students, here we go. We're going to do another few reps at this,'" Nick shared. This engaging approach makes learning enjoyable and shows students that persistence will eventually lead to understanding.

Nick Niederquell’s teaching journey is a beautiful blend of personal fulfillment and professional dedication. By teaching in Williamston, he not only strengthens his family ties but also enriches the community with his energetic and caring approach. His story is an excellent example of how educators can make a significant impact by fostering a growth mindset and creating a positive, supportive learning environment. Tune in to this enlightening episode of the Hornet Hive to hear more of Nick’s inspiring journey and insights.

Take a listen and let us know how you'll bring a growth mindset into your own home or classroom!

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:19]:
Welcome back to the Hornet Hive. I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Lewis, one of the members of the Williamston Community Schools Board of Education. Really excited to have you back again this week. And this week as always, I love being able to introduce you to people within our district that are doing amazing things, working with our students to help them be the, the students that we want them to be in the district and helping them to find success in that educational journey that they're on. And this week we've got another great guest with us today. Nick Niederquill is with us today and Nick is a math teacher at our middle school, working with our 6th graders and teaching them math and helping them to be able to find success in math. Nick, I am really excited to have you here today.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:05]:
Thanks so much for being here and look forward to getting to know you a little bit more.

Nick Niederquell [00:01:09]:
Thank you for having me. And I'm looking forward to just the integration within our own schools.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:14]:
So the first question that I always ask, and I know you've been a teacher for many years and you were a teacher for many years outside of our district and then had the opportunity and decided to come to our district. So what brought you originally to Williamston, but what brought you now back to Williamston as a teacher?

Nick Niederquell [00:01:33]:
Yeah. Both answers are right on. So I guess first, as a teacher, why here? It is a priceless thing to teach in the same classroom school hall hallways as my own kid. And so this year, for instance, I have twin 8th graders and so seeing them and their friends, which I help on their soccer team assisting, coach their soccer team. So seeing them and their friends given fist bumps in the hallway, you can't get there when you're teaching in different communities. So that piece is just a beautiful thing for our family and that's not even to mention the ease of rides for our family, but just the beauty of crossover for our family with other families that we're already partnered with. And so why not bring the talent here right here at home? That's probably that first part of why teach here and what brought my wife and I to the community. It's the small town love.

Nick Niederquell [00:02:22]:
Williamston is close to Lansing and it's close to other things. It's just a part beat of many things that are in the area and yet, where do you wanna raise your family? So, you know, where did we wanna raise our family in a community like this? And so, that's kinda what brought us specifically to Williamston about 10 years ago.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:39]:
Now, I mentioned that you teach math and not everyone wants to teach math. So talk to me about what made you passionate about not only teaching, but teaching math with middle school.

Nick Niederquell [00:02:50]:
Right. I mean, there's a couple dynamics there. So I went to Michigan State for undergrad and master's degrees and coming out of high school, does anybody really know themselves and people that do, man, that must be lucky for you. And so for me, 1st couple of years of college was, Hey, here are some things that I'm good at and was kind of going towards the engineering route. And then I worked at a GM plant for a couple of years, co oping at the same time as going to community college. And I just was like, this is not what I want to do. And so it's people that I want to be with and use that talent with. And so kind of at that point, it was like light bulb moment teaching.

Nick Niederquell [00:03:27]:
Yes. Spending days with people and training up the younger generations. So for me, that was sort of a little bit of depth to the pathway toward teaching and going toward that engineering route in the beginning was good in the math and sciences and other things too. But, so for me through the college years, I remember struggling in those upper level math classes at Michigan state specifically. And those upper level math classes was like, woah, I don't understand this, but I've always been used to being good in math. So I feel like one of the strengths that I offer students is how do you be successful in a math classroom? And also what do you do when you struggle? What do you do when you don't understand it? So I feel like that's one thing that I continually bring to my students is a little bit of the success and a little bit of the struggle. I feel like that's something that I'm passionate about is how do you help kids? So encouraging kiddos in the classroom is right on and Oh, I don't know. Middle school teachers perhaps and middle schoolers, perhaps everywhere, you know, a little bit of the same energy and I probably have some of that.

Nick Niederquell [00:04:27]:
I bring energy to the classroom. So I think sometimes in that setting, I'm trained secondary ed, so 6th grade through 12th grade. And so sometimes in that high school classroom being too cool for high schoolers is one element of it. And so, yeah, it just seems like a great fit. I've always taught middle school. And so bringing my passion and talent here within Williamson Middle School seems to be the perfect thing.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:04:51]:
Now you've been in the district for a period of time. Your kids have been in the district as well. So now that you are teaching within the district, you're working with kids now in our schools. Talk to me about what sustained you in your position, and you can think back also to your other teaching and what sustains you as a teacher as well. But specifically, what makes Williamston a great place to work?

Nick Niederquell [00:05:12]:
I love it. I love the people I work with. I mean, it's kind of like every one of us, we all have strengths, we all have weaknesses. And so as I think about the teachers down my hallway here, I love the energy that they bring. I love the belief attitude that they hold for students. In some ways, these high quality educators here have helped me find my voice for Williamston students because different communities have different vibes, strengths, but motivating a 6th grader versus a 7th grader can have its own nuance. And likewise, how you talk to students in the Williamston community can be different than what are students interested elsewhere. And so I think these high quality educators, it's been fun to see sometimes within Ingham County, the whole county, there's been a lot of professional development over the years.

