Teacher Spotlight: Uzair Shaikh

Uzair Shaikh is an MEK instructor who has a BS from Rutgers University in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. He was born in Pakistan and moved to New Jersey when he was 3 years old. He’s been teaching since high school when he used to help his younger cousin with various subjects. His hobbies include playing sports, going to the gym, reading Manga, and playing video games (when he can find the time). At MEK, he teaches exam prep classes, and enrichment classes in Math and Chemistry.

The following is an interview between him and our content writer:

Career Path

Interviewer: Where did you go to college? What was your original field of study?

Mr. Shaikh: I went to Rutgers University in New Brunswick. I studied Computer Science there. 

Interviewer: Did you have a minor?

Mr. Shaikh: I did. I ended up minoring in math because there was a lot of overlap between the computer science degree and the math minor. I was like, “Why not? Two or three more classes, and I could put a minor on my degree.”

Interviewer: What inspired you to become a teacher? 

Mr. Shaikh: Well…I’ve been teaching pretty much since I was in high school, in a sense, because my younger cousin always needed some sort of tutoring. So I was always helping him with social studies, English, Math, that kind of stuff. Then I went to college, and teaching became the thing I did after college. With the pandemic and everything, it was the field that I went into instead of computer science. Eventually, I aim to merge the two. I feel like there are a lot of skills that I’ve learned through teaching for the past two years that can be applied pretty much anywhere. 

Interviewer: How long have you been teaching?

Mr. Shaikh: A few months at MEK, and before that I was teaching about a year and a half at a different tutoring center. 

Teaching at MEK

Interviewer: What brought you to MEK?

Mr. Shaikh: I had actually been referred through a friend of mine whose older sister works at MEK. Her name is Binal. She is the Director of the MLC Programs. Having that connection made the process a lot smoother, and it seemed like a good fit. 

Interviewer: What is your favorite part of teaching at MEK? 

Mr. Shaikh: My favorite part of teaching at MEK is seeing when students sort-of “get it,” seeing that light bulb moment that goes off in their heads when they understand. You’ll always have students in your classes that are at different levels, some need more help, some need less help, and some get things right away. But for me the satisfying part is when there’s a student that’s struggling but they finally grasp a concept after you’ve explained it a bunch of different ways, and tailored that explanation to how they learn. Seeing that moment for them is very satisfying for me. 

Interviewer: Does anything about teaching at MEK surprise you?

Mr. Shaikh: One thing I was definitely surprised about when I first came here was how organized everything is, and how everyone has their roles, but people here are so knowledgeable about everything else that’s going on within the company on any given day. There’re so many people that wear multiple hats and there’s always someone to help you. It’s sort-of like a community, you can always reach out, and there’s always someone there. 

Advice for Students

Interviewer: What does it take to succeed in math?

Mr. Shaikh: Math is an interesting field. One of the things I always go back to is that there’s a lot of skills that you learn in English that you can apply to math, and vice-versa. So, I try to lean on that a decent amount, because as a Math teacher, oftentimes you’ll have a student that might be good at English but not so good at math. So, for me, I like to understand: What are some skills that they’re really good at in English that apply to math as well? Before this, I was teaching English and Math but here, I’m just teaching math. However, math is not just about numbers and doing calculations. There is a fair amount of understanding what’s going on behind the scenes. I try to stress that before I just throw numerical problems at students. 

Interviewer: You teach several classes that might seem overwhelming to students at times. What do you recommend to your students when they struggle with new concepts? 

Mr. Shaikh: New concepts are a lot. Whether you’re talking about math, chemistry, or whatever class you’re teaching. I think that if a student is struggling on a new concept, you have to understand why that’s happening. The first question I ask myself is, “Is it the way I’m presenting the information? And is this student receiving that information in the way that they learn best?” Once I start to answer those questions and I feel I’m doing my part properly, then it’s about having a conversation with the student. I’ll often have that conversation in the middle of class, and if they’re struggling on a new concept, I’ll take the time to explain it in a different way. One thing I use a lot in all my classes is analogies. Especially for classes like chemistry where it’s a little more abstract and completely new material for a lot of kids, I like to make analogies to things they’re familiar with in real life. 

Interviewer: Of the classes you teach, which would you say is the most challenging for your students?

Mr. Shaikh: Right now I’m teaching a few exam prep classes, but I would definitely say that the high school classes are probably the most difficult. Moreso, I would say chemistry is probably more difficult than the math classes. I’m teaching Algebra II right now, which a lot of students already have a foundation in like Pre-algebra or Algebra I, so they are coming in with some sort of knowledge. But for Chemistry, it’s like they’re learning something completely new. So, it’s about really building that foundation and making sure that they understand the prerequisites before you get into some of the more challenging material. So, I would definitely say that Chemistry is a bit more difficult.

Interviewer: How important are math skills for use in chemistry? 

