Tim Riordan was recently named the assistant principal for Elmhurst School District 205’s Hawthorne and Lincoln elementary schools, a newly created position. Hawthorne and Lincoln are the two largest elementary schools in District 205.
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Riordan comes to Elmhurst District 205 from East Maine School District 63, where he taught at Melzer Elementary School. He also served as an administrative intern and the facilitator of Melzer’s Building Leadership Team, leading teacher teams in the use of qualitative and quantitative data to monitor and support the academic, social and emotional growth of students.
Riordan has experience in instructional coaching and in the Eureka math program, two initiatives that District 205 is taking on this year.
He holds a bachelor of science in education from Northern Illinois University and a masters in education organization and leadership from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
Q. You come to Elmhurst from Des Plaines schools. Are you a Chicago-area native?
A. Yes. I grew up in Bartlett and I now reside in St. Charles.
Q. Among your other accomplishments, you are also a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Why did you decide to teach math?
A. I taught elementary school, so I taught all subjects. However, teaching math was by far my favorite subject to teach because I enjoyed modeling the critical thinking skills students need in order to solve problems. I also enjoyed the challenge of changing their mindset toward math. It was gratifying to hear students say they finally see the point in learning math and they were excited about it.
Q. How has coaching and facilitating teacher teams helped you as an administrator?
A. Facilitating teacher teams helped me as an administrator because it allowed me to develop a global perspective and consider what high quality instruction looks like throughout K-5 instead of simply one grade level. I enjoy coaching because our schools will be as good as the teachers are. One way to ensure every child receives high-quality education is to have a unified educational approach among all grade levels.
Q. What will be different for students during the Eureka Math pilot project?
A. Students will be asked to solve problems differently than they have been in the past. Most of the problems they are going to be asked to solve are in a context and not just “numbers on a page.” They will also be asked to draw visual models and explain their thinking in writing.
Carol Morency is a freelance report for Pioneer Press.