Nick Niederquell [00:06:02]:
So there's been some constancy there. And so there's been a lot of crossover for strategies and how do you engage students and whatnot. And so I'm just seeing a lot of high quality strategies here within the classrooms. And I think I've been maybe indebted to fellow colleagues here for finding that voice for Williamston middle schoolers as well.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:06:24]:
No, we definitely have a great team at the middle school. Number of them have been past guests on the podcast. I've loved being able to get to know them. I've had my kids go through many of their classes as they moved up in the schools as well. And it does take a specific type of teacher that wants to work with middle schoolers, but then there's also teachers that just wanna work with high schoolers and just wanna work with those elementary kiddos too. So it takes all to be able to build that support network and educational network for students to be able to tap into for their education. Now, as you think about your experiences as a teacher here in Williamston, of the questions that I love being able to ask, and it kind of goes back to you talking about what you've experienced so far in the teachers that you work with, but also thinking on that day to day basis and working with the kids themselves, every teacher is a storyteller. You have your stories.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:07:21]:
I'm sure if you think back to the through the many years of teaching experience, both here in our district as well as in other school districts, you have stories that have sustained you and also ones that kinda pull at the heartstrings. Can you share a story with me that thus far you've had that epitomizes to you the experience you've had as a Williamston staff member?

Nick Niederquell [00:07:42]:
I think when going to parent teacher conferences for our youngest, when they were in 2nd grade, now they're in 10th grade. So about 8 years ago, we they had a teacher, I think her name is Sarah Evans. And so a second grade teacher. One of the things that I remember hearing is this phrase, practice makes progress. So there was an old phrase, practice makes perfect. And in some ways, it's not as good as this practice makes progress. It's not as true as, so practice makes perfect. Is there truth to it? Absolutely.

Nick Niederquell [00:08:11]:
For sure. And yet, there's this pressure involved to becoming perfect. And so I think it's all around this growth mindset concept. I love the growth mindset and what it kind of helps coach kids through tricky spots in life. It could be from something as non academic as cleaning your room for a student or, you know, adult to think, oh, I'm just no good at that. Well, have you tried getting better at it? And so the growth mindset, Carol Dweck is the author of the book and the body of work around it. And it just seems to have really explained things to kids in a way that's like, oh, okay. I'm not good at this yet.

Nick Niederquell [00:08:51]:
And but what about if we practice this a little bit more? And so what I've seen in math education since coming across the Carol Dweck body of work, maybe 2012 ish, something like that, a little bit more than 10 years is that kids get it. So what if we just try again? What if we try a new on ramp? What if we try a new strategy? At some point, the light bulb goes on. Some of my experience is seeing a student. What if you had them 1 year in 7th grade and then say solving equations just doesn't click as a 7th grader, but seeing them as an 8th grader, all of a sudden it clicked. That was early on in my career. And so that was pre growth mindset body of work. So taking that experience of seeing a kiddo who maybe just wasn't developmentally, conceptually ready for a tough algebra concept and then you come back to the table and you work at it again. So seeing that effect from a 7th grader student, same kiddo then as an 8th grader student light bulb goes on.

Nick Niederquell [00:09:49]:
And so you add the growth mindset body of work to it and it's like, no, we don't have to wait a whole another year. Let's try it again tomorrow. And so I have loved even bringing my energy by doing pushups in class and be like, all right, students, here we go. We're going to do another few reps at this. You know. So repetition, practice makes progress is just something that I could sink my teeth into and I can see where it has led me well as a human, as a learner, as well as how it leads kids in the math classroom. So it's not something that you just, you just gotta try harder with this pressure involved, but let's take the pressure out and let's try another pass. Here we go.

Nick Niederquell [00:10:27]:
Let's try to learn how do you solve equations this way. So I think that's something I'll just never forget that from Mrs. Evans back in the day where it's like, how do we learn from one another? And so that spirit of learning from one another, I think is something that I've leaned into before I started working here and just the beautiful crossover in education. What can we teach one another? We have a lot to offer each other.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:10:53]:
And a big shout out to Mrs. Evans. So many of the kids that have gone through her class, remember her well, and definitely we miss her as, and we know that she's enjoying retirement and rooting on the tigers, but I will say she is missed in our district and definitely someone that we miss seeing in our halls. But Nick, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all that you're doing for that energy, that passion that you're bringing into the classroom to encourage and to challenge our 6th graders with math because it's not always an easy subject for every child and you're making it fun and kids are noticing and it's making them want to come back. And that makes a big difference when you're setting that standard for them to be able to then keep moving forward and not get frustrated and not tune out to the STEM subjects, but pushing in and showing them, as you said, that they can do it and that, you know, they have maybe have to put a little bit more time in. That's okay. But I truly appreciate all the work that you're doing and the passion that you're bringing to the work that you're doing.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:11:57]:
And I wish you all the best.

Nick Niederquell [00:11:58]:
 Appreciate your time, doctor Lewis. Appreciate that as well.