Reflection on Impact on Students

The most important part of teaching for me is to become an effective teacher

because even as students move on, I would have the satisfaction that as a teacher I
have had an impact on student achievement. That is why I pay careful attention in my
teaching performance so that when class is over, my students leave the classroom with
long term learning embedded in them.
In my short teaching experience I have had the gratification of knowing that my
dedication and commitment has played a role in increasing student performance in
mathematics and helped in developing their literacy skills. At the same time, I have had
the disenchantment that comes with recognizing that my efforts at times would not be
enough.
Before coming to Hunter, my experience in the classroom consisted in assisting
a teacher during a summer session Regents preparation at the New York University. It
was a daily intensive course that started with a quick review followed by lots of practice.
At that time I had been assigned to help two of the weakest students that were in the
most need of one-to-one coaching. While they were struggling at the beginning their
graceful disposition to learn shortly gave signs of progress. As the concepts became
clear and they fortified their procedural fluency, they began to practice on their own. The
evidence was that there would be days when they would come to school and ask me to
clarify for them a problem in which they got stuck. I was moved to see that their
confidence in approaching problem on their own had been impacted trough our daily
interactions.
For my Student Teaching experience I chose to teach in a High School of
transfer students. It was there, where I believed I impacted most of the students I

became in contact with. The Integrated Algebra class consisted of struggling, new
arrival bilingual immigrants. Most of them were of Spanish-speaking origin and four
French-Creoles speakers seeking ESL instruction. While they did not speak English, I
noticed that some of them were beginning to understand it. It was challenging to deliver
a lesson in English. When I spoke, I only saw blank faces with no expression. And so,
since I speak Spanish I began to use it in instruction. On the other hand, to differentiate
for the French-Creole students I would display translations on the handouts and on the
Smart Board presentation of the most important concepts for the lesson of that
particular day. At the beginning they were very shy and nobody spoke. Thus, to
animate them into participating, I would encourage the students to answer in Spanish
and for the French-Creole students, I would ask one of the students to translate for me.
Since it was a requirement to test students in English, at first their performance was not
great. However, by the end of the semester their grades were improving. They were
grasping the concepts and were beginning to make attempts to use academic language
that it is exclusive only to mathematics such as the word, infinity. One day, I was
absent, and the next day I had a student asking me: Miss, En dnde estaba? Ayer
necesitaba ayuda. (Translation: Miss, where were you? Yesterday I needed help.) That
day, I was deeply affected because I realized they were counting on me been there to
help.
With respect to other students in the school, when they found out that I spoke
Spanish and that my specialty was mathematics, some began to look for me during
lunchtime. I felt productive when I provided explanation of mathematical concepts in
Spanish to students taking Geometry. Soon, I found myself surrounded by them working
on their homework next to me just in case they needed help. When they had exams
they would come with their study handout and notes to practice and ask: Miss, as

se hace, cierto? (Translation: Miss, this is how you do it, right?). They wanted
reassurance that knew the material. And, when they got their results they would come
to share it with me. Especially because their teacher would give them the opportunity to
hand in the questions they had wrong for extra credit and they wanted that credit.
On the other hand, it is important to recognize that some times you will encounter
circumstances that are completely out your control. I had three students that while they
were incline to learn; I found out that their special circumstances prevented them from
performing their best. They only showed to class once or twice a week and the most
that I could do was to encourage them to come to class as often as possible. When
they did showed up, I tried my best to get them engaged in the lesson. They paid
attention, asked questions and participated in the activities. At the end of the lesson I
would make sure they got the homework and the classwork they had missed to make it
up. Only, if their circumstances had been different I would have been able to impact
their learning in a much greater way.
My experiences with these students have been rather educating. Ive been
exposed to the reality of the students that for some reason or another are not learning
the skills in mathematics that will pave their road to achieve in higher education.
However, Ive learned that I could use my Spanish Language skills as a resource to
serve immigrant students. I also learned that by dedicating more time and tailoring
lessons to meet the struggling student learning needs, he/she will learn. In the personal
level, I perceive a growth and development in me that consequently, will help me in the
future make a difference in my students lives.