Ioana Robles
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EducationI grew up in the Los Angeles area. I attended California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo for two years where I received my minor in French. Initially, I started out as an Architecture major. When I completed my last math course for the program, I broke down in tears in my professor’s office, declaring my love for math and affirming how much I will miss it. In order to take more math courses, I transferred my major to Architectural Engineering. When I fulfilled the math requirement for that program, I became depressed again. I remember my professor saying “ Why don’t you just be a math major?” I also remember my amazing dad saying “work will take up most of your time so make sure you are doing something you enjoy.” It took me a couple of years for those pieces of advice to finally sink in. In 1994, I transferred to Cal State Dominguez Hills where I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, graduating with Honors. Soon thereafter, I obtained my teaching credential. In 2019, I received my Certification for Data Mining with Advanced Analytics through UCSD Extension.
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Teaching ExperienceI started teaching in 1996 for Beverly Hills Unified School District. I taught four years at Beverly Vista Middle School and four years at Beverly Hills High School. I taught 7th-grade math, Algebra, Algebra II, Geometry, and Precalculus. From 2004 to 2008, I worked at Santa Monica City College as an adjunct professor where I taught Algebra and Geometry. During this time, I also worked as a content creator for Discovery Communications. I created videos and interactive lessons for a variety of math courses ranging from Algebra to Calculus. From 2008 to 2012, I worked in South Sacramento for SIATech Charter School, an alternative dropout recovery program for sixteen to twenty-four-year-olds pursuing their high school diploma while attending Job Corps. This experience was priceless. Not only was I able to teach what I love but I was able to change the mindset of young adults who believed they were incapable of doing math. From 2014-2018 and 2020-now, I have been a Math Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) for PSUSD. I taught for two years at DLA (2018-2020). I have enjoyed co-planning and co-teaching meaningful lessons with teachers, as well as collaborating with the district Math TOSA team. Teachers are the ones who open doors of opportunity for students and I am honored to support & work with them in their endeavors.
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Teaching PhilosophyI really love teaching and mentoring/coaching students and adults. I especially love it when I am presented with a challenging task that keeps me up at night. I won’t quit until I find a solution. Meaningful positive reinforcement goes a long way especially when students have a fixed mindset and believe they can’t. I show them they can. Math isn’t magic. It’s about analyzing patterns, drawing conclusions, questioning assumptions, and making mistakes. After that, it is practice, perseverance, and more practice. It’s very much like life. If fixed mindsets are in place, learning hits a brick wall. One challenge of teaching and coaching is breaking down fixed mindsets. “I can’t” needs to be replaced with “I will” for learning to occur. Most importantly, the learning and teaching environment has to be one in which students feel safe to make mistakes without judgment from their peers. Our students need for us to believe in them. If they know this, the sky is the limit.
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