Noyce Scholar Profile
Shane Carey
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Physics
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: 8th Grade Integrated and 9th Grade Physical Science
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Master Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Arkansas
Current academic or teaching status:
1 year teaching public school
School and school district:
1 year internship during MAT program
Background:
I grew up in a household with a mother who was/is a teacher. I saw the good things that she was/is able to do to make a difference in students’ lives, and therefore became interested in teaching. The physics portion of my educational background stemmed from my interest in forces, acceleration, torque, etc that I began studying on my own to apply to the race cars I build before returning to college to formally study physics.
Why do you want to teach:
To have a positive impact on students’ lives and learning, and to have a career as opposed to just having a job.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
My most memorable experience so far came when one of my 8th grade students who was really shy around his peers stayed after class one afternoon to tell me thank you for making their lessons so interactive and hands on because it makes learning science much easier for him and other students who have very limited English language proficiency.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program was huge in allowing me to get through the MAT program at the University of Arkansas. The MAT program has a required internship that I would not have been able to complete without the Noyce program. When I went through the MAT program I was 29 years old, I had bills to pay, and various other responsibilities that many college students (at younger ages) do not have to worry about. Without the Noyce program I would still be pursuing alternative teacher licensing avenues, and would not have had the wonderful experiences that I had in the MAT program.
