Imagine the stress of being responsible for five classes as a new student-teacher.

Viviana Sanchez is a long-term math substitute for Josephine Yoo, who has been on maternity leave since February. Sanchez was Yoo’s student-teacher and would accompany Yoo during her teaching to feel the flow of teaching and to start getting used to her soon-to-be classes.

Sanchez is in the process of earning her teaching credential in math. She has finished her credential program and only needs to pass her CalTPA and CSET exams to become credentialed in California.

She is still in the process of turning in what she is missing to get her teaching credential in math, but has finished her studies at Brandman University, which is the university that assigned Sanchez to LQHS.

Before she was assigned to Yoo, she was originally assigned to Lauren Garrott, another math teacher. She had originally applied at the district as a guest teacher and the district did the rest.

When Sanchez began her training, she had felt nervous at the beginning but Yoo was very helpful and the students made her feel comfortable. They started to see her as a teacher instead of someone doing their student teaching, she said.

What Sanchez wanted to accomplish this year was to gain experience and make connections that will help her in the future. She hopes that she will leave a positive impact for her students and her peers.

For Sanchez, the responsibility is a new experience every day. 

“I have learned that every student is different and that each class is different,” she said. “There is a sense of responsibility that comes with having 150 plus students to be responsible for.”

Before Sanchez became a long-term substitute, she was still deciding what subjects she wanted to specialize in. She debated two subjects: math or history. 

At the time, she had been doing a long-term assignment for history and she had thought she would be doing history. She had eventually realized that she liked math better and when students would ask for her help, she enjoyed it.

One of the biggest challenges for Sanchez has been the pandemic and helping students catch up on all the work they have missed.

Teaching alone in the beginning was a bit difficult.

She said, “In the beginning, I was just trying to get a handle of creating the lessons and activities by myself. And dealing with classroom management and disciplinary issues.”

“She’s a good teacher and helps me when I’m confused with something,” Michael Limon ‘25 said.