My Reason
Since first grade I have known I would become an educator. All through elementary school I used to take notes of what my teachers did and how they taught so that I could emulate them one day. Growing up, my perspective towards teaching was unique: I learned so that I could teach.
This was also very handy considering I would come home and teach my father. Born in a war-torn country, he not only had to flee his home, he also had to relinquish his education at only nine years of age. I distinctly remember coming home one day and sitting beside him as I wrote the words "equivalent fractions" on the top of my notebook paper. Mrs. Gardner had done an excellent job teaching me that day and I couldn't wait to teach it. I felt so special using these big words and knowing exactly what they meant.
My goal to become a teacher never waivered. I attended Texas Woman's University (Alum Spotlight) and cherish the pedagogical knowledge and perspectives I gained from my professors there. The same can be said when I earned my master's at the University of North Texas. Learning is too much fun. Applying what I learned is an even greater joy.
My Journey
As a certified teacher, I became confused with students that did not quickly grasp concepts or struggled with what I thought was seemingly easy objectives. I was fortunate to co-teach with Mrs. Ellison in an inclusion model and observed how she approached teaching these students that were puzzles to me. I am grateful for this experience because her approach to teaching and how she was able to reach our students was something I would have only been able to learn through experience.
My strength as an educator is working with the academically gifted learners. These students are often ignored in the classroom because they already understand the concept, they are used to help classmates, or they are given more of the same work. A gifted/talented curriculum is about applying the concepts to a larger picture. Just like I was not prepared to teach students who needed additional supports to understand concepts, not all teachers are prepared to teach the student that already knows the concept and needs application supports. I was able to apply my strengths to my campus as the Academic Fairs coordinator, the Spelling Bee Coordinator, and the G/T Coordinator. These leadership positions propelled me to my next job working in the administration building.
As an ESL Specialist, I missed teaching. I had not realized how much I loved it until I left it. However, through writing curriculum, coordinating conferences, creating a specialized program for teachers of Newcomers within the ESL program, and being the principal of our summer enrichment programs, I discovered the hole for teaching was best filled when I got to present. Writing presentations, prepping for delivery, and presenting was my way of teaching and it is still something I enjoy.
Presenting
I have had the honor of presenting for many different contents and a variety of venues. Here is a short list of past presentations I created and presented:
Texas Regions 4 and 11 ESC: Placing Pedagogy Before Strategies to Teach Reasoning
CAMT: Addressing the Pedagogy to Solving Word Problems
NCTM Virtual Conference: The Language of Word Problem Comprehension
NCTE-NCTM Joint Conference: Where Mathematics and Literacy Meet: Combining Pedagogies to Solve Word Problems
TexTESOL: Teaching How to Solve Word Problems by Using Language to Expose the Math
Where I am now
I resigned from my previous job because I was in a fortunate position to homeschool my son without financial setback. Additionally, I have spent the past two years researching how to pedagogically approach word problems and applying that research into an over 18,000 word paper. I don't know what my plans are for my research, but I have learned so much about myself as an educator and about how to teach word problems. For now, I am writing this blog.
Update: Since I started this blog, I have signed a book contract and will be publishing my research. I am ecstatic!
Second update: Since publishing with Atmosphere Press, I signed another contract with Seidlitz Education. I now present my book as well as other Seidlitz books around the United States. I love this job!
Third update: Since presenting with Seidlitz Education, I have now had the opportunity to revise my book and the revised edition is available for purchase. Feel free to invite me to present on my book!
Since first grade I have known I would become an educator. All through elementary school I used to take notes of what my teachers did and how they taught so that I could emulate them one day. Growing up, my perspective towards teaching was unique: I learned so that I could teach.
This was also very handy considering I would come home and teach my father. Born in a war-torn country, he not only had to flee his home, he also had to relinquish his education at only nine years of age. I distinctly remember coming home one day and sitting beside him as I wrote the words "equivalent fractions" on the top of my notebook paper. Mrs. Gardner had done an excellent job teaching me that day and I couldn't wait to teach it. I felt so special using these big words and knowing exactly what they meant.
My goal to become a teacher never waivered. I attended Texas Woman's University (Alum Spotlight) and cherish the pedagogical knowledge and perspectives I gained from my professors there. The same can be said when I earned my master's at the University of North Texas. Learning is too much fun. Applying what I learned is an even greater joy.
My Journey
As a certified teacher, I became confused with students that did not quickly grasp concepts or struggled with what I thought was seemingly easy objectives. I was fortunate to co-teach with Mrs. Ellison in an inclusion model and observed how she approached teaching these students that were puzzles to me. I am grateful for this experience because her approach to teaching and how she was able to reach our students was something I would have only been able to learn through experience.
My strength as an educator is working with the academically gifted learners. These students are often ignored in the classroom because they already understand the concept, they are used to help classmates, or they are given more of the same work. A gifted/talented curriculum is about applying the concepts to a larger picture. Just like I was not prepared to teach students who needed additional supports to understand concepts, not all teachers are prepared to teach the student that already knows the concept and needs application supports. I was able to apply my strengths to my campus as the Academic Fairs coordinator, the Spelling Bee Coordinator, and the G/T Coordinator. These leadership positions propelled me to my next job working in the administration building.
As an ESL Specialist, I missed teaching. I had not realized how much I loved it until I left it. However, through writing curriculum, coordinating conferences, creating a specialized program for teachers of Newcomers within the ESL program, and being the principal of our summer enrichment programs, I discovered the hole for teaching was best filled when I got to present. Writing presentations, prepping for delivery, and presenting was my way of teaching and it is still something I enjoy.
Presenting
I have had the honor of presenting for many different contents and a variety of venues. Here is a short list of past presentations I created and presented:
Texas Regions 4 and 11 ESC: Placing Pedagogy Before Strategies to Teach Reasoning
CAMT: Addressing the Pedagogy to Solving Word Problems
NCTM Virtual Conference: The Language of Word Problem Comprehension
NCTE-NCTM Joint Conference: Where Mathematics and Literacy Meet: Combining Pedagogies to Solve Word Problems
TexTESOL: Teaching How to Solve Word Problems by Using Language to Expose the Math
Where I am now
I resigned from my previous job because I was in a fortunate position to homeschool my son without financial setback. Additionally, I have spent the past two years researching how to pedagogically approach word problems and applying that research into an over 18,000 word paper. I don't know what my plans are for my research, but I have learned so much about myself as an educator and about how to teach word problems. For now, I am writing this blog.
Update: Since I started this blog, I have signed a book contract and will be publishing my research. I am ecstatic!
Second update: Since publishing with Atmosphere Press, I signed another contract with Seidlitz Education. I now present my book as well as other Seidlitz books around the United States. I love this job!
Third update: Since presenting with Seidlitz Education, I have now had the opportunity to revise my book and the revised edition is available for purchase. Feel free to invite me to present on my book!