Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 112: Transforming Teaching: A Journey Through Mathematics Education

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Ep 112: Transforming Teaching: A Journey Through Mathematics Education · New Teacher Talk

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  Welcome back to another episode of New Teacher Talk where
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  we discuss the most common challenges that early career
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  educators experience and find answers,
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  whether you are in a rural, suburban, or urban setting.
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  In this episode,
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  we are going to talk about a topic that many early career
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  educators think about,
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  continuing to learn and grow as a professional,
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  specifically the value of graduate school,
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  as well as the benefits of more certifications and
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  endorsements.
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  But before we introduce our special guest today,
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  let us do some quick introductions of our own.
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  I'm Dr.
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  Beth, one of the co-founders of this podcast channel.
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  My background in education includes being a high school
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  band director, teacher educator, and mentor.
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  And I'm Dr.
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  Anna,
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  an early childhood generalist who mentors educators on
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  their journey toward National Board Certification.
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  Dr.
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  Beth and I are excited to have a special guest joining us
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  today on this episode, Hannah Curran.
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  She is the first Master's in Elementary Mathematics
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  graduate offered by the New Jersey Center for Teaching and
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  Learning.
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  Hannah has a background in special education and recently
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  expanded her career by adding a middle school mathematics
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  endorsement.
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  While she currently teaches special ed at her alma mater,
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  Pompton High School,
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  her true passion is working with middle school students.
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  Hannah was apprehensive about committing to a master's
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  program,
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  but those doubts quickly vanished as she immersed herself
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  in the learning process.
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  One of the biggest takeaways for Hannah in committing to a
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  master's program was the idea that true learning should be
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  measured by how well you understand the content,
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  not how fast you learn it.
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  Welcome, Hannah.
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  Hello, thank you so much for having me.
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  Would you tell us a little bit about yourself that we
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  didn't share during our introduction?
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  Yeah, you hit on so much already, but I am an early career educator myself. I've
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  had the unique opportunity of venturing in all different
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  paths,
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  whether that be starting off as a general education teacher
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  in an urban setting,
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  teaching social studies to now returning back to where I
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  went to high school as a special education teacher who is
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  currently teaching science,
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  not where I expected my career to go five years ago when I
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  graduated undergrad,
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  but I've explored a lot of opportunities and I'm excited to
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  see where I continue to grow.
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  You know, Hannah,
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  what we hear from our listeners all the time is that they
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  really enjoy hearing from early career educators like
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  yourself,
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  and here you're already talking about how your path is
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  taking you in directions that you had never considered
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  originally.
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  and that you really find a value as you move forward in
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  your profession.
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  We're curious to know,
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  because you are the first graduate of that special master's
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  program through the NJCTL,
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  what led you to pursue your degree in mathematics from the
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  New Jersey Center?
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  So currently in New Jersey,
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  and I'm pretty sure this is a nationwide issue,
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  there's definitely a teacher shortage in those specific
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  areas of math, science, and special ed.
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  And those were areas where myself,
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  I was a little insecure growing up when it came to math and
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  science.
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  I wasn't a bad student,
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  but I was hesitant to dive in when I was picking my
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  undergrad choice just because of a comfort level.
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  And with the shortage,
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  I found myself being placed in inclusion classes,
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  acting as a special education teacher in the math and
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  science setting because of how hard it has been to find
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  those teachers.
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  And slowly I started to convince myself,
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  I can definitely do this.
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  And I'm not sure why I was so hesitant in the past about
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  doing it.
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  So at that point, being in my mid 20s,
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  it was I can do this, but how am I going to do this now?
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  Because life can be complex.
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  You know, being young,
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  everyone thinks you have all this free time.
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  No, there's a lot going on all the time.
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  So I was researching,
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  coming up with ways that I could piece together credits.
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  And I came across NJCTL.
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  I had asked a few people at the school I was in at the time
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  about it.
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  And someone told me they had heard of it.
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  And they heard great things.
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  So I figured, why not give it a try.
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  And now I'm going back to NJCTL to get my science
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  endorsement just because of how accommodating the program
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  was, but also how much I learned.
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  I truly walked away feeling like the expert in everything
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  they taught me.
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  That is a ringing endorsement for the New Jersey Center for
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  Teaching and Learning, the practicality,
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  the availability. Here you've already completed your work
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  in math and now you're moving on to science.
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  And especially as a special educator,
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  it's so important that you have that understanding a grasp
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  of the content that you are trying to share with students
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  who have been struggling in that content area.
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  And by having that level of confidence yourself,
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  it just makes your work easier and I'm sure more
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  gratifying.
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  100%.
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  I actually have convinced a colleague now to also go to
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  NJCTL because they recently added special ed.
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  That's excellent.
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  As this degree deepened your teaching practice, c
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  ould you share an example or two about how your practice
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  has changed?