Mr. Shaikh: Math skills are very important, but they’re not the end-all be-all. I always tell my chemistry students, “Understand the why before you do the what. Understand what’s going on, because if you’re trying to just focus on the numbers and the calculations, then you’re not going to get the whole picture. Chemistry and Physics are more on the math side of the sciences, whereas Biology is more on the memorization side of science. But, at the same time, there’re a lot of topics in chemistry that build upon each other. So, if you don’t have a core understanding of, say, what atoms are, and what those atomic structures look like, you can’t really proceed to the next concept. So, I aim to make sure their foundation is strong.

Interviewer: What is Chemistry Special? How does it differ from Chemistry?

Mr. Shaikh: Chemistry Special is a virtual class that we created specifically for students who wanted to take chemistry at MEK, but wanted to do it virtually. It’s special in the sense that it’s not the normal 2 hour class, it’s a 90 minute virtual class. So, the pace of the class is faster, but we have bright students in that class, and they’re able to meet that challenging environment. 

Interviewer: Do you do chemistry experiments in the in-person class?

Mr. Shaikh: We don’t do labs or chemistry experiments. Sometimes I will refer to what an experiment for a specific concept would look like in a lab, just so they can have that real-world example. These students are preparing for their Honors Chemistry class in high school, in which they are going to be doing labs and experiments, so I try to give them that introduction beforehand. 

Interviewer: So this class builds a strong foundation for the class they will take in high school?

Mr. Shaikh: Exactly, building that foundation, covering – not all the material that they’ll learn in their chemistry class – but as much as the first half of chemistry.

Confidence and Skill-building

Interviewer: How do you help students build confidence in their skills?

Mr. Shaikh: That’s something that is a balancing act. Some kids are coming in with that confidence already there, and they get things right away. If there’s a student lacking in that area, it can throw off the pace of the class a little bit. You can see it in their attitude. A lot of students are like this, where they sort-of just give up as soon as they don’t understand something. I think it’s crucial for teachers to be able to notice these behaviors in students, especially ones who are less communicative. So, I approach it with a simple conversation. Kids are aware of the placebo effect, but a lot of them are not aware of the opposite, the nocebo effect. I try to get them to see that if you already believe that you’re going to do badly on this topic, then that’s what’s likely to manifest. I want them to understand that first, and then develop the mindset that it all starts with the belief that you can actually do as good as the smartest kid in class. After that it’s about the actionable steps you could take to get there. Yeah, maybe, you require more studying than someone else, but it’s still doable.

Interviewer: Do you have any additional advice for math students? 

Mr. Shaikh: I would say that math is something that you really need to practice in order to get it down right. Something I notice a lot in my classes is that students will be focused on taking lecture notes, as if the notes will somehow magically make them a master of the topic at hand. While note-taking is important, I feel like what gets lost in translation is practice. Students really need to make sure that they’re doing practice problems outside of the classroom, especially since they have access to a bunch of practice problems that they can do for any given topic. They need to take that initiative on their own and understand that practice makes permanent. That’s a challenging mindset to build, and it coincides with the whole confidence-building aspect. 

Morning Beverage

Interviewer: What is your favorite morning beverage (or breakfast)?

Mr. Shaikh: Oooh. Okay…So I’m not a big breakfast person, but what I always do is keep a bottle of water next to me, and I drink a whole bottle of water when I wake up. I feel like it wakes you up right away. And that’s my beverage of choice. I don’t really drink much outside of water. Maybe a tea or coffee here or there. I do have a crazy sweet-tooth though so sometimes it’s hard to control.

Free Time

Interviewer: What do you like to do outside of MEK?

Mr. Shaikh: A lot of things. I think it’s very important to have hobbies outside of your work, and just in your daily life. I grew up playing a lot of sports, still do. A lot of volleyball, a lot of basketball. I haven’t been playing a lot of video games recently, although I grew up playing a lot. It’s hard to find the time to do certain things, only so many hours in the day. Other than playing sports and going to the gym, I like to grow my mind. Understanding what’s happening in the world and understanding what’s going on in many aspects of life. I think it’s very important to connect with people and the world itself by being aware. 

Current Read

Interviewer: What was the last book you read? Do you have any book recommendations for your students?

Mr. Shaikh: Oooh. The last actual book I read was during Covid. It was Sapiens. I got halfway through and I kind-of gave up. I do read a lot of comic books, or Japanese comic books called manga. I’m reading a few of them right now. One of them I’m reading is One Piece, which is a very long-running one. A story of adventure, connections, and freedom. I would recommend it or manga in general to students because, especially for today’s generation, a lot of students don’t have the attention span that they used to. So, comic books – you get the visual aspect, and you get the literary aspect as well – I think it’s a very interesting tool to grow your mind. 

Interviewer (follow-up): Do you speak Japanese?

Mr. Shaikh: I have been watching anime since I was 4 or 5, so I pretty much grew up with it. I wouldn’t say that I can speak Japanese, but there are times when I’m watching an episode and if I look away for a second, I can sort-of understand what the characters are saying. But no, I would not say I am anywhere close to fluent in speaking or understanding it. One day, hopefully, before I go to Japan, I aim to become at least conversationally proficient in the language.