Noyce Scholar Profile
Jeanette Hogan
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Stonehill College
Current academic or teaching status:
Senior
School and school district:
N/A
Background:
I grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts with my parents and two older sisters. I graduated from Braintree High School in 2011 and am currently enrolled at Stonehill College as a Mathematics major with a minor in Secondary Education. I was fortunate enough to have some of the most outstanding teachers at Braintree High School, and it is thanks to these individuals that I am on the path towards becoming a teacher myself. I am also a member of Lambda Epsilon Sigma Honor Society, Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society, Kappa Mu Epsilon Mathematics Honor Society, Sigma Zeta Science and Mathematics Honor Society and on the Relay for Life committee at Stonehill College.
Why do you want to teach:
A major part of my passion for teaching is my love of mathematics. For as long as I can remember, math has been my favorite subject in school. As a math teacher, I hope to show students that math does not have to be a challenging and difficult subject, but can be interesting and engaging. At the very least, I hope to erase the fear of math that the majority of students have today. I can only envision myself in a career path that involves a classroom.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
It is difficult to pin point just one teaching experience that stands out in my mind. From tutoring at risk teens and seeing them progress over the school year to substitute teaching and being involved in the classroom, there have been many experiences that have impacted me. If I had to choose one, it would be working with a particular student over the past year at the tutor center where I volunteer one night a week. He was the typical teenage boy that was “too cool for school.” At the end of the year, the students were asked write thank you notes to the tutor center coordinator. The boy I had been working with wrote in his note that he hoped someday to be a tutor in the center, to be a role model to someone like his tutor was for him. He had no idea that I would see this note, but knowing that I made a positive impact and inspired him was truly moving. This made me realize that even though some kids and students may not show how much you help them, you can make a difference in their lives. I hope I can always keep this memory with me when I am in a classroom.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
Receiving the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship will not only help financially, it will also help make me the qualified mathematics teacher I aspire to be. Being a Noyce Scholar at Stonehill College will give me great opportunities for personal growth as a student and as a future teacher. Meeting monthly with my math mentor and my mentor from the education department, as well as the chance to attend national conferences, will help me develop skills I would not have the opportunity to explore otherwise. As a Noyce Scholar last year I was able to participate in a research project over the summer; the research was a statistical project on analyzing volatility in students’ growth estimates based on the Colorado Growth Model. It is an absolute honor being a Noyce Scholar. I look forward to teaching in a high needs school so that I can help students who have potential but may not have the resources to realize it.
