At West Hancock, I teach Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Advanced Math, and Calculus, and I also coach the boys/girls golf teams. Teaching five different classes and coaching keeps me pretty busy, but I love the work that I do. I am always looking for new ways to improve my teaching and am willing to try new things to help my students understand the content. As a math teacher, I always get the question, "When will I ever use this?" In my teaching, I work to provide my students with real-world contexts and applications so that they see the value in what they are learning and are able to use it in an authentic situation.

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My Personal Teaching Philosophy

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I believe that it is important to build positive relationships with students before true learning takes place. I work hard to get to know my students individually by learning about their learning style preferences as well as their personal interests. I enjoy attending their sporting and music events, and I can then incorporate these activities into our math lessons. Attending these events and learning about their other interests also lets them know that I care about them as people. Positive relationships like this have been shown in empirical research to help students improve in both academic and social aspects (Gallagher, 2013).

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As mentioned above, I also believe it is important to provide students with real-world contexts so that they know how and why the content is useful outside of the four walls of my classroom. Not only is it important for them to see how the content will be useful to them in the future, it is just as important to show them how it is useful to them now (Jaqua, 2017). This is another reason why getting to know their interests is beneficial.

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Finally, I believe that learning should be a life-long activity. As a teacher, I strive to model this for my students. I like to share with them when I am taking a new class or excited about a math conference that I will be attending, but I also enjoy when they share what they have learned in their other classes or life experiences with me. They enjoy "teaching the teacher," and I am learning something new as well! My hope is that my students see my passion for teaching and learning, and through our interactions in and out of the classroom, they will also want to be life-long learners.

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References:

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Gallagher, E. (2013). The effects of teacher-student relationships: Social and academic outcomes of low-income middle and high school

        students. NYU Steinhardt OPUS: Department of Applied Psychology. Retrieved from https://wp.nyu.edu/steinhardt-

        appsych_opus/issues/

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Jaqua, K. M. (2017). Mathematical selfies: Students real-world mathematics. The Mathematics Teacher, 111(1), 54-59.

        doi:10.5951/mathteacher.111.1.0054

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Teacher Leadership

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I am also a member of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) program at West Hancock as a Building Level Coordinator. My work with the TLC program has allowed me to work with other educators in a different way to improve student learning, and ideas that I have gained from this IT master's program have helped to begin these conversations. Discussions have included working with data (MAP data in particular) to guide instruction, using technology in the classroom, and using the Understanding by Design model to build/redesign units. I enjoy working with my colleagues in this way and have improved my instruction throughout the process as well.

Becoming a Master

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After my 4th year of teaching, I decided to work towards a master's degree in instructional technology through the University of Northern Iowa. The reason I chose this particular program is because West Hancock is a 1:1 district with Chromebooks, and I knew that I could use technology more effectively in my teaching than what I was currently doing. Throughout the last two years, I have learned new ways to implement technology in the classroom, as well as new curriculum design strategies, improved pedagogical insights, and ways to connect with other educators throughout the world. Technology is always changing, but through my learning in this program, I feel that I am able to implement strategies to include technology in the classroom effectively, and teach others how to do this as well.

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Resume

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Connect with Me

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Please feel free to contact me through social media and/or email. I enjoy connecting with other educators to gain new ideas and share my own as well!

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