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Rachel

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Because of my multiple certifications, I have had the opportunity to work with students who fall under a large spectrum of abilities. The district in which I currently work has had many teachers retire, so I have also had the opportunity to teach courses for the first time, designing them on my own. I have learned, mostly through trial-and-error, what “works” and what doesn’t. I have learned that my audience ultimately dictates how I teach a class.
Many of my activities encompass guided inquiry philosophies, as I believe that students learn best when they can make connections to previous knowledge and apply it to new concepts. For my academic courses, I prefer to give bulk assignments that are to be completed over a period of time, for example, an entire chapter homework to be completed over a couple of weeks. I do this with my high school students to encourage them to work at their own pace while keeping up with the pace of the class. It is a hard-learned skill, but it will ultimately help them manage their time when they are in college. For basic courses, I give the students daily assignments because they become easily overwhelmed when presented with too much material at once.
Additionally, I require all academic science courses to do research. In Academic Chemistry I and Academic Chemistry II, the students need to perform an experiment, create a presentation, and present both the experiment and the chemistry behind it to the class. Projects have ranged from gummi bears in potassium nitrate (where they have to explain oxidizing agents and how they work) to testing the effectiveness of antacids using titration. My physics students must pick a chapter from the book and teach it to the rest of the class, incorporating both a lab and some form of assessment. The content covered by the students in included on their final exam. Overall, the students enjoy the projects and look forward to doing research beyond high school.
For academic courses, my lecture presentations are less detailed and contain fewer examples, as I expect them to do some reading independently. Presentations for my basic courses are very detailed and provide many examples. For all courses, I include major concepts, real-world examples, as well as funny stories or mnemonic devices to help the students remember concepts, for example, “horses need oats for clear brown eyes” to remember the seven elements that exist as diatomic molecules. In the academic science courses, I place considerable emphasis on the mathematics involved in the concepts covered, and expect formulas and constants to be memorized. In my academic math courses, I include the scientific concepts that can be modeled from the concepts learned. Mathematics, chemistry and physics are very closely related- a connection that many students do not make.
The incorporation of technology and modern scientific processes is also a very important component of the courses that I teach. Data collected in lab is analyzed in Microsoft Excel, which most students have not used before taking my class. Academic Chemistry II has travelled to the university to use sophisticated equipment, such as the NMR and spectrophotometers. The students have used blogging, online surveys, online courses and tutorials for various projects and to communicate with me. We have also used iPad apps for activities. All of my presentations, worksheets, and other assignments are available online for my students to download.
The environment in my classroom is one of mutual respect. My students feel comfortable asking questions and I encourage their contribution to lecture. They do not have to raise their hands to ask a question (therefore it can be loud at times, but not chaotic). I believe that I have achieved such a rapport with my students because they know that I care about them learning what I teach, and not just about delivering the content.

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Rachel’s Qualifications

Education & Certification

Undergraduate Degree: Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania - Bachelors, Chemistry, Mathematics and Education

Graduate Degree: Wilkes University - Masters, 21st Century Teaching and & Learning

Test Scores

GRE Quantitative: 161

GRE Verbal: 153

Hobbies

Learning something new, travelling, taking on a new project, skiing, camping

Tutoring Subjects

Algebra

Algebra 2

Algebra 3/4

AP Chemistry

AP Physics 1

AP Physics 2

Calculus

Calculus 2

Chemistry

College Algebra

College Chemistry

College Physics

Discrete Math

Finite Mathematics

Geometry

High School Physics

Homework Support

Honors Chemistry

Math

Middle School Math

Middle School Science

Other

Physical Science

Physics

Pre-Algebra

Pre-Calculus

Science

Study Skills and Organization

Summer

Trigonometry

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