Noyce Scholar Profile
Christopher Morris
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Math Education
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Tennessee Teach Here Program
Current academic or teaching status:
One year
School and school district:
East Ridge High School, Hamilton County
Background:
I have just finished my residency year with the Teach Here program. During the residency year, I acquired invaluable hands-on experience teaching Algebra II courses and conducted action research. I earned my master’s in math teacher teacher education from the University of Tennessee Knoxville during this time, and will be starting my first year as a teacher at East Ridge High School in Chattanooga, TN.
Why do you want to teach:
I want to teach because it provides the arena to positively influence young people. I find the experience anything but boring as one can never predict what may happen on any given school day. I think my personality naturally relates to young people, and I hope can provide a much needed role model in this community.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
One memorable teaching moment occurred this past residency year. I was just finishing up my last teaching stint over an 8-week period. The model for our program was designed so that we residents gained that valuable teaching experience as the lead teacher. Until this one moment, I never realized how comfortable the kids had become with me as their educator. The time had come for me to hand the reigns back over to my mentor teacher “so to speak” as my 8-week lead teaching time had come to its end. My mentor teacher was trying to instruct the students when suddenly all the students looked away from her and back at me in order to understand the answer. I realized that all of the students viewed me as the teacher, and not my mentor teacher. That moment really spoke to me and let me know that I was more ready than I realized to step into this teaching profession.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has meant everything to me. It has allowed me the opportunity to pursue my educational goals in the most efficient and productive manner. It has helped me to financially support my wife while I continued my education. Lastly, the Noyce and Teach Here programs adequately prepared me for the job I was meant to do as a math teacher for years to come.
