Noyce Scholar Profile
Nadia Hasan
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Business: Marketing / Journalism
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
Oregon State University
Current academic or teaching status:
Student-Teaching, will graduate in June 2011
School and school district:
Stephens Middle School, North Salem High School, Stoller Middle School: 2010-2011
Background:
As an Indian-Pakistani born and raised in America, I often struggled with who I was. From understanding my culture to assimilating to the dominant culture, I felt alienated trying to fit in. In high school, I finally embraced my differences by involvement in the Diversity Club where we highlighted various cultures, and I felt validated about who I was. It has been a rewarding and challenging experience to be who I am today, and I am thankful for family, friends, and teachers who helped me get here.
Why do you want to teach:
With five years of experience in advertising and marketing working with media executives, I found myself taking advantage of every teaching moment I could to nurture the growth of the employees around me. I enjoyed the challenge of walking into a room, capturing an audience, and closing the deal. In fact, I loved it! So when I began volunteering for Reading to Kids and working with elementary school students, I was reminded of my childhood dream to become a teacher, to make a difference, and to help students with differing experiences and backgrounds feel they were important. I hope to be like the teachers who helped me embrace my culture and values in high school that ultimately led to my ability to believe in myself.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
We were learning similarity of shapes and specifically investigating ways we can prove triangles are similar. I struggled internally with the idea of using straws to look at conjectures like SSS and AA, but I felt it would help the students see why these conjectures were true. As I was giving instructions, I thought it may be different to have students present the findings of their investigation, and it was such an amazing experience (as a student-teacher, I was bound to my teacher’s style of 70% teaching and 30% group work). The transformation of students as active participants in their learning as they talked about what they saw in the shapes felt so rewarding and exciting, and I was happy to see them learn to articulate and communicate their mathematical thinking. Hearing them use words like corresponding sides, proportional sides, and congruent angles felt like I was actually teaching! I hope to continue to promote deeper mathematical thinking in my students.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has allowed me the flexibility and security to pursue my teaching credential through Oregon State University. I am very appreciative for the opportunity.
