My background in Education:

I have worked, observed, and taught in a variety of educational environments; for 6 years, I worked as a private mathematics instructor with students between 5th and 12th grades, teaching English, Physics, and Biology in addition to, chiefly, grade- and developmentally-appropriate mathematical concepts. I worked with students whose parents shared their diagnoses of ADHD, ASD, chronic anxiety, and other learning disabilities such as auditory processing disorders. This work required relating to students, identifying content areas in which they struggled, and finding new ways to explain concepts that supported student understanding.

For 4 months, I observed and taught in two 7th grade classes and one 8th grade class at La Colina Junior High in Santa Barbara. Students in my classroom used district-issued devices to access the Desmos-Amplify curriculum, which I oversaw using the Desmos Teacher interface and Apple Classroom. Lesson topics included transformations, scale factor, and graphing linear functions, and required the management of 25+ junior high students. Because nearly a third of the students in the classes I taught and observed had IEPs, 504 plans, or other learning disabilities, I became very familiar with reading students' educational plans and cumulative files to identify and apply accommodations for each student.

For another 4 months, I took complete responsibility for two classes (62 students in total) of high school sophomores in Math 2 Enrichment at Dos Pueblos High School. I also worked as, essentially, a paraeducator in my master teacher's Math 1 class to ensure students were provided with all the academic supports possible. Various socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, and educational backgrounds were represented in my classroom, including students with IEP's and 504 plans: see DP's student demographics here. During this time (the entirety of students' Spring semester), I was their sole teacher: establishing expectations and procedures during their first week of class, planning all lessons based on department curriculum and state standards, teaching all content in engaging ways, developing relationships, grading student work and assessments, and maintaining effective classroom management. During my prep period, I was fortunate enough to observe numerous colleagues and expert teachers at my school site, including but not limited to incredible Math 1, Math 2, IB Math, AP Calculus, Additional Language Development, AP Psychology, and World History teachers.