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  100%. So there were two main takeaways for me when I was going through the coursework. Like
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  I touched upon earlier,
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  I was definitely a little bit insecure with my own self
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  before diving in.
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  And my takeaway was it's not about the speed.
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  It's more about mastering content and that's what the
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  program did for me.
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  I could go back and rewatch modules to ensure I really knew
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  them.
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  And now I do that in my own class.
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  So my kids who are struggling with the concept,
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  when the test comes,
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  they can go back and rewatch that as many times as they
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  need.
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  I post all of my materials on our class resource page,
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  so they can always go back to it and they can come see me
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  and say, Hey, you talked about this topic.
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  I'm a little lost.
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  And then we might have a conversation of there was an
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  assignment tied to that.
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  You've sat back down with me.
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  We've reviewed it.
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  You're feeling more comfortable.
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  Let's retake it because yes,
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  the scores in the gradebook are important.
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  But if that student took the time to master that content,
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  I'm not going to hold that old grade to them.
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  They took the time to truly master it and understand it.
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  And across all content areas, all curriculums,
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  we see how curriculums build on each other.
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  So if the student's taking the time now,
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  it's only going to benefit them later when that becomes the
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  prior knowledge that they need.
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  So that was one of the main, main takeaways.
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  The other one is polling and getting that constant
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  assessment from my students.
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  I was not a fan of my undergraduate work.
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  I left saying I will never give a test.
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  I'm huge on project-based learning,
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  and I still am very big on project based learning.
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  But I've now left with the concept of polling and those
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  multiple choice questions tied in throughout a lesson to
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  see.
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  Can you tell me if it's A, B or C on the fly?
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  Allows me to reflect and see if I need to go back and touch
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  on something before we continue on.
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  So those are the two big takeaways for me.
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  And I think my students really would say it helps them 100
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  percent and it allows them to find success day in and day
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  out of my classroom.
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  It seems like the attitude, too,
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  that you bring to them that you don't have to learn it
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  quickly,
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  that it's about the effort that you put into the work that
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  you're doing. How you are going to be able to grasp that
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  material? And,
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  you give them that sense that I will stick with you.
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  I am here for you and I will support that learning no
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  matter how long it takes.
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  That's so important to students to understand that the
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  teacher is really there on their side.
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  Yeah, I think coming out of the pandemic,
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  there was this big push for social-emotional learning,
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  and that is my take on it.
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  I'm still touching on the curriculum content,
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  but I'm also here for you along the way to make sure you
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  have this.
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  You know, Hannah,
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  one of the reasons why we were so excited to have you as
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  our special guest is because early-career teachers,
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  like you experienced,
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  you've encouraged your peers to consider going back to
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  school and getting their degree or certification or
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  endorsement.
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  Different terminology is used depending on what state
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  you're working in.
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  Let's talk about earning your degree.
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  So what kind of impact has earning your degree made on your
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  students?
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  So, I think when it comes to earning this degree,
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  it's allowed me to really adapt and be a flexible and
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  accommodating educator.
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  The experiences that I had and the hesitations I had when I
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  was enrolling in NJCTL was,
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  am I going to have the time to do this?
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  Am I going to actually understand?
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  And like I mentioned earlier,
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  that's what I now bring to my students.
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  They have a lot going on in their own lives,
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  and they have these extracurriculars they're involved in
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  after school.
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  When our bell rings for the end of the day,
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  they want to go and do those things.
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  And I understand that because when I go home for the day,
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  I want to go and do the things I want to do.
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  So this master's program not only has helped me continue to
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  accommodate and be flexible with my students,
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  but it's also changed my whole perception on the approach I
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  take with them.
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  A big thing with NJCTL was hands-on activities in a virtual
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  setting.
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  I joined education as a teacher right as we went into
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  lockdown in New Jersey.
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  I wish I had this, you know, four years ago with me,
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  but these online labs in math,
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  I didn't know math could be fun before this,
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  but there was all these different activities where you were
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  using online manipulatives to engage with your students in
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  my learning and now I've brought that to my students as
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  well.
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  It makes me want to go back and learn more about math, too.
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  Mm-hmm, I agree.
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  And now she's going on and going to be working on her
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  science degree.
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  Very exciting, Hannah.
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  So Hannah,
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  I know that we have a lot of early career educators that
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  listen to this podcast,
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  and they might have questions for you about your
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  program. How can our listeners reach out to you with more questions?
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  Currently, I'm online at LinkedIn.
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  You can add me there.
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  I'm also,
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  I have an Instagram page that I just got up and running
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  again.
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  I took a break for a bit to focus on me and what I needed
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  at the time.
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  But I'm back online at M-S-H-C-U-R-R-A-N.
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  That's on Instagram.
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  If you need to connect with me that way, quick DM,
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  I'm pretty responsive.
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  Thank you, Hannah, for being our guest today.
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  helpful resource that you can download through our
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• 11:36
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