Noyce Scholar Profile
Jill Edgren
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 6-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Master Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Current academic or teaching status:
7 years teaching
School and school district:
Middle/High School, Wood River Rural Schools
Background:
I am originally from Grand Island, NE. I received my Bachelor’s degree from University of Nebraska-Kearney and my Master’s from University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). I have been teaching at Wood River Rural Middle/High School for 7 years. I enjoy music, church involvement, and spending time with the family.
Why do you want to teach:
Helping students and especially helping other teachers is great as I have the potential of impacting that many more people. Most people go into math education for one of the following reasons: they really want to coach and math was easy for them, math was easy, or math was sometimes challenging, but they had a great teacher who inspired them. It is an honor that two past students of mine are math teachers and another majoring in math education. My desire to learn and interact with others goes back to high school. My math teacher recommended and prompted me to attend the All Girls/All Math program at UNL. At this camp, I was able to interact with Math Olympiads and dabble in a variety of math topics beyond the high school classroom. This is where I was encouraged to pursue a major of math education by the same individuals who encouraged me to apply for the Math in the Middle program during my first attendance at a Nebraska Association of Teachers of Mathematics conference. I am about to be President of this association driven by the leadership inspired through Math in the Middle. Many of my accomplishments are a direct result of my interaction with others involved in programs like the Robert Noyce NSF Master Teaching Fellowship Program. Wonder does not escape me as to what I might be doing in another seven years as a result of this program, with the support of my administration, family and future cohort members.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
I can recall putting a sequence of numbers on the board in Algebra I and trying to build up to the Fibonacci sequence. In the meanwhile, I posted what I intended to be perfect square numbers, and many added the next odd number. This idea was shared by a majority of the class which led to recursive and explicit patterns. I now know to expect this and use as an opportunity to introduce new topics.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
I would like to learn more mathematical content and more about improving my strategies in math education. Generally speaking, I know several strategies, but sometimes I don’t use them because traditional teaching is more convenient. Being a part of Robert Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship will be a great reminder of my purpose and goal to teach to my best ability.
