how teaching began for me
I graduated from the Florida State University with a degree in Mathematics Education and my advanced degrees from the University of Florida. I began my teaching career in Georgia in Cobb County. I started teaching at a low-income school and loved every minute. I taught low-level math classes and remember my first encounter with the amount of "knowledge" kids had. I gave the students an assignment that required them to measure the length of line segments using a metric ruler. As I walked around I noticed that the kids were getting different answers for the same question. I was baffled by this and when I asked one of them to explain how they got a certain measurement, they explained how they put the ruler down and whereever the segment ended on the ruler, that is the measurement they wrote. They did not realize that you had to start at "0" to measure each segment.
This may seem like a startling example, but I think it occurs more often that not. It was a real eye-opening experience and made me realize that there is a need for good instruction in this country. I know that we often hear that these are not dumb kids, but I do believe that there is a crisis-like lack of teaching and learning in schools today. At the sake of not belaboring my point, I will continue with a little more of my bio. At the end of my first year, my principal announced to the staff that she was leaving to become the principal of a new flagship school for the county. Well, my mom always told me that the most important component in any school is the principal. As my principal walked back to her office from the staff meeting, I followed her. I didn't know what I was going to say, but I knew that I had to say something.
She walked into her office and turned around. There I was standing and shaking like a cold, wet lamb. I told her, "Umm, I don't know how appropriate this is, but here goes nothing. I really like you and like the things you stand for. I want to go whereever you go." She stared at me for a few seconds (it seemed like a lifetime to me) and she said, "Ginno, I would love for you to come with me." I just smiled and left her office. Well, to make a long story short, there was a county rule that stated any new teacher must stay at his/her school for at least three years before being eligible to transfer schools. I was advised of this when I submitted my paperwork to transfer schools.
I was pretty upset with this county rule. I also knew the new principal coming to the school was not someone who was supportive. Before the beginning of the new year, I got a call from the county office telling me that I was going to be transfered to the new school. They said my paperwork "went through" and to get my things in order for my move. To this day, I have no idea how the transfer was approved. All I knew was that I was going to the new school, but more importantly, I was going to work for my principal once again. I was fortunate enough to have been mentored by a great principal.
I spent the next four years working at the new school. I was pretty lucky, the school was state-of-the-art and had a lot of resources. It was a lot different from the first school, both economically and socially. I got to teach some higher-level math courses and was given an opportunity to develop new math curriculum with technology. I was given a classroom with 35 wireless laptops and was asked to create technology-rich lessons to showcase how new technology can be used in schools.
I also got a chance to coach the girl's volleyball team and the men's lacrosse team. If you have never thought about becoming a coach, take a long look at what you might be missing. It is long hours of work and takes a lot of patience, but the relationships that you develop with the the kids are ones that you will never forget. I have been coaching volleybal ever since and have had the fotune of working with some great athletes both in the U.S. and in Europe.
I feel that teachers, more than anyone, need to be up-to-date with the most current pedagogies and technologies to see how they can enhance their teaching. This brings me to the current point in my life. I knew that I had to go back to school and continue to learn, explore, and conjecture. I have just completed my advanced studies and have learned more about pedagogy and technology, especially within mathematics. I currently work as a freelance web and print designer in the educational field; I use these skills to help students and teachers learn more about how current technologies help facilitate teaching and learning.