The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

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Kassandra

RETURN TO SCHOLAR LIST

Noyce Scholar Profile

Kassandra Rodriguez

Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: B.S., Mathematics

Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 6-12

Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar

Name of Noyce institution:
University of Texas at Arlington UTeach

Current academic or teaching status:
Senior

School and school district:
N/A

Background:
I come from a Hispanic (Catholic and Mexican) household with two sisters, my parents and my dog. Growing up in a small city that is 99.02% Hispanic, I had an awesome experience with culture shock when I moved to Arlington for my college years. I was exposed to so much more beyond what was in my Mexican-American culture.

Why do you want to teach:
My mother was a preschool teacher while I was growing up and became the inspiration for my sisters and me to become teachers. We would always volunteer in her classroom and managed to learn a thing or two about classroom management. Seeing the importance of my mother's job when it came to the students' education, it was easy to choose a career that made such an impact on the lives of many others.

Describe a memorable teaching experience:
I will never forget the first time I was in front of a classroom teaching my very first lesson. Before that, all I had ever done was tutor students on a one-to-one basis and focused on strengthening their knowledge on what they already knew about the lesson. Now I was supposed to teach them the lesson from scratch. I was beyond nervous and spoke too softly. I didn't do very well the first time, but with the support from the UTeach program, I feel I am able to move on from that "memorable" teaching experience and build on it to become a better instructor.

What does the Noyce program mean to you:
This program means getting the opportunity to continue my education and finish my degree without having to take a semester off to work and save money for my last semester of college. Most important, the UTeach program has provided me with tools and community to be well-prepared to enter the classroom and make a difference.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Numbers DUE-2041597 and DUE-1548986. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

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