Noyce Scholar Profile
Matthew Huberman
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics & Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics & Theater Arts, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Current academic or teaching status:
Currently enrolled in MAT-I program, apprenticing & taking graduate courses for my initial teaching license and MAT
School and school district:
New Bedford High School
Background:
I was born in Bridgewater, New Jersey and graduated high school in Nantucket, Massachusetts. I went to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to study mathematics. I put myself through college working at an ice cream shop and picked up a love of theater, acting, and improvisation along the way.
Why do you want to teach:
I’ve been teaching math since I was in the 7th grade. I like knowing math as the game that it is and love teaching others the rules to that game. Many students in this country take issue with math as they are either not confident in their skills or had a teacher or two in the past who didn’t help them to build those skills. I teach to rectify those old wrongs and give students the means to use math as it pertains to them in their education as well as future career paths and possible applications.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
I once worked with a group of teachers in New Bedford, MA on a unit with projects based on the Boston Red Sox. Each teacher in the team covered a subject (English, History, Biology, and Math), and each had his own set of projects based on the Red Sox in their subject area from which students could choose. For a week, students did research for their own projects and presented in one of the four subject areas to the entire group of students (about 90 kids). At the end of the week, we all went to Boston for a private tour of Fenway Park; the students had a really great time. I’ll never forget what one of the teachers said to me about the experience: “For some of these kids, this will be the one and only time they ever actually come to Fenway, and that’s sad. Some of them just won’t have the means or the money again in their lifetimes. Hopefully they’ll at least remember this.”
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program is and has been, in a word, my springboard. The program coordinators placed me with excellent teacher mentors, helped me plan for my semester-to-semester course loads, and introduced me to networking and other things that were helpful in ways I could not have imagined, starting out. In retrospect, there were dozens of paths to become a licensed teacher that I could have taken after getting my BS in mathematics. I wanted to become the best teacher I could be and be able to handle anything that came my way. I chose Noyce over those other paths, in hopes of taking care of my education and my well being in the best possible ways, but I didn’t realize how right I would be. The program staff took me in like I was family and for that I will never look back and speculate about all the other ways things might have been.
