Teaching has always been an important part of my life whether it is being a student or a teacher. Teaching mathematics has become a very dominant and fulfilling part of my life. It has become my passion, and I will strive to become the best mathematics teacher I can be. It is my goal to create a classroom atmosphere that will most effectively benefit my students’ knowledge of mathematics.

         It is a high priority to me that my students are “doing math everyday” in math class. While this may sound ridiculous and may be assumed a given, I don’t believe it always happens. In my math classes, I can be confident that my students are doing math every day by the method in which instruction is given. I believe that students learn mathematics best by doing high cognitive demand tasks and activities. In my classroom, students are required to work individually, in groups, and as a whole class through the use of varying activities. In doing this, I am holding my students to a higher standard and holding them accountable for their learning of mathematics.

         I strive to engage my students in the mathematics as much as possible. I feel that one of the best ways to do this is by building relationships with my students inside and outside of the classroom. Once there are relationships established, the students are more apt and willing to learn the mathematics. I feel that knowing my students can help me personalize examples of mathematics and help relate it more to their lives to better engage them. For example, I created a lesson that involved surveying the students’ choice of pop, Pepsi or Coke, and collecting data using Google Forms. This data was then used to determine data statements and serve as an introduction on how to analyze data. It was a lesson in the book, but by creating the data from their lives it increased their interest and engagement for a lesson on statistics. I consider knowing my students and their mathematical abilities imperative for me to create lessons that will engage them and increase their knowledge of mathematics.

         My goal as a mathematics teacher is to teach my students mathematics in a classroom community that my students helped create, therefore enabling them to better expand their mathematics knowledge.