Welcome to my homepage!

Ms. Susan Ferber sjferber@optonline.net Teacher of  Mathematics Central Islip High School Central Islip, NY 11722

I was born in NYC and grew up in Forest Hills, Queens. I am a product of the "city schools" and a great believer in public education. I received both my BS in Math and my MS in Education degrees from Queens College, which at the time I attended, was virtually "free." I married right out of college and started teaching at Martin Van Buren HS in Queens, but after four years, we moved to the suburbs and I started my career at Central Islip HS. During school vacations, I spend a lot of time traveling. I've been to Europe many times, taking my daughter with me to Italy, Spain, and Greece, and instilling in her the love of traveling as well. I lived in Jerusalem for a year while my husband, also a teacher, was on sabbatical leave. We spent six weeks touring Africa at that time. Since then I have visited China and Egypt and always have a suitcase packed and ready to go! I love to learn about different cultures and to delve into the history of old civilizations.

My Life as an Educator

I have been teaching at Central Islip HS for more than thirty years and have taught every math course from Basic Math to Calculus. When I first came to this school I was the only woman in the department. Times have changed. Now our math department is 75% female! I have taught traditional math, the "New" math of the 70's, and the Sequential Math of the 80's and 90's. Now we are embarking on new curriculum again: "Standards Based" mathematics. I have continued to take courses and keep current with all the new technology and I can use scientific and graphing calculators with ease. I enjoy using technology in the classroom whenever it is appropriate. I love working with computers and for three years was a BCF, Building Computer Facilitator, as computers were introduced into our schools. I have been Junior Class advisor for the last five years and was Student Organization advisor a few years ago. I also advise the French Club and Chess Club.

When I'm Not Working...
 
 

Well if you checked out the address of this site, you probably figured out I like to do crossword puzzles! I also like to read, but have little time to do this except when on vacation. My solution to this problem is that I listen to books on tape in my car on the way to work! For physical activity, I try to get to the gym twice a week and I bowl in a league once a week. As mentioned previously, I spend much of my vacation time either traveling or taking courses. Now single, I also have a very active social life.

 Web Sites I Like

Here are some of my favorite sites, some math oriented and some just for fun:

• Newsday Daily & Sunday Crosswords: for crosswords you can print out and do at your leisure
• Ask Dr. Math:  where students can find the answers to many math questions. Also take a look at its parent site, the Math Forum.
• Art By Math Gallery: a site for experimentation with fractals and relates art and math. Includes difficult jigsaw puzzles! A fast modem is really necessary to view this graphics intensive site.
• Expressit: is my favorite card and graphics site.
• The Origami Theme Page: a page of links to origami projects and instructions, a new hobby of mine.