SWU Ed.D. student first Algebra Nation teacher feature
SWU Ed.D. student Tiffany Arnold, who teaches algebra at R.C. Edwards Middle School in Central, saw the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for her students to better understand algebra at work doing real-world analysis of the Coronavirus She's pictured at bottom sharing her findings on Algebra Nation, streamed on Facebook Live for South Carolina Algebra teachers.
In Mid-March the doors closed at schools and laptops opened at students’ homes, presenting new challenges to finishing the academic year.
Part of that transition has been a quest for resources teachers can trust as they help their students through course material that can be daunting even in a face-to-face environment. Tiffany Arnold, who teaches algebra at R.C. Edwards Middle School in Central and is enrolled in Southern Wesleyan University’s Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Assessment (Ed.D.), saw the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for her students to better understand algebra at work doing real-world analysis of the Coronavirus.
She created an activity for her Algebra 1 students about social distancing and exponential regression, which measured whether or not social distancing is working.
“This is what our algebra students need right now. They need to see relevancy, they need to see real world stuff. There’s no better way to connect it,” said Arnold in an interview on Algebra Nation, a free resource available to Algebra 1 students and teachers in South Carolina and streamed on Facebook Live.
In fact, Arnold became the first teacher to be featured by Algebra Nation in South Carolina, viewable here.
Algebra Nation is aligned to the South Carolina College and Career-Ready Standards for Algebra 1 and facilitated by professors at the University of South Carolina-Upstate, Clemson University and The Citadel. The Algebra Nation coordinators approached Arnold, asking her if she would write a letter of recommendation for re-funding.
“I said ‘of course, I need Algebra Nation.’ I wrote the letter and they said ‘we’re starting this Facebook Live’ and they would like for me to be their first highlighted teacher,” Arnold said. “Every algebra teacher in the state has access to this resource. They said ‘We really want to see a teacher who has used it,’ so we started talking and I told them about my COVID-19 activity.”
Arnold feels that skills like the ones she’s teaching her Algebra 1 students now are especially crucial since there’s no state end of the year test. She also feels that teachers will reap lasting benefits from becoming immersed more in the technology that’s become essential to finishing out the year.
Also, Arnold feels that what she learned in her Ed.D. program at Southern Wesleyan became very real when orders came from the governor to close the schools and move instruction online.
“Because of the last two years in the doctoral program, I have all of these amazing ideas of what I think school should look like and this is the time that could happen,” said Arnold, now over halfway through her Ed.D. program. “I feel like when we go back to school – hopefully in the fall – everything will have to change.”
Arnold quips that her Wesleyan grandmother is especially proud of her for choosing Southern Wesleyan to further her education. She also has an undergraduate degree from Berea College in Kentucky and a master’s degree from Clemson University.
“I’m 100 percent happy in my class – I love my kids and I love my classroom - but wherever God is leading me, it all fell into place so easily. I feel like I can help other teachers do what I’m doing, and that will help other kids,” Arnold said.
Southern Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered, student-focused learning community devoted to transforming lives by challenging students to be dedicated scholars and servant-leaders who impact the world for Christ. For details about degree programs, go online to swu.edu.
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