Noyce Scholar Profile
Martin Fong
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics For Teaching
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Math
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
UCLA
Current academic or teaching status:
2nd year M.Ed. student
School and school district:
Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy
Background:
Born and raised in Glendale, California. Graduated from Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School in 2008 and got my B.S. in Mathematics For Teaching from UCLA in 2012 and M.Ed. from UCLA from in 2013.
Why do you want to teach:
I want to give students access to the experience of enjoying and loving learning in a supportive environment as I had and empower them to achieve their life goals.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
I had a special education student who was constantly verbally bullied by classmates. One day, in reaction to their verbally bullying, she broke out in a rage of profanities and broke down crying. She and I sat down outside the classroom to talk. (I had a co-teacher who stayed with the rest of the class.) She had an attention deficit that quickly moved her from her tears to telling me about her dreams to make airplanes. This experience reminds me of two things. First, every student has a dream, no matter who he or she is or what he or she has done. Everyone wants to get somewhere and be someone. As a teacher, I need to acknowledge that and tap in to that natural motivation. Second, surviving secondary school is hard; for social outcasts, it’s hell. I need to understand the gravity of what students go through socially and how it can affect their academic performance. They don’t care about derivatives if no one likes them or respects them for who they are. Cultivating a safe, supportive classroom environment in which every student feels significant and crucial is prerequisite to teaching your students anything in the state standards.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
Noyce has lifted some of the financial strain of getting my teaching credential and allowed me to fulfill my goal of being able to teach! Now, through teaching, I want to equip others to fulfill their life goals. The Noyce program means enabling exponentially many others through education.
