My WPI Education

I’ve been able to take many classes at WPI that have prepared me for my student teaching. As a Mathematical Sciences major I’ve been able to take many Math classes covering relevant topics, and a few selected ones are described below. Of course these classes (and other described in my subject matter knowledge section of Essential Elements of CAP ) teach more advanced content than would be taught in high schools, but having a deep knowledge of the Mathematical concepts I taught made me a more effective teacher. I started my WPI course work with Theoretical Calculus III and IV. Having taken BC Calculus in high school for credit, these courses deepened my understanding of the “why?” and “how?” or basic both calculus, and many other fundamental math concepts. Additionally, during my Freshman year I also took Bridge to Higher Math, a course designed to teach how to approach Mathematical problems and write proof to answer them. These were my first proof based courses, which helped show me the importance of logic and Mathematical reasoning, something that is a key factor in high school Math standards.

Relevant Math Classes

  • AP BC Calculus

  • AP Statistics

  • Theoretical Calculus III

  • Theoretical Calculus IV

  • Bridge to Higher Math

  • Discrete Math

  • Probability

Two key courses I studied my Sophomore year were Discrete Math and Probability. My mentor taught Probability and Statistics for Honors’ Seniors during my practicum. Though I never took the class over, I observed his lessons for the semester. Paired with my AP Statistics credits from high school, I was familiar with all of the content covered in the course, and could compare the high school standards to the skills I’d acquired in my studies. Comparing the level, pace, and number of highlighted topics was a great reminder of how high schools and college classes are different. It also gave me a gauge on how I should be pacing my Algebra I and Topics classes, and ensure content was accessible for high school students.

In addition to my Math classes, WPI’s Teacher Preparation Program put me on a schedule to complete many pedagogy classes. Our courses are unique as they are focused specifically on STEM education. I took two psychology courses as a prerequisite to my practicum, Psychology of Education and School Psychology. Psychology of Education focused on many of the traditional psychological principles and learning and development like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. This class also provided me with the unique opportunity to work on a group project researching the effects of technology and digital tools in the classroom. Despite our research being ultimately inconclusive, it gave me invaluable insight about students' perceptions of technology and learning prior to my experience teaching online.

Relevant Pedagogy Classes

  • Psychology of Education

  • School Psychology

  • Teaching Methods in Math and Science

  • Sheltered English Immersion Endorsement

  • Student Teaching Seminar

I took School Psychology during the Spring of 2020, as one of my first online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This course focused more on the psychological aspects of the student experience and the social experience of school. This class that focused a lot of equity in the education system was especially important as students made the initial shift to online education across America.

In addition I took two TPP-specific courses, where my only classmates were other students in the Teacher Prep students. Teaching Methods in Math and Science was a class about specific STEM pedagogy for middle and high school students. It taught us about how to differentiate learning and write lesson plans that meet the state standards. I was also able to receive my Sheltered English Immersion Endorsement as a course at WPI. I took this class A-Term during 2020, coinciding with my student teaching Practicum. The Topics in Algebra and Geometry classes had many low and mid level ELL students (2-4) and Algebra I had many level 5 students. This class gave me the opportunity to revise lesson plans I actually implemented in class to make them more accessible for all my students. Math has a particular challenge for teaching language as most of the standards relate to the computations, not the language, but I learned a lot about how to support students explaining their thinking and reasoning effectively in English.

A photo of me with WPI's mascot, Gompei the goat!