Noyce Scholar Profile
Jen Palluth
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: BAITT Math
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Secondary Schooling in Algebra
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
CSUSB
Current academic or teaching status:
Senior year
School and school district:
Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Background:
I am 22, currently enrolled in Cal State University of San Bernardino, and have one more year until I graduate with my B.A. in Mathematics Integrated Teaching Track. I have been a hard worker since I was legally able to at 16, and have worked at the same Forest Home Ministries Christian Camp to this day, alongside a retail job here, and a tutoring job there. I have always had a nack for math since the beginning of 7th grade pre-algebra, and it might just run in my blood with an accountant for a mom and a mechanical engineer for a dad. And I hope it always stays with me through the many years of teaching ahead.
Why do you want to teach:
Teachers were my main role models throughout secondary schooling, and I made it easier on them by doing all my work, and doing it well. My favorite part was when they were surprised because I didn’t look like your typical smart student. Now I want to be the surprised teacher, surprised by all things my students can accomplish through proper guidance, and in turn surprise the students themselves in knowing what they can accomplish. I want to help those who can’t get past the most difficult of math to many: Algebra. It always upset me to hear of students having to take Algebra three or four times until the teacher finally just let them through. If I can change that amount to just once, I would be the happiest teacher alive. I want to make the difference and be the role model the students need in their lives.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
If we’re talking about another teacher in particular, I can recall one I observed at my former high school. He starts off his day with a quote on the board and picks up a discussion his students get really engaged in (not your typical warm-up), and he playfully jokes with all his students as he leads into his lesson for the day: rational exponents. What you can’t see written down on here are the expressions on all of the students’ faces–pure adoration and attentiveness. No one wants to miss the punch line of anything he says, so they have all eyes and ears on him. Even if you didn’t like math in particular, he still made his class enjoyable and THE place to be. That would be an amazing repertoire to have in teaching.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce Program has given me more opportunities than most will receive before making their leaps into teaching on their own. Noyce has been a guide, Fred Jones a “guru”, and a great experience overall that will lead me to become a better teacher. And the biggest help of all is the extra time we get to spend in the classroom with the students we want and would not want to have; the advantage being we get to practice how to create those student-teacher relationships that helps us both in the end.
