Major: Mathematics

Minor: UF Teach

Graduate: 2014

I have always wanted to teach, mainly because I believe everyone has the capacity to learn, but are lacking the motivation. Students are always surprised by what they know and what they can find out. It is up to the teacher to ask questions and provide problems to motivate students to want to get the most out of their education. I came from a school that was not focused on motivating students, yet I had one teacher that went above and beyond their job to show us that they actually cared about our education. I remember, through the UF Teach student, one of the first times I was teaching, a student kept saying “I don’t understand.” She was repeating it in a way that told me she did not want to put the effort into learning the concept to apply it to the problem she was working on. I remember struggling the same way when I attended school, so I sat down beside her and walked her through the problem, providing no additional information than what the problem offered, but presenting it in a different way. The student then immediately came up with the correct answer and was so thankful. She didn’t realize that she did most of the work, but simply needed to see the problem in a different light. It is moments like these that keep pushing me to finish my education so that I can start teaching.

I am working at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, FL, under the supervision of Dr. Sheri Ellis, the Project Director/Affiliate Assistant Professor of Psychology for the Center for Informal Science Education at the museum. She informed me that when teachers and parents bring their students to the museum, they only focus on the science concepts and aspects of the exhibits, so she challenged me to create a math tour for an exhibit. I am working on creating numerous math tours, based upon the Common Core Standards for each grade level for the Butterfly and Moth Exhibit. Daily I try to find mathematical activities that correlate to the Common Core Standards and put them in a tour guide format that can be shared on the museum’s website. I enjoy being able to observe students and parents/teachers interactions (while being surrounded by butterflies, of course!), while knowing that I will be able to help students see how math can “come alive” inside of a museum.

At the beginning of the spring, I was worried about not having a job this summer. I was worried that I would have to reapply to work long hours at my previous food industry job. However, because of the Noyce program, I am able to actively have a job that I am eager to go to every day this summer. I am creating meaningful products that can help to educate both local and travelling students from all over, while also finding out about some of the local resources offered to teachers. I am repeatedly practicing new ways of incorporating mathematical and science concepts, and I want to thank the Noyce program for providing me with this opportunity.