It was the last class I would give during my teaching practice. I was standing in front of my students and as I was about to leave, I wished them luck and warmly said goodbye to them. They looked vacantly at me and hardly uttered a word. So, I opened the door and walked out of the classroom. As I stood in the corridor, trying to figure out where I had to go, I suddenly heard my name. It was a boy called Alex. He came up to me and fondly said “I am going to miss you”, and placed his arms around me. And behind him was another boy, and then came 3 girls soon followed by the whole class. And I felt real affection and love, I was standing in the middle of the hall surrounded by all my pupils saying they would miss me.

Yes, I am a qualified teacher of mathematics now. In fact, in June 2013, I successfully completed a 5-year degree programme similar to a combined Bachelor’s and Master's Degree in Mathematics from the University of Seville named “licentiate in Mathematics”.

While a student, I took advantage of the Erasmus exchange programme to study at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, in Germany. There, I attended lectures and passed examinations in unique master's courses.  And before returning to Seville I delivered presentations in two different seminars, one concerning Geomathematics and the other Inverse Problems.  

A year after completing my degree in mathematics, in June 2014, I finished a Master's Degree in Education. In this degree I specialized in the “teaching of mathematics” and, among other things I was trained in using computer tools coupled with interactive whiteboards and projectors to better illustrate mathematical concepts.

A degree in mathematics would generally contain some programming and other IT training but, I also directed my studies towards computer science by always selecting courses in this area. And as I progressed through my degree I was instructed in using mathematical packages for numerics,  geometry, computer algebraic systems and various programming languages.

During my third year I was introduced to GNU/Linux and instantly became an enthusiast of the command-line and the whole operating system. Since then I have kept on deepening my knowledge in this OS. And just before finishing my degree in mathematics I managed to get credits in system administration. So, now I also have experience in areas relevant to computer engineering, like setting up web, mail and file servers as well as creating dynamic web sites and administering simple networks.

All the programming languages I am familiar with I learnt them in different courses except for C, AWK and Python which were introduced sequentially during the same semester. The full list of programming languages I am familiar with can be found in my C.V.. If I am asked which language is my favourite I'll say Python. I was once able to impress my lecturer by writing some amazing lines of code which he simply could not imagine would be possible to implement.

Also while I was a student of mathematics, I would often tutor undergraduates who were taking degrees in biology, chemistry and pharmacy. And naturally, I would often help in my family farm, taking care of the administration, organizing the hiring of seasonal employees and then releasing them afterwards. Every year, at the end of the summer, during the olive-picking season I would work alongside other employees and, of course, help newcomers get a better grasp of the job.

During my Master's Degree in Education, I worked as a trainee teacher at a state secondary school in Seville. There I taught maths lessons to different classes of pupils between the ages of 12 and 19. In these lessons I constantly tried to apply all the knowledge and teaching techniques that I learned during the master's seminars as well as to use all the technology available to both more clearly explain the mathematical concepts, and better engage the interest of students. I later drew on this experience to complete my master's thesis.

I am clearly fluent in Spanish as that's my mother tongue. I am also professionally efficient working in English and have already spent a year in Ireland working as a bartender and doing other similar jobs. I also feel comfortable speaking German in casual circumstances, and delivering speeches if I've been given time to prepare them beforehand. I have also comfortably delivered several public presentations in English, Spanish and German at universities and quite funny speeches at weddings. I have basic knowledge of French, Italian and Portuguese and I always feel attracