Introduction

I am now entering my second semester as a grad-school student. I left Santa Fe, NM, which is where I went to college, at the end of May 2008 to become a Teaching Fellow. My major was very basic- a Liberal Arts degree, however the program offered is very unique. We study the history of math and science; philosophy; ancient Greek; French; and music theory. I received what is called a classical education with a hands-on approach. We only read primary sources- no text books. We do not sit in lectures; the students do most of the talking/asking questions/discussing. I loved my college experience and try to bring that hands-on inquisitiveness into my classroom.

As a current teaching fellow I work as an 8th grade math teacher in Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn. My school is in its third year. Many of the teachers either are or were teaching fellows. Like many schools these days we are all about incorporating technology into the classroom, but our means do not really allow for this. We are still largely a chalk-board-using school. Though I do not have full-time access to a smart-board I would really love to start incorporating it into my classroom, but I am unsure of how to best use this, and I am just unsure and uncomfortable with using it. Even projectors make me nervous! I would say right now that is my goal for this class: to become much more comfortable with incorporating technology into my classroom.