Dallas / Fort Worth
First Year Teaching Fellow
I knew I wanted to teach, but I wasn’t sure how to get into teaching. After spending a year doing City Year in Boston, I started researching teacher certification programs. I chose Urban Teachers because I had seen what happened to students when teachers weren’t ready and I didn’t want to do my students a disservice. I wanted to be ready when I stepped into the classroom.
The first year was really intense, but my host teacher was a big support. She was a top tier teacher and she really wanted to help young teachers develop. We were really able to partner and she was able to give me this huge space to try teaching.
This year, in my own classroom, I’m teaching Algebra 1. It’s hectic and stressful but fun, and I know it would be 100 percent harder if I hadn’t been an Urban Teachers resident last year. I know my students from last year. I know my administrators. I all these structures within the school and how things work. I’m able to focus on my class and what I am teaching.