Teaching Moments

During a fraction lesson, I assessed students' understanding through interactive math questions to better organize them into small group activities. 

When I taught symmetry in figures, the lesson coincided with Valentine's Day. I introduced the lesson with a real-life photo and incorporated making symmetrical hearts for Valentine's Day into the class activities.

I used anchor chart to teach a new concept - character traits.

Using an anchor chart to teach character traits provides a visual aid that helps students better understand and remember the concept. It organizes information in a clear and accessible way, making it easier for students to reference and engage with the material. Additionally, anchor charts can be interactive,  encouraging student participation and reinforcing learning through examples (In this lesson, I used Pikachu) and discussions.

Through a read-aloud, I showed students how to identify character traits within a text and created character traits Post-its to increase student participation.

I showed students real examples of magnetic force when teaching a lesson about force.

Using real examples to teach a lesson about force helps students understand the concept more concretely, making the lesson more engaging and relatable. It allows students to see the principles of force in action, enhancing their comprehension and retention of the material.

I started working as a paraprofessional to explore whether teaching was the right path for me before beginning graduate school for Education.

During the pandemic, my first student was an ELL who was selectively mute. I recorded over 20 videos, explained articles in Chinese, and showed her pictures and videos to help her understand the assigned reading. After that, we would go live to work on the questions together.

This is one of the videos I made that helped her understand an article.

I also worked with her the following school year. Today, her mother is still grateful for the help I provided.

I realized this when I was student-teaching at a different school this Spring, which happened to be the student's brother's current school. The mother saw me and visited during my lunch break to hand me a thank-you card. Even after three years, she appreciates me. This unexpected moment was one of the times when teaching felt truly meaningful and rewarding.

During remote learning, the teacher assigned me to work with a group of students to practice multiplication live every day. I noticed that students were intimidated by large numbers and found the nine-times table particularly challenging. To help them, I created this video demonstrating some tricks. At the time, I was referred to by the nickname "Ms. Danica."