Noyce Scholar Profile
James Knuuttila
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, 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:
First-year teacher
School and school district:
Durfee High School, Fall River, MA
Background:
I have been into math since I was a freshman in high school, but it wasn’t until I got to college that I started to see how fast it was coming to me compared to my peers. I got hired to be a math tutor at the university, and quickly learned that being a tutor wasn’t work. For me, it was just talking about math, and I felt right at home.
Why do you want to teach:
I wanted to teach because I wanted to help fix the problems in society. Too many people were coming into the university without a foundation in algebra and geometry. Since tutoring worked out great for five years and is still going strong, I decided to move my services into the classroom and teach math the way it should be talked about.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
A student from my student teaching experience went from being a gang leader, a thick-shelled, angry girl to being a happy, energetic student who realized that through constant positive reinforcement she could improve her math grade from a low F, to a C and then to a A at the end of the year. It all started when she got a 100 on a test and realized that she did have the ability to learn. She now wants to go to college to study criminal justice.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has provided an opportunity to earn my initial license and be able to make mistakes in the classroom without getting penalized for it.
