Noyce Scholar Profile
Michaela Balkus
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Masters of Arts in Teaching
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: high school/middle school mathematics
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Pacific University
Current academic or teaching status:
Fifth year masters
School and school district:
Forest Grove
Background:
I graduated from Olympic High School in 2006 with the desire to go into teaching high school mathematics. I earned my bachelors of science in mathematics from Pacific University in 2010.
Why do you want to teach:
I enjoy helping students understand and hopefully enjoy mathematics. I want to help students down their path to becoming the best people they can be.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
When I was helping a student with simplifying rational expressions and having to reexplain the distributive property. The best part was when the distributive property clicked for the student and he was excited to continue doing his homework because it made sense.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
It has made it more feasible for me to be able to reach my dream of becoming a high school mathematics teacher.
