SERVICE
Screenshot from video the Baltimore Sun published showing the impact the math coaching program had on students' test scores
UMBC Lakeland Elementary/Middle School Math Coaching
84 Hours
Once a week, I would go to Lakeland Elementary/Middle School to tutor children in mathematics. We would teach the elementary school students in groups of 4 or 5 for about 2 hours, and then transition to teaching middle school students for 2 more hours. By interacting with both younger and older children, this experience taught me how to communicate with people who learned in vastly different ways. I was able to personalize the way I taught them math concepts by drawing pictures, creating stories, and allowing them to work in teams. Teaching each week brought me closer to my dream to advance personalized learning because it exposed me to the environment where the changes would create the most impact.
I got a first-hand perspective of the impact of having an individualized learning experience in the long term success of a student. By teaching these children for the entirety of a semester, I saw the difference it made in their test scores.
According to the Baltimore Sun:
"The number of Lakeland seventh-graders scoring 4 or 5, which are considered passing marks, on the math exam shot up from 6.3 percent in 2016 to 17.8 percent last year."
"The percentage of fourth-grade students passing was even more encouraging. It more than doubled from 19 percent to just over 43 percent during the same period."
These children taught me persistence. Sometimes they didn't understand concepts the first time around, but by continuing to find different ways to teach them, they built confidence because I believed in them, and they believed in my abilities as a teacher. When dealing with children of all ages, it is essential to explain concepts in a way that their age group will comprehend. In addition to this, children may not understand concepts on the same level as their peers, so being able to understand and adjust accordingly was essential when going through this experience. When I take this experience beyond my college career and into my career as a professor, I hope to have the skills I need to understand each student uniquely and ensure their highest possibility of success. When I take this experience beyond the scope of the Grand Challenges it is clear that individualized learning is needed to ensure that students who learn differently are accommodated.