My Path to Teaching

I am a math teacher at a small charter school in northern California. I feel very fortunate to have started my teaching career at such a wonderful school. I work with excellent teachers who are all masters of their trade and I teach students who are truly motivated to learn. It is currently my third year teaching and I am in the process of becoming a tenured teacher.

In 2007 I graduated from Chico State after completing my degree. I was still unsure of what the immediate future had in store for me. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher but I didn't know how I was going to get there. As many recent graduates do, I moved back in with my parents. I have heard my generation is called the "bomerang" generation because we come back home after college. I was working at a local restaurant while a woman started talking to me about becoming an intern teacher through the county. A week after this discussion I was enrolled in a credential program and got hired to teach high school algebra and geometry. I would starting my first day of school a week later at the ripe age of 22.

The first year of teaching was the most difficult. I was trying to juggle teaching full time and attending school at night to complete my credential. Throughout the year I learned many new strategies and techniques to become a better teacher. The dynamics of classroom procedures and routines definitely took some time to master, but eventually the management of my classroom improved.

Throughout my time as a teacher and while learning from other teachers I have discovered a lot about student learning what works well for different students. As a math teacher, I feel it is very important for students to conceptually understand the material we are learning. This helps give students a basis for the content and standards I am teaching. I try to appeal to a variety of learning styles while differentiating my strategies to keep students engaged through a two hour block schedule.

As a teacher, I believe that it is extremely important to continue to learn. This will help me to give my students the best opportunities and advantages to learning in my classroom.