I've always loved math. I guess it's easy to love something when you are good at it. I'm just not sure if I became as good at it as I did because of natural ability or because of my excitement for it. I tend to believe it's a little of the former and more of the latter.
I graduated high school from Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA). It was/is a residential, college-prep high school for 11th and 12th (and now 10th) graders. It wasn't a very hard choice to apply. It was in my home town and offered some of the best academics in the country. I loved just about every second of it. Most of my closest friends now were fellow students then (1995-1997). In two years there, I took 8 math classes: Precalculus, Trigonometry, Calculus I, Calculus II, Multi-variable Calculus, Differential Equations, Graph Theory, and Linear Algebra. It was awesome! Most of the teachers had experience in industry, whether it was working for TI on guidance systems, doing research for NASA, or software engineering for various companies. Several had been college professors. My physics teacher had a doctorate in Cryogenics and owned some of his own equipment! My German teacher, who also taught Russian and fine arts, learned his foreign languages while stationed in West Germany. I think over half the teachers had Doctorates and the rest, Masters. Needless to say, they prepared us well for college.
I don't have a lot to say about my academics at LSU, Baton Rouge. I graduated with a B.S. in Computer and Electrical Engineering and a minor in mathematics (from classes I took for fun). I was also 1 letter grade away from a minor in Computer Science. Whoops. Like I said, I don't have much to say about my academics at LSU...
After graduating, I roamed, working at restaurants and an internet tech-support company until I landed in Naples, FL, living with some friends. I was looking for engineering work and didn't want to fall back into the restaurant trap and they were kind enough to let me stay, having me work off some of my debt helping them remodel their kitchen. Eventually, though, they wanted some rent and asked if I'd substitute teach the last week of school--they were in need. I said sure and began falling in love.
My first day on the job, I was left with a bunch of high school kids, none of whom I knew, leading a dissection. Talk about sink or swim! By the end of the week, the principal asked me if I wanted to teach summer school Algebra. Of course I did! More money than I'd ever seen in restaurants, for sure. I had 6 kids (I think) and made it up as I went. My roommate was/is the best teacher I've ever known and he helped me think about grading, creative ways to teach, etc. I wasn't a teacher. I was just a guy in the room helping them learn. By the end of the summer, the kids' parents were begging that I be added to the full-time staff. I was so honored and humbled by their support that I was hooked.
The principal couldn't offer me a job for the full year, because they were staffed, but she could offer me a job until the end of September, when the other math teacher was going to arrive. I took it. Again, I made things up as we went. For several classes, we didn't have textbooks, so I hand-wrote lessons and made copies. I was just some dude in the room helping them learn. As an added bonus, I was the defensive coordinator of the inaugural football team! My football players said I was harder on them in class than on the field. October rolled around and the school's enrollment hadn't grown enough to create a job opportunity for me, but the middle school serendipituosly had an opening. The HS principal talked the middle school principal into hiring me. I would be teaching 8th-grade math and one section of Algebra.
My first day there, last period, we began the Algebra class. The first question out of the kids' mouths was, "So, what are your qualifications to teach us?" I was floored. If I wasn't hooked before, I certainly was now. Who knew kids wanted to learn? Again, I was just some dude in the room helping them learn. Some days I would figure out how I was going to teach on the commute and, others, I'd figure it out as I went. I had no idea what a lesson plan was or how to write one. I did have an awesome master teacher who helped with organization and classroom management, but there just wasn't much managing to do. Many kids volunteered to stay after school several hours a week for extra help. I didn't have a life. Well, I did. Teaching was my life and I loved it! By the end of the year, I had learned so much and felt like I knew what I was doing in a classroom. Our school made an A+ and my students had improved on their already outstanding results. I was only able to stay that year, though. I was moving back home to teach and raise my daughter.
Coming to Louisiana and deciding I was going to keep teaching, I needed to get certified. I was able to go to my local university's alternative certification program and the end of innocence was nigh. Little by little, the guy who was in the room to help kids learn began learning about lesson plans, classroom management, differentiated instruction, assessment, and... I became a teacher! And I do say that in a bad way. I felt I had to have control. I felt there was a way things had to be done. I was now required to write lesson plans. Parents weren't as involved. The kids weren't as self-motivated. It ate at me the whole year. The next year, I finally got moved to high school, where I wanted to be, and have been there since. I've continued to be a teacher! So, now, I'm going back to being some dude in the room who is going to help them learn. Yes, I'll have to write lesson plans. Yes, I'll have to discipline. But, I'm blowing it all up, rewriting the way I teach my classes, and instituting standards-based grading. I'm nervous, scared, anxious, and, most of all, excited. I have to do this. I have to once again inspire and be inspired, otherwise I'll be looking for a new job soon.
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