Finding A New High School Mathematics Teacher

This paper will demonstrate the pre-service teachers’ understanding of mathematical practices as part of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. It will address two specific standards for Mathematical Practices, describing the essence of both and providing a description of how teachers facilitate these practices and how students are engaged in the practices.

There are many characteristics that are necessary for teachers to have. First, it’s important for teachers to be vastly knowledgeable about their subject matter. Teachers need to be enthusiastic about whatever they are teaching, especially if they want to sustain students' interest. If the teacher isn't interested in the subject, why should the students? Educators should always be willing to learn all they can about the content in which they are teaching—making the content as relevant or interesting as possible. Another characteristic that is vital in a teacher is having respect for students. Showing respect towards students means valuing each student’s ideas and opinions. It also means exemplifying respect for

While there are many ways to be an outstanding teacher, every high-quality teacher should, in my opinion, have these skills and dispositions:

Essential aspects that underpin the professional and dedicated educator include the revising of knowledge and experience, reflection, and an effort in understanding their students. Within mathematics, these skills are informed by the curriculum chosen, the students involved, and the pedagogy that is selected, that create the professional judgement cycle (as seen in Appendix One) (Department of Education and Training Western Australia [DETWA], 2013a). The more teachers understand about their students, the more they can adapt the learning environment to cater for these different learning approaches (Burns, 2010).

To be an outstanding educator you need to possess many important qualities. The qualities I believe are the most important are flexibility, creativity, and passion. The teachers I remember and relate to the most have those qualities. They are the areas that I believe I have strength in and the areas that will benefit my future students.

A main issue why you cannot judge a teacher based off their students test scores is because some factors are out of their control. In any classroom across the world there are some students who are smarter than others. (Popham 13) Some can be excellent at math, while others can exceed in science. (Popham 13) A teacher can give over a lesson in a clear and succinct way but there will always be students who do not do well. (Popham 13) Recent thinking among leading educators suggest that there are various forms of intelligence, and a child who is born with less classroom skills may possess other abilities that will not be shown by a test. (Popham 13) For a student as such, a teacher is limited in finding a successful approach to help them gain a high test score.

A fellow educator would hear these answers as examples of the teacher’s ability to engage students in every lesson, her desire for all students to succeed, and her competence in subject matter. Although an outstanding educator exudes many other characteristics, these three qualities are essential for one to be considered an outstanding, high-quality teacher.

I believe there are many skills and attributes that are necessary to an outstanding teacher; one’s ability to keep students engaged, the desire to see all students achieve, and knowledge of the content taught are attributes of an outstanding educator.

What are some ways you personally use math in your everyday life (for work or home)?

While the #RedForEd movement recently emerged in my state and several others, concerning teacher pay and their strong impact on students. Additional questions surfaced in order to find the perfect utopian future for my local Sierra Vista high school, Buena. As much as it takes a happy teacher to generate a happy student, it works both ways! With this in mind, what important qualities do our students feel matter in our local teachers? Recently I conducted multiple interviews involving four different Buena High students in seek of what they’d like to see in their teachers and subs.

Red Clay School District has played a tremendous role in educating our youth in Delaware. The district’s principle is that the whole school community takes responsibility in students learning. As an educator, I believe that it does take a village to raise a child. I am applying for the position as a Math Instructional Coach for Warner and Shortlidge School because of a desire to be a part of a school that share interest in a similar principle. I have a strong educational background coupled with my 6+ years in the education sector make me a very competitive candidate for the position. During my tenure, I have worked with students in inner city schools, and I have also developed a strong background and interest in the intellectual development

Of course you could always work hard to learn the content, but it would be very useful to know more about high level mathematics. It could be very good for students to have a teacher that has a math major or minor along with their teaching degree. In the fifth grade classroom, the teacher is not the greatest mathematician, but is very honest with the students and shows her curiosity to find the answer.

In today’s society mathematics is a vital part of day-to-day life. No matter what a person is doing at home or at the workplace, he/she is constantly using different mathematics skills to simply function. Then what does this mean for mathematics education? When someone needs to utilize a skill every day then he/she needs a strong background in the skill. Therefore, today’s students need more than a just a working knowledge of mathematics or enough knowledge to pass a test. Today’s students need to understand how mathematics works and how to utilize mathematics skills in the best way possible.

Teachers also have to have special qualities to make them an effective teacher. According to Robert J. Walker teachers need to have twelve basic characteristics that he highlights in his article Twelve Characteristics of an Effective Teacher. The twelve characteristic included in the article are being prepared, positive attitude, high expectations, creative, fair, personal touch, sense of belonging, compassionate, have a sense of humor, respectful, forgiving and able to admit mistakes. I believe Walker has encompassed all the important characteristic of an effective teach. These are all characteristics that I possess, which will make me an effective teacher (Walker, 2008). Cathy L. Seeley believes there are ten roles teachers have in the classroom that she highlights in her article Ten Roles for Math teachers. I found these roles to be creative in description of their purpose. Those ten roles are: 1) An architect for creating a learning environment. 2) A composer for creating the tasks the student will engage. 3) A director because teachers determine how students will relate to each other, their tasks, and the environment. 4) A stockbroker which is where the teacher analyzes their own teaching and the students learning. 5) A ship captain, which deals with the unpredictable factors and make sure the students ' learning does not veer off course. 6) A red jacket which helps the students experience the connection between the different concepts of mathematics. 7) The

Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes.