ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I did not follow the path that most teachers did. I am a life long learner but there have been many turns and twists in my "formal" education. I dropped out of my 1st year of community college because I was working full-time and trying to live independently. I went back to school at age 25 when I realized that the opportunities that I found were not interesting to me for any length of time. I earned two 2-year degrees in Electronics and Communications Technology and moved to Washington State and was hired as an Electronics Technician. Moved back to California and worked a few more years, and then became a "stay-at-home" mom. Which meant that I stayed at home during the day and worked part-time at night. I worked as a tutor to students in the Electronics program and all levels of Math. When my youngest went to 1st grade, I went back to school again, age 45. I earned my Bachelor's in Math Education and started a credential program. I was hired as a high school mathematics teacher and have continued with my professional development ever since. PBL, AVID, and California Mathematics council training/workshops/conferences. My father became a Civil Engineer, was hired, and worked for over 20 years for the same company. My mother did many different jobs before she had children and after her children were grown. I think that my generation, and the generations to follow, will find that they need to reinvent themselves( like my mother did) and stay on the "learning track" to be able to not only keep a job/career but also, to support themselves. It seems like a life skill to be able to learn and apply your learning to do a better job and also, to keep your job relevant.
My philosophy about education is that I really and truly believe that all people can learn. We are born to learn, and until someone makes us feel bad about it, we keep going. Sometimes, when we are made to feel bad about it, we keep going, but that is a gamble. I do believe that we need reasonable expectations, and clear goals, to achieve our learning objectives; and that teachers need to make those clear to students on a daily basis.
I was drawn to the Innovative Learning program because I felt like I needed more instruction in technological resources and also in understanding not only how to implement technology in the classroom but the best practices to do so. This program has helped me find resources and bring new ideas and technologies to my students.
My Driving Question has morphed from " How can I Motivate the Unmotivated students in math?" to " How can a Growth Mindset Influence mathematics achievement?" to " Can Info-graphics Increase Learning In a Trigonometry Unit in a PreCalculus Math class?"