My WPI Education

My background as a student teacher is a little more unusual than most; my undergraduate degree is in Architectural Engineering at WPI. I am also simultaneously working on a Masters degree in Fire Protection Engineering at WPI. Architectural Engineering focuses on applying engineering concepts to buildings and working to make designs more sustainable. Mainly, it is a combination of Architecture, Environmental Engineering, and Civil Engineering. Fire Protection Engineering focuses on applying engineering principles to fire safety (i.e. sprinkler designs, fire alarm designs, studying the flow of fires, etc.) in buildings.

I have completed many different projects related to Architectural Engineering and Fire Protection Engineering. I have designed numerous buildings, sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, interior designs, as well as other project types. Each of these projects requires an extensive amount of math, especially Algebra. In my program requirements, I had to take eight courses in the Mathematical Sciences Department, three of which I completed in high school due to AP classes. These courses range from Calculus, Statistics, and Linear Algebra. The knowledge I gained from my math classes as well as the projects I complete in school is what I need to know in order to teach my students at WRHS. Besides the math content, my major also provides me with my different applications of math in the real world, especially with fires. Fire is a topic that is not discussed as much in schools, so applying math to fire peaks student interests slightly more than other more typical applications.

Before starting my teaching practicum at Wachusett, I took psychology and teaching methods course to help prepare. The psychology courses allowed me to understand what students could handle, especially in regard to their attention span. Students cannot spend the entire 48-minute class time only doing one thing; lessons need to be broken up by different activities. I made sure to plan my lessons so different activities would be incorporated. In terms of my teaching methods courses, I learned how to make a formal lesson plan and create objectives based off standards. Lesson plans are a key element of teaching, so I am glad I learned the skill before starting my practicum. However, the one thing that I wish I learned more about in my teaching methods courses were the CAP Elements themselves. I think by learning more about them before entering the classroom, I could have implemented each of them in my teaching more quickly and more effectively.