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Thanh Duc Nguyen, Excellence in Beginning Teaching
Philosophy of Teaching
I believe that teaching is done by enthusiasm and innovative efforts. To be an outstanding teacher, I must have a great zeal because nothing great is ever achieved without passion. There are a few qualities that I need to learn in order to be an outstanding teacher. First of all, I must have a great passion and love to be a teacher. Second, I must be patient and gentle with myself and my students and be able to empower them to learn the subject matter. Third, I must respect my students at all ages and make them feel good about the talents that they have. I also need to be aware of my students’ lives inside and outside of school.
'With diversity, people perceive and gain knowledge differently, form ideas and think differently, act differently, and study differently.'
As one can see there are multiple cultures in the United States nowadays, each separated by its difference. Today students in the United States have many cultural differences and these affect all teacher-student relationships because these differences affect classroom behavior. Since students and educators come from different backgrounds and carry their own cultures into the classroom, I believe that an outstanding teacher must develop instructions and structures that reflect on every student’s background and needs.
Having an Asian heritage, I’m also carrying with me my own culture into my classroom. Therefore, I must be aware of designing the learning experiences that show consideration for students’ cultural heritage, unique endowments, learning styles, interests, and needs. With diversity, people perceive and gain knowledge differently, form ideas and think differently, act differently, and study differently. In this way, my students would do the same in my classroom environment.
To be an outstanding teacher, I believe that I must know that my students learn in divergent ways, have various abilities. I need to create instructional strategies and activities that address my students’ backgrounds. For example, I can incorporate hands-on learning as well as breaking students into small groups for discussion and problem solving activities. And whenever possible, I can make connections between the curriculum and the lives of my students. This can be done by providing culturally meaningful examples and analogies to help students make the link between their prior experiences and new knowledge. Finally, I believe that to be an outstanding teacher, I must have a well-managed classroom and interest in my students’ backgrounds, personal development and academic growth.
'I worked as a tutor at IRS (International Refugee Services) for refugee students, the passion for teaching returned to me.'
There are a few reasons that I want to teach, but the main reason is to make a difference in a child’s life. This has been my lifelong dream since I was very young. When I was young, my family was very poor; but education was always our priority. My parents tried everything to keep us in school. Attending school in Vietnam was a great cost for my poor family at that time. At an early age, I saw many kids my age drop out from school due to their families’ poverty and hardship. A great desire and passion to teach engulfed me at that time. I wanted to teach every poor kid without charging any fee. I carried that dream with me to America. But the dream was challenged and slowly put away because of the language barrier.
I came to America at the age of 14; and my English was very limited when I was in high school. I took that limitation into consideration; and I decided to choose a different career when I was in college. I specifically thought about computer science since most of my Asian friends did it. Then the summer before my junior year, I worked as a tutor at IRS (International Refugee Services) for refugee students, the passion for teaching returned to me. At that time I also had the privilege of being a coordinator for the youth program in my church and at the Vietnamese community. From that moment I’ve fell in love with education from tutoring to care-giving and now classroom teaching.
I always believe that education is the best investment which I can have. It gives me a life-giving opportunity to enhance my academic, social, and personal development. It also makes a difference in my life. There is no greater joy that comes to a teacher than knowing that one has touched the lives of one’s students. When I first decided that teaching was the ideal profession for me, it was because I wanted to help the poor kids in my native country, but now I realize it is much more.
'A teacher has great power of influence.'
A teacher has great power of influence. As a teacher I impact the lives of many students and set them up for a successful future. Their success is contingent upon my ability to teach them effectively. I hope that by being an encouraging influence in their lives I can help them become the people that they want to be and reach their full potential.
I know that teaching is not something that will be meaningful and fun everyday. Sometimes I will have days where I say “I am never going back there again,” and other times I will have days where I say, “I will never quit this for the world.” The important part is the lasting impact I have on my students. Thus, I need to be able to give the children in my classroom the environment they need to grow into healthy adults in society.
With continued determination, self motivation, enthusiasm, innovative efforts and love of learning and teaching, I’d become an outstanding teacher. If someone asks me now what the most important principles of outstanding teaching are for me, I must say enthusiasm about my teaching and commitment to the well-being and well-affairs of my students, preparation and organization of lesson plans, and constant reflection about the improvement of my teaching and my students’ learning.
Educational / Professional Background
University Degrees
Teaching Experience
2008-09 – Carpenter Middle School Mathematics Teacher
2008 – Bowman Middle School, Summer School Contract Teacher
- Taught summer school program for 7th grade math
- Worked with other math teachers to design the summer program curriculum
2008 – Williams High School, Long-Term Substitute Teacher
- Substituted as full time classroom instructor in 9’ grade Algebra 1
- Allowed existing lesson plans in all curriculum areas in 9th grade
- Taught 6 classes a day
- Worked with students who failed the 1st semester of Algebra 1
2007 – Bussey Middle School Garland, Texas, Early Field Experiences
- Completed 30 hours of classroom observation in seventh grade classrooms
Assisted teacher in working with 7th grade class
- Developed and implemented units and daily lesson plans
- Collaborated with cooperating teacher to develop lessons that were developmentally and age appropriate
- Communicated with parents regarding their child’s educational development
- Participated in staff meeting, addressing problems including family relations, staff cooperation, community support, and problem issues with individual students
Education-Related Experience
- 2007 to 2008 - Teaching Sunday school for high school students at Saint Peter Catholic parish in Garland
- 2006 to 2007 - Teaching Sunday school for 7th grade level at the Mission of the Sacred
- Heart of Jesus Catholic Parish in Plano
- 2006 to 2004 - Math tutor in Vietnam, Cambodia
- 2004 to 2001 - Math and other middle school subjects tutor at Good Shepherd’s Tutoring
- Program in Chicago, Illinois
- 2001 to 1999 - All grade levels tutor for refuge students at IRS, Dallas, Texas
Additional Work Experience
- Chaplain at Methodist Medical Center in Dallas in summer 2003; from September, 2006 to September, 2007
- Media: A part time Vietnamese Radio/Television Talk Show host from February, 2007 to
- August, 2008
- Part time youth minister at Sacred Heart of Jesus Chinese Catholic parish in Plano, Texas from August, 2006 to August, 2007
- Education coordinator for Khmer students in Cambodia from January, 2004 to May, 2006.
- Youth leadership program coordinator for Cambodian Catholic parish in Phnom Penh from August, 2004 to May, 2006
- Member of Maryknoll (the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America) and missionary in Cambodia from June 2004 to August, 2006
- Member of Vietnamese National Association for the Education of Young Children in Dallas, New York, and Chicago from August, 1997 to present
- Founder of SMILE for Children, non-profit organization, for students in Vietnam from May, 2002 to present
- Co-founder of the Tutoring Program for Vietnamese and foreign refugee students in Dallas area from August, 1997 to August, 1999 under employment of IRS
Activities / Skills
- Student - Graduated with Suma Cum Laude, National Deans List, All American Scholars
- Chairperson of SMILE for children, non-profit organization
- Proficient in MS Office, MS Word, MS Excel, and PowerPoint
- Fluent in Vietnamese, English, Khmer (Cambodian), and some Spanish
School
Principal Recommendation
Mr. Thanh Nguyen is one of our best additions yet to the Carpenter Middle School staff. We met him upon a recommendation from Williams High School, where he had worked successfully as a long-term substitute. Principal Sara Bonser shared, “This guy has it. He’s hard-working, extremely energetic, and kids just love him!”
We heard similar comments from Principal George King, who spoke about the impressive work ethic and passion for teaching he had observed during Bowman Middle School’s summer program. Mr. Nguyen walked into the interview at Carpenter and had us from the start. When he left, we knew we had just found our new sixth grade math teacher. Indeed, we had, and are very proud to honor him as Carpenter’s Beginning Teacher of the Year.
Mr. Nguyen is a teacher in every sense of the word. He cheerfully greets his students at the door every period and welcomes them into his classroom, eager to begin the math lesson each day. Students are engaged bell to bell as he travels all around the classroom, making sure that students are not only on task, but understanding the concepts.
His work ethic is unprecedented — he arrives early, stays late, and rarely misses a moment, modeling the importance of an education he’s worked so hard himself to earn. His warm personality and caring demeanor show kids that he cares, while his respectful and professional approach reassure parents that their children are in capable hands, being well-prepared for many years of proficiency in math.
While Mr. Nguyen is committed to quality math instruction, he is even more dedicated to nurturing middle schoolers into lifelong learners. His experience with moving to a new country, learning a new language, and even forging into a new career exemplify not only his determination, but also his desire to achieve and set a positive example for others to follow. Anyone who enters his classroom, child or adult alike, immediately feels welcome and included and rarely wants to leave.
I am very pleased to recommend Mr. Thanh Nguyen for this prestigious and well-deserved honor. Thoughtful, articulate, and sincere, he would do an outstanding job representing our district as Plano lSD’s Beginning Teacher of the Year.
Best regards,
Shauna P. Koehne
Principal, Carpenter Middle School
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