ADA 鈥� Teaching has been an eye-opening, yet gratifying experience for Chris Eckler in his young career.
Just months after obtaining his bachelor鈥檚 degree in mathematics with a teacher certification from East Central University in May, Eckler has plunged headfirst into what he anticipates as a life-long profession and love.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely eye-opening,鈥� said Eckler, who is less than three months into teaching seventh grade general math and seventh grade honors math at Ada Junior High School. 鈥淚t鈥檚 keeping me busy, but it鈥檚 still something I want to do for years to come.鈥�
Eckler has certainly faced challenges in his young career like budgeting time and the extra things in which most people might not think about.
鈥淚 think the biggest challenges are staying caught up and grading,鈥� Eckler said. 鈥淚 think one thing that caught me off guard was being prepared for parent-teacher conferences.鈥�
Eckler, a Robert Noyce Teaching Scholarship winner at 成人B站 in 2011, was the presenter at 成人B站鈥檚 Fall 2013 Noyce Colloquium on Wednesday at the Regents Room of the Memorial Student Union. The topic of his discussion was 鈥淔ive Things Every Teacher Needs to Know about Teaching Junior High Mathematics.鈥�
Eckler鈥檚 day is filled with teaching two honors鈥� math classes and four general math classes, two of which he has another teacher assisting.
鈥淭hose two classes are to help kids who need a little push,鈥� said Eckler. 鈥淲ith the honor kids I have to be careful that they don鈥檛 outsmart me.鈥�
Eckler鈥檚 成人B站 educational experience has prepared him, particularly in regards to technology and methods.
鈥淚 think the (成人B站) Education Department did a great job of showing technology that can be used with the classes,鈥� Eckler said. 鈥淚n my methods class, I learned how to set up a substitute teacher鈥檚 plan book and a lot about lesson planning.鈥�
His love of 成人B站 stems from a caring faculty and activities he鈥檒l cherish for a lifetime.
鈥淚 loved 成人B站鈥nce a Tiger Always a Tiger. It meant a whole lot to me. The faculty was always there to talk if you needed to,鈥� Eckler said. 鈥淚 did everything from Greek life to homecoming king. It meant more than can be explained. I spent a year and a half in the band and I鈥檒l always remember the feeling of running on the field for a performance at a football game.鈥�
He is a 2009 graduate of Shawnee High School.
The purpose of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program is to encourage science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors and professionals to become kindergarten-12th grade math and science teachers.
The $900,000 grant was awarded to 成人B站 to provide scholarships and additional educational opportunities to students who commit to teach secondary level mathematics for up to six years in a high-need school district in Oklahoma. A high-need school district consists of a high percentage of individuals from families below poverty line incomes, high percentage of secondary school teachers not teaching in the content area in which they were trained to teach, and/or high teacher turnover rate.
成人B站 was the first university in Oklahoma to ever receive the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Grant.
鈥淐hris was a good Noyce Scholar,鈥� said Dr. Robert Ferdinand, professor and chair of the 成人B站 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. 鈥淚n the next couple of years, we are trying to get in-service Noyce Scholars, who are currently teaching fulltime, to be speakers at the Noyce Colloquia on the 成人B站 campus.鈥�
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