To begin, I was surprised to learn that Iowa was a middle-to-low achieving academic state. It makes me feel like my career path is more important than ever and I am excited to begin to be an educator to Iowa students. I am most interested in the mathematics portion of the NAEP data presented in this article because this is my area of specialization. As the article states, "Mathematics achievement is flat-lining. Not enough 8th graders are taking rigorous mathematics classes in school." I believe that too often students are focused on their grade or GPA rather than the knowledge gained from courses. As a teacher I will encourage my students to take the more advanced route. I will remind my students that even though they may not receive straight A's, they will be benefitting in the long run with the knowledge they gain and use for ACT which will allow them to go to college and get better jobs. With this being said, junior high school grades may seem like the big picture to them at the time, but in reality, the big picture needs to be addressed. Overall, as a teacher, I need to become more aware to individual needs of my students. I want to become a highly effective educator that will not only instruct my students, but engage and motivate them to do their very best. Doing so will hopefully alleviate the long-term consequences that go along with low achievement, such as poverty, drop-out rates, crime and unemployment.
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