Overview
Greetings!
Einstein once wrote that the skills of creating and formulating problems are much more essential than coming up with their solutions. "[T]o raise new questions, new problems, to regard old problems from a new angle," he writes, "require creative imagination and mark advances in science [and math]" (Einstein and Infeld, 1938, p. 92). These skills are immensely relevant in our world today and can be learned in any math classroom.
Math is much more than learning facts and using those facts to solve close-ended problems from a textbook. Math is a way of thinking. It is an exploration of the world around us that is fueled by our innate curiosity. Math is about learning to ask questions about the everyday things in life. Furthermore, math not only gives us the tools needed to solve these problems and answer these questions, it gives us the tools to ask more questions. This is the mindset I hope to instill in the students I have the privilege of teaching.
I believe that an outstanding teacher is professional in the way they approach their work with students, taking care to challenge students appropriately, relate to them, and prepare adequately for the lessons to be taught. In addition, an outstanding teacher is someone who can help students engage with and experience the content in a new way. This means that teachers know students’ backgrounds and teach to that context. It also means giving them skills that they will use long after they graduate from high school and college. Above all, an outstanding teacher goes far beyond teaching the content. This kind of teacher must be intentional about knowing each of the students in the classroom and building positive relationships with them.
I entered this profession because I believe in the power of positive relationships to change the world for the better. I understand that the foundation of teaching is the relationship between the students and the teacher and that students' achievement motivation skyrockets when they believe their teachers care about them. In Pedagogy of Freedom, Paulo Freire even writes “I am dealing with people and not with things. And, because I am dealing with people, I cannot refuse my wholehearted and loving attention, even in personal matters, where I see that a student is in need of such attention” (1998, p. 128).
On this website, you will find information about me as a teacher: how I approach planning, several lesson plans along with their connected video clips and instructional materials, teaching reflections, and homemade digital resources. In addition, I have included student portraits that tells the story of several of my students’ individual growth and learning over the course of the year, as well as strategies used to support these students and the lessons I have learned as a result. Finally, this website has a narrative of my philosophies and priorities as an educator, as well as a list of resources I have used (or intend to) that are helpful for any teacher, student, or parent of math.
Andrew Constantinescu
Bibliographic Information
Einstein, A., & Infeld, L. (1938). The evolution of physics: The growth of ideas from early concepts to relativity and quanta,. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Einstein once wrote that the skills of creating and formulating problems are much more essential than coming up with their solutions. "[T]o raise new questions, new problems, to regard old problems from a new angle," he writes, "require creative imagination and mark advances in science [and math]" (Einstein and Infeld, 1938, p. 92). These skills are immensely relevant in our world today and can be learned in any math classroom.
Math is much more than learning facts and using those facts to solve close-ended problems from a textbook. Math is a way of thinking. It is an exploration of the world around us that is fueled by our innate curiosity. Math is about learning to ask questions about the everyday things in life. Furthermore, math not only gives us the tools needed to solve these problems and answer these questions, it gives us the tools to ask more questions. This is the mindset I hope to instill in the students I have the privilege of teaching.
I believe that an outstanding teacher is professional in the way they approach their work with students, taking care to challenge students appropriately, relate to them, and prepare adequately for the lessons to be taught. In addition, an outstanding teacher is someone who can help students engage with and experience the content in a new way. This means that teachers know students’ backgrounds and teach to that context. It also means giving them skills that they will use long after they graduate from high school and college. Above all, an outstanding teacher goes far beyond teaching the content. This kind of teacher must be intentional about knowing each of the students in the classroom and building positive relationships with them.
I entered this profession because I believe in the power of positive relationships to change the world for the better. I understand that the foundation of teaching is the relationship between the students and the teacher and that students' achievement motivation skyrockets when they believe their teachers care about them. In Pedagogy of Freedom, Paulo Freire even writes “I am dealing with people and not with things. And, because I am dealing with people, I cannot refuse my wholehearted and loving attention, even in personal matters, where I see that a student is in need of such attention” (1998, p. 128).
On this website, you will find information about me as a teacher: how I approach planning, several lesson plans along with their connected video clips and instructional materials, teaching reflections, and homemade digital resources. In addition, I have included student portraits that tells the story of several of my students’ individual growth and learning over the course of the year, as well as strategies used to support these students and the lessons I have learned as a result. Finally, this website has a narrative of my philosophies and priorities as an educator, as well as a list of resources I have used (or intend to) that are helpful for any teacher, student, or parent of math.
Andrew Constantinescu
Bibliographic Information
Einstein, A., & Infeld, L. (1938). The evolution of physics: The growth of ideas from early concepts to relativity and quanta,. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Other Information
Outside of doing math, I spend my free time enjoying nature. I love to backpack, hike, and go bouldering in the beautiful Pacific NW. In addition, I enjoy playing soccer and am an avid musician, playing with several jazz groups around town. On rainy days, you're likely to find me at one of Portland's coffee shops with a good book in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other.
Resume 2015 | |
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