I want to be a teacher because throughout school I enjoyed learning math, and I want to

be able to give that same experience to future students. Math has always been a rewarding topic

in school for me. The feeling of making the correct connections, getting a problem right, or

finally understanding how something is done is one of the best feelings in my opinion, and I

want to give students the ability and environment to have these same feelings. I was given this

opportunity by the teachers that I had in school.

The best math teachers that I had in school shared some attributes that I wish to have that

I believe provided the opportunities I wish to give to students. The first of these attributes is that

they pushed their students. The best math teachers that I had encouraged their students to try

their best on everything we did in class. This brought me to enjoy math, but it also brought other

students who were less invested in math to being more engaged in class, which got them to enjoy

the subject more as well. On top of encouraging effort and participation from the students, these

teachers also put in visible effort into their classes. The best teachers always seemed to care

about the subject matter of their class and the students of their class. One of the ways they did

this was by going above what was expected and providing multiple ways to learn the content or

different styles of examples. This took more effort from my teachers, but it provided better

learning opportunities for all and allowed for better learning from students who might not learn

well in a traditional learning style.

My experiences within school, but especially within these classrooms, has shaped how I

view teaching. These experiences have brought me to believe that everyone can learn, and that

sometimes the teacher must put in a little more effort than usual in order to have their students do

so. Seeing how these teachers enjoyed their jobs also brought my mind to the connection that

teaching can be, and is, fun. It is not just a boring job for the teachers that care, but rather it is
something to do that is fulfilling and gives back to the community through the children in their

classrooms. Though my experiences have shaped how I view good teaching, and how I wish to

be, it has also brought about my biggest concerns for teaching. The main concern that I have is

that I will not be able to do what I have seen good teachers do, or that I will not be successful. I

believe that I can teach or tutor individuals or small groups, but I worry that I will struggle when

presented with a full classroom. I hope to be able to teach all students with varying needs, but my

biggest worry or concern is that I will not be good at this. I do believe that this worry cannot be

backed up with evidence and is more of a biproduct from anxiety.

Going back to the positive aspects of teaching and learning, the good teachers that I have

had in school have showed me what I want students in my class to learn and value. This is like

the things that I remember about my best teachers from school. I want my students to value hard

work, and I want them to value understanding. My goal as a teacher would be to have students

care more about their understanding of the topic that I am teaching than the grade they will get in

the class. I want my students to feel that I see their hard work that they put in and that their grade

reflects that hard work. My belief is that if they put in the hard work and develop the

understanding of the material, the speed at which they did so does not matter if the results are

there. In order to get my students to value these things I will do my best as a teacher to have the

atmosphere in my classroom, and their grades reflect this.

One thing that must be considered in a classroom and any teaching environment is

inequities and how to combat them. There are many inequities that one can think of when

imagining a classroom such as the difference in students’ money and resources, or the difference

in attention succeeding students get when compared to less succeeding students. While these are

valid inequalities, there are a lot more subtle inequalities that a good teacher must look out for.
These subtle inequalities stem from differences students have when entering the classroom that

the teacher cannot control, that are then only heightened. For example, a student whose parents

encourage them to read, will have a higher reading level than other students and might be given a

more difficult book or task to do which would continue to maintain the gap in their reading level

when compared to the other students in class. This sort of subtle inequality can be found in any

classroom environment including a STEM classroom.

One of the biggest roadblocks that furthers inequities in STEM classrooms is the idea that

a student is not a STEM or a math learner. It is heard all the time where people say that they

aren’t a math person and that they cannot do math. While this is widely said, it is not a true

statement. Anyone can learn math and students with the mindset that they cannot learn or

understand math because of some predetermined thing is creating mental barrier for themselves.

Breaking down this mental barrier is one of the biggest challenges within a STEM classroom.

One might think that the biggest challenges come from teaching the most advanced material, but

typically this sort of material is only taught to students that already believe in themselves and are

invested in learning math. Getting a student who does not care about math or does not believe

they can do math is much harder because it takes more than just a good understanding of a topic.

The teacher must be able to teach these students in a way that engages them and is accessible to

them to make the students feel successful. These sorts of challenges are best confronted with

access to higher quality education which most students that need this help don’t get.

When students first start going to school, they have primarily been shaped by their

parents or guardians that have raised them. This means that every student is unique and that they

have different values. Students whose parents value education will likely have put their student

into a preschool program which will have accelerated their student ahead before they ever attend
school. This also gives them a step up for better access to higher quality instruction, as the

student is already more invested in learning. The opposite of this is also true, in that the students

who could most benefit from higher quality instruction are those that are lacking it. This lack of

instruction can come from many factors such as economic standing, familial values, the number

of resources available in the school and the school district, or any other reason. Because of this

lack of quality instruction, these students begin to be left behind and the students realize this. At

this point is where the stigma about being a math person can develop, as students see their peers

getting more attention because they are more successful in class while the students trying to be

successful are given less attention.

Avoiding favoring these students is one way to bring about support for all students, but

there are many aspects involved in this. In order to support all students, as a teacher, one must do

their best to cater to their students’ needs. This can be done at its most basic form with things

such as differentiation that provide different work for students based on readiness level that can

allow all students to further their understanding no matter what level they are currently at.

Another way to support students is by utilizing classroom strategies such as group work in order

to have students communicate and work together. If implemented effectively, all students in a

group can have a role, or a task to do in the group that keeps them engaged in the class and the

content while not putting all the pressure on a single student to do all the work. This sort of

strategy allows for collaboration while restricting any student’s ability to take control of their

group and dismiss the learning of others in the group which in turn supports all students and

gives them all an opportunity to learn.