B.

Domain: Skills

Prior to Hunter College, I attended Coastal Carolina University and received my degree
in applied mathematics. I have an extremely strong mathematical background, but had no
education on how to instruct material to others in various ways. I have been tutoring for 4 years
since my junior year at Coastal, but little to no experience planning lessons. As I had no
experience planning, I knew I had to rely heavily on my professors and classmates at Hunter.
Luckily enough, I have been able to build and improve my lesson planning techniques every
semester. I learned about appropriate strategies, differentiation, and implementations for students
with disabilities.
I believe I am still developing my skills in planning, but I have come a long way from the
beginning. There are many different factors that go in to lesson planning. As learned in the
Special Education and Literacy courses at Hunter, there are many different learning disabilities
and impairments that need accommodations in our lesson planning. There should not be one
teaching method that fits all students. With that being said, students could have IEPs, 504 plans,
special testing accommodations, or just learn in a non-traditional way. Certain strategies
discussed includes teaching the same material in various ways (verbally, visually, actively),
include as much student involvement as possible, and you cannot plan for your plans to go
exactly as planned. Some professors emphasized certain elements in the lesson plan, such as
being descriptive and clear, while others focused more on the implementation of the lesson plan.
Every student learns and comprehends information in different ways and there is no one size fits
all to teaching mathematics. There are methods that make it easier to introduce and understand

new material, like kinesthetic activities, but it is not realistic for every single lesson to include a
kinesthetic activity.
When it comes down to actually teaching the lessons, I have learned that anything can
happen. Whether its lecture, group work, or individual assignments, classroom management will
play a huge role in student learning. Most classroom management issues cannot be planned for,
which can also affects the plan execution. When I first began student teaching, pacing was an
issue for me. I would over plan and think I could cover a lot more material in 50 minutes then I
was able to. I also struggled with time management where I would leave students with either too
much time or not enough time for class work. As I got to know my students, I am happy to say
that I found myself improving each and every day. I found that the students experience a stronger
understanding through activities and class discussions. As a result, I would limit my time in front
of the class and had the remaining time dedicated to group work or class discussion. I was also
able to differentiate this way by spending more time with underperforming students and walk
around the room and assess student understanding. Majority of my time was spent facilitating
discussions and clarifying any misconceptions.
I had a unique student teaching experience. I taught at an alternative high school where
students are over-aged and under-credited. The students ages range form 16 to 21 years old and
have not succeeded in the traditional school setting. The students participate in a mandatory
work/school program where they attend school every other week and go to an internship on the
alternative week. I had two different weeks of students. My planning skills were truly tested
during my teaching experience at the high school. Organization was key and adjustments needed
to be made daily. A large portion of my students was classified under special education and
needed special accommodations. Most of my students have failed the same exact math course

numerous times and have had bad experiences at their previous schools. It was my job to build
their math confidence as well as make learning math fun and enjoyable. I tried to incorporate as
many hands on activities and involvement techniques as possible.
Since my classroom sizes were small, station-work worked extremely well. I was able to
differentiate by pairing certain students together. Some days I would pair them based on skill
level, and others I would pair high and low performing students together. I would either have to
create extra stations for my advanced students, or differentiate the material for the lower
students. Students loved to write on the smart board, so I was also able to incorporate a lot of
board work. The students used a Casio calculator and I was learning the calculator functions
along with the students. Towards the end of the school year, I taught the students many
calculator tricks they could use as helpful tools on the state exam. My development skill in
assessing students is continually growing. By creating formative and summative assessments, I
have learned how to appropriately assess conceptual understanding versus computational skill. I
have also tested my ability by making sure to know the difference between difficulty and
complexity. I believe that student understanding is the most important and in order to display
knowledge the questions on assessments needs to deepen student understanding by asking the
why and how behind the problems. In the Assessment course at Hunter, I have learned and
applied grading techniques to ensure fairness like not looking at student names.
I have also development my skills in creating a positive learning environment. At Hunter,
we have been taught to always consider the cultural, socioeconomic, and family backgrounds of
the students. As many of my students at the alternative high school came from rough
backgrounds, in order to succeed I needed to gain the students trust. Once I was able to establish
respect, rapport, and trust with my students, everything else fell into place. Having had an open

rapport with my students, they were extremely comfortable speaking to me regarding their home
life and outside activities. This trust that they bestowed on me carried into the classroom,
allowing open discussions and participation in classroom activities. My skills in all of these areas
are still developing and over time my skills will continue to grow as I gain insight from
professors, teachers, and my own teaching experiences.