I am pursuing a degree in mathematics education (B.S.Ed.) with licensure to be able to teach mathematics to 7-12 grade students. For this activity, I selected my former high school Accelerated Algebra II teacher Della Highman at Franklin Heights High School. She has been teaching algebra for a number of years and even has an ESL math class that meets for two periods per day. I decided to interview her because of the diverse setting of my high school and the fact she has been teaching algebra for an extended period of time; I truly enjoy algebra and believe it would be the most suitable subject for me to teach (because of how long I’ve worked with this foundational subject), although I will be licensed and willing to teach geometry or calculus
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However, in high school she decided to pursue secondary math because of an opportunity she had while taking Algebra II to teach the class one day; she found secondary education (and math in particular) to be much more meaningful to her and hence decided to get a degree to teach at the middle or high school level. In terms of what is required to become a teacher, Della received her Bachelors in mathematics (as well as a Bachelors in Spanish, which allows her to teach ESL math as she does today) along with a certificate of licensure to teach. Today, education degrees have licensure “built in” – hence the “Ed” in B.S.Ed. After roughly 10 years of teaching, she decided to return to school to obtain her Masters in education, which increased her …show more content…
There is much paperwork to complete, many behavior problems to deal with, struggles with administration and parents to overcome, and much more on any given day. Some people see education as an “easy” career with summers off and being home early, whereas Della often stays well after the students have left, does much preparation and grading at home, and even attends classes in the summer. In addition to her normal teaching responsibilities (which includes study hall duty), Della helps plan for prom and graduation and is a mentor teacher for new “resident educators”. Despite all the negativity and busyness, Della enjoys (and sticks with) teaching because of those moments when students finally understand a difficult topic they’ve been struggling with – it is truly a motivation like none other! Della gave me a few pointers as a pre-service teacher and beyond: keep up with and embrace technology, seek out and learn fresh ideas for my future classroom classroom, and take refresher courses as needed throughout my career. In conclusion, this interview affirmed my decision to become a teacher. It has been a dream and passion of mine from an early age. No, it is not an easy job; no, the state of education is not at its best. Regardless, I will continue in my journey because I believe teaching is what I
However, in high school she decided to pursue secondary math because of an opportunity she had while taking Algebra II to teach the class one day; she found secondary education (and math in particular) to be much more meaningful to her and hence decided to get a degree to teach at the middle or high school level. In terms of what is required to become a teacher, Della received her Bachelors in mathematics (as well as a Bachelors in Spanish, which allows her to teach ESL math as she does today) along with a certificate of licensure to teach. Today, education degrees have licensure “built in” – hence the “Ed” in B.S.Ed. After roughly 10 years of teaching, she decided to return to school to obtain her Masters in education, which increased her …show more content…
There is much paperwork to complete, many behavior problems to deal with, struggles with administration and parents to overcome, and much more on any given day. Some people see education as an “easy” career with summers off and being home early, whereas Della often stays well after the students have left, does much preparation and grading at home, and even attends classes in the summer. In addition to her normal teaching responsibilities (which includes study hall duty), Della helps plan for prom and graduation and is a mentor teacher for new “resident educators”. Despite all the negativity and busyness, Della enjoys (and sticks with) teaching because of those moments when students finally understand a difficult topic they’ve been struggling with – it is truly a motivation like none other! Della gave me a few pointers as a pre-service teacher and beyond: keep up with and embrace technology, seek out and learn fresh ideas for my future classroom classroom, and take refresher courses as needed throughout my career. In conclusion, this interview affirmed my decision to become a teacher. It has been a dream and passion of mine from an early age. No, it is not an easy job; no, the state of education is not at its best. Regardless, I will continue in my journey because I believe teaching is what I