Noyce Scholar Profile
John Bragelman
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: MAT Secondary Mathematics Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics Education, grades 6-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Georgia State University/Urban Mathematics Education Program
Current academic or teaching status:
Third Year
School and school district:
Westwood College and DeVry University
Background:
I attended Georgia Institute of Technology as an undergraduate. It took me a number of years working in the private sector as a financial analyst before transitioning to teaching. I enrolled at Georgia State University in their Urban Mathematics Education Program, an alternative preparation program. My successes as a teacher have led me to return to Georgia State University to pursue a doctorate.
Why do you want to teach:
It took me three years of teaching before I could answer this question. I became a teacher to break down the privilege associated with mathematics and to assist in eradicating the sociological and economic disparities that exist between races in education.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
All of my memorable experiences come from student successes. Most recently a student approached me after class, a mother of two, taking pre-algebra, 10 years after she finished high school. She told me this class was the first time she felt like she understood math, and it was because of me. She said thank you and smiled the most glowing smile I have ever seen. This is why I teach.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
More than anything, the Noyce Program trained me to teach in urban schools. It taught me that anyone can do mathematics, and it taught me how to show the students this same ideology.
