Materese's Pieces

My work as an educator has taken me from public to public charter settings, from rural North Carolina to the South Bronx, to New York City's "United Nations" District 24 in Queens, to South Los Angeles, Atlanta, Georgia, and Bushwick, Brooklyn. I have dedicated my 14-year career in education to communities that are typically underserved. I have worked with teachers as an instructional coach/manager, a grade level team leader, a content team leader, a data manager, as the coordinator of large initiatives like the school-wide Advisory program, and as the coordinator of small initiatives like social events and team-building opportunities. I have thirteen years of classroom experience, and have served as a founding teacher at three school sites. I have taught all core subjects and some enrichment, focusing primarily on science. I am passionate about social justice and empowerment through education.

Cultural relevancy is central to our work as educators. With some effort, everything we teach can be directly connected to our students' lives. I am a fan of project-based learning and inquiry: starting each unit and lesson with a real-life experience based in scholars' material world, generating questions, and focusing class time on the gradual discovery of evidence that can answer those questions/solve problems. I believe our work as educators is to help scholars hone critical thinking skills. In the digital landscape, there is no shortage of information to read; the modern challenge is therefore not finding information but evaluating it, and being able to make reasonable choices when faced with conflicting evidence.

ETS (Educational Testing Service) Recognition of Excellence - Praxis General Science Content Knowledge Assessment, July 2013: Ranked in the top 15% of all test takers who completed the assessment on or in years before July 20, 2013 NASA Maven Educator Ambassador, Jul 2015: Selected from a national applicant pool to study and disseminate information about NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission and related secondary school resources.

MAT in Middle Grades Education from East Carolina University BA in History and Psychology from the College of William and Mary

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