Georgina Luna

7-12 Mathematics

When asked, “Why do you want to become a teacher?” I always reflect on my life

leading up to that exact moment when I decided to pursue teaching prior to responding.

For as long as I can recall, when asked, “what do you want to be in the future” my

immediate response without hesitation has been, “a teacher.” To demonstrate, at the age of

five I had my own teacher’s desk, which was a simple wooden desk scaled to the size of a

child and I would play “school” with the children my mother took care of in her home

daycare. I would try to teach the alphabet and numbers to the children while I myself was

barely learning my letters, number and how to write. Though I always knew I was inclined

to be an educator, I did not know that I would aspire to be a math teacher until I was 13. In

the 8th grade I had my first algebra class, and immediately I fell in love with the content

and ideas in math. I had a spectacular teacher who made learning exhilarating. I began to

eagerly wait to solve the problems and treated math as a game or puzzle I would never

grow tired of. Additionally, during my junior and senior year of high school, I took pre-

calculus and calculus with an inspiring teacher who was influential and encouraged her

students to conquer the world inside and outside of the classroom. I think highly of her and

continue to. Since, I have known that teaching math is my calling, and that teaching the

future of America and being able to empower the students to reach their full potential is

what I foresee myself doing.

Coupled with knowing why I want to be an educator, I have numerous clear

professional learning goals. Although I had two incredible teachers, I had some who were
not as amazing, therefore I would like to provide my students with a better learning

experience then what I had experienced. Many times, I had to teach myself by reading the

text book and turning to the internet for explanations and clarifications of the concepts

taught in class. When I have a classroom of my own, I will assume nothing. I will ensure

that a strong foundation of understanding is set before introducing new concepts by

constant formative assessment to know where a gap may be widening, and I will also

ensure a strong foundation is built by having y students being able to write critically about

concepts and ideas covered in class. For students who might need further assistance, this is

where I will differentiate instruction to better suit their learning needs such as

implementing the universal design of learning (Morin) and having visual, verbal and

kinesthetic elements in all areas of my lessons. Secondly, I want my students to be not only

prepared but competitive members of society. The skills learned in my class will give my

students opportunities to communicate using frequent small group purposeful talk covered

in the fundamental five (Cain 2011), collaborate, be creative and develop critical thinking

using blooms revised taxonomy as a guide when lesson planning in a safe learning

environment through utilization of real-world applications in active and inquiry-based

learning. I strive to have a safe space for my students where every individual is as

important as the other, everyone has a voice in the class and students are aware of class

procedures to ensure physical safety; there will be equity. In my classroom, evaluation of

learning will be constant throughout since students learn by doing, I will evaluate students

based off of independent practice and critical writing. I will utilize formative assessment

while students work on problems or examples and I’m in the power zone, for summative

assessment I will have check points (quizzes) to check for understanding and at the end of
units I will have unit exams. While grading, I will always consider students efforts to learn.

For example, if a student doesn’t perform well on an assignment or on a test, they will

always have the opportunity to redeem points by coming in to tutoring and going over the

missed problem with me.

Becoming an educator, I have plenty of personal characteristics that will help me

become a successful classroom teacher. Being flexible, empathetic, and tenacious are a few

of many positive personality traits I inhibit. These three characteristics are important for a

math teacher because every student in a classroom is different, and learning styles vary as

well as some students may need more help outside of class time to reach the learning goal.

For example, while tutoring, I have had a multitude of students each responding to teaching

techniques uniquely; I have adjusted my teaching style to their needs to ensure that they

can excel in the area they may have encountered problems. In addition, being able to

understand where the students begin feeling frustrated can let me know if adjustments or

further explanation is necessary. Occasionally I have students who simply do not grasp

what they have been taught in class, but I don’t give up on them and continue to adjust to

them and think of new ways to explain, so they can construct connections in their

understanding to reach our goal. Furthermore, I’m creative and am always thinking of new

ways to teach and use innovative techniques to help further students’ understanding. An

example would be, while teaching I constantly come up with anecdotes that students can

remember what they are learning. For example, while teaching multiplication of negatives I

tell a story about Dracula, and how one day a group of teenagers wandered into Dracula’s

castle and they all had pieces of wood (negatives), some had one piece and some had two,

when Dracula came towards the group of teens, they all put up the wood, the teens who
only had one piece of wood were bitten (negative) while the teens with two pieces created

a cross and were safe (positive).

Additionally, I am always ready to collaborate with others, am open to suggestion

and learning from others. Throughout life, I have always observed others teaching whether

I was the student, or I was sitting in the back of the class observing others. I also have

worked with mentors in the field and have learned first hand the importance of feedback,

collaborations, and being open to learning. Being in PLC meetings, I have seen how

important collegial relationships are. When I a part of a department and in a professional

setting I am ready to offer ideas, make suggestion and collaborate with others to better my

teaching. Apart from learning from my colleagues, learning from my students’ feedback is

essential to their success. I have had experiences where I have had simple conversations

with students to know what works for them. For example, in the fall of 2018 in

conversation with a student, she told me that she learned best using foldables. I wasn’t

familiar with what foldables would work best while teaching geometry, so I asked other

teachers and my mentor for ideas and suggestion. I then used a secret door foldable during

the lesson and not only did I meet the needs of my one student that I had talked to, but I

was also able to engage others and meet a need that they weren’t even sure they had.

Another major relationship that must be built is with the parents of students. My mentor

often emailed with parents about concerns she had or with a parent to praise them about

their child’s work in the class. The parents also offered feedback on techniques my mentor

had, praising her when they thought what she was doing was effective or informing her

that the student was falling behind due to setup of the lesson. My mentor would then make

alterations to her lesson and was always learning new teaching techniques.
 In closing, being a teacher for me is a calling, and I plan on serving my students to

create prosperous young adults. To do this I will be flexible, empathetic, tenacious, and

creative to provide them with all the needed resources for greatness and to ensure they are

given an opportunity to be spectacular.