How do I teach?

According to the Felder and Solomon Learning Styles Test, I am a sequential, verbal, sensing, and balanced active and reflective learner. The verbal part shocks me because I am more of a visual learner than anything else. This impacts my teaching because I am a very strong sequential and sensing learner so it is difficult for me to see the other sides. In math, this can be helpful for sequencing because knowing the order of the steps is very important. However, some students need to see the big picture first and I do not always excel in doing that.

My current teaching style relies more on me being a formal authority and model rather than a delegator or faciltator. This is likely a result, at least in part, of the mindset of my students right now. While the Common Core curriculum we use is investigative in nature and should allow me to be more of a facilitator and delegator, students have a low threshold for struggle before wanting to give up. My role involves more modeling in the beginning and being the expert and then being able to walk around the room and observe students and guide them through a task.

I am looking forward to the time when my students are more willing to take chances and try and we can learn together.

Personality (Disorder?)

To be truthful, my class for National University this month is not the first time I have taken a personality test. I have long known that I have a ISFJ personality. What does that mean? It means that I tend to be introverted, sensing, feeling, and judging. In the explanation of IFSJ, it mentions teaching as a possible career match. Which explains what I am doing here. However, there are many areas in which to teach, so why math? 

"In the workplace, ISFJs are methodical and accurate workers, often with very good memories and unexpected analytic abilities." 

There it is. Unexpected analytic abilities. Which means I am one of those crazy people that English teachers look at (at least in my district) and say things like, "Oh my goodness. Math?! How could you ever teach that?" I like to work with concrete facts that usually have just one answer. I like the rigidness of math and the planning and sequencing for solving problems. 

Being an ISFJ has a strong influence on my relationships with my students as well. I tend to nurture and encourage. The vilest gang member in my class will receive as much encouragement as the top kid in class. I get to know my students and their interests and often have a listening ear to whatever they want to share.

Introduction

My name is Madame President. But since that blogspot address was taken, I am now Quadratic Queen. However, my students call me Ms. Washington or Ms. W. 

I am a teacher at Salinas High School in the beautiful Monterey County, surrounded by agriculture fields. I have been a substitute teacher in the district since September 2013 and became a teacher on a Short Term Permit last year. This is my first full year teaching in my own classroom. I teach Math 2 and Math 3. My students are sophomores, juniors, and seniors. 

Teaching is in my blood. My mom was a teacher for 27 years and I have many other family members who are teachers. I homeschooled my sons for 4 years and, due to necessity, started substituting. I enjoy working with the children and helping them to understand math. I hope that they will like a math a little more by the end of the year and feel more confident in their abilities than they did the first day they walked through my door.