Opening Webinar: Week 1

January 23, 2022

Opening Webinar: Week 1

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Hi everyone! I am Jennifer Aguilar but you can call me Jenn. I am in my junior year in NJCU majoring in Mathematics Secondary Education. I took this class for a variety of reasons but the most important reason I chose LTED 205-1817 is because I want to explore literature and harness and improve my research and critical analysis skills for my future career. You may be wondering “Jenn shouldn’t you have these skills already? Is it really necessary to have research and critical analysis skills to become a math teacher?” My answer to those questions is that I struggle when it comes to anything literature and that is important in math because of word problems, it's all about understanding the words in the problem to do the correct procedure.

Ever since I was a kid I have always loved the idea about numbers and the art of multiplying, dividing and all the operations in the world. I also love how different procedures could give you different solutions. I excelled in every math class I took because math was my favorite subject but what I struggled the most was my English classes. I never know why and till this day I still don't understand why I struggle so much even now while writing this blog I feel I don't seem to make sense. Funny, right? I don't know if it was because of where my parents come from like my dad came from Honduras and my mom is from Ecuador. My first language in my house was Spanish. My parents were also struggling with English when they arrived in this country and when I was born. When I was growing up I was slow to read, write and to talk compared to the other kids. My first book ever was “The Hungry Caterpillar” and while everyone was reading along with the teacher I found it hard to follow because it was hard for me so I focused more on the pictures than the words.

I had to receive speech therapy in kindergarten and the first year in my primary school, Robert Waters School. It was difficult for me to adjust myself to speak English in school and Spanish at home. The challenges were difficult when my parents couldn't help me with my English homework so I had to read everything 2 or 3 times till I was able to understand the question that I was asked by the teacher or my homework. After the years went by I still struggled but I found some interest in literature starting from seventh grade. I realized I had a talent and passion for poems. I love writing my own poems and reading them but I usually wouldn't understand the meaning behind them. My teacher Ms. Simone wasn’t a role model for me but she was the first teacher who introduced poems to me that made me want to write my own stories. Then eight grade I found passion in reading specific genre books like mythology or young adult novels. After a while I found my love for graphic novel books because it was particularly hard for me to picture the image and then focus on the main ideas of the book which really made me bored reading a regular book.

Even though I found a bit of enjoyment in literature I still struggle with the critical analysis part of it. I realized when I had to read word problems in math. I couldn’t completely understand what procedure I had to take because I didn’t understand the reading and I don’t want a child to suffer and hate math because of this problem. Which is why I want to become a great math teacher and want to improve my literature skills. Right now I feel very unsure about my literature skills but I do love challenges and I know with this class I can overcome this challenge. I also do read and write in my spare time just to improve little by little and I have takens classes to help my literacy grow. I just want to become a great teacher in the math and literacy department like my tenth grade teacher Mrs. Lopes who gave me the push to follow this career as a math teacher.

Thanks for listening and let's have a great semester and grow and improve in our literature