I began this program with a bit of skepticism.  I hold my preliminary CA teaching credential in secondary mathematics and physics education.  I am Teach For America alumni.  I have a master’s degree from LMU in Guidance and Counseling as well as a certificate in College Counseling from UCLA Extension.  I am currently teaching high school Calculus at a private school in Los Angeles where virtually all students are proficient English speakers.  I felt that I had all the necessary education and background to meet the needs of my students; however, I learned several teaching strategies and competencies that improved my teaching for all learners in this program.  I’m so glad that I was required to enroll in this program!

As I mentioned in my introduction, one of the most profound lessons I learned in this program was that methods for teaching English literacy are the same as those required to teach Math literacy.  Mathematics is a foreign language; it has its own symbol system, vocabulary, and pronunciation rules.  All students in my classroom are learning to become proficient in mathematical literacy.  They come from varied backgrounds and may hold certain beliefs about their mathematics ability based on their culture, race, gender, socio-economic status, etc.  In this program, I learned ways to get to know students and use backgrounds to positively influence student learning.  I also learned ways of using assessment, lesson delivery, reading and writing to reinforce concepts for all students.

Finally, I want to emphasize how much I learned from my peers and professors in this program.  Although online education can sometimes be deemed impersonal, I found the exact opposite to be true.  I had the privilege of learning from peers who live all over the United States and teach a variety of different subjects.  The lessons I learned from their personal experiences and feedback is truly invaluable.  The knowledgeable professors pushed me to always think of ways in which the material we were discussing applied to my classroom.  For all of these reasons, I was able to implement practical and useful changes in my classroom as I was learning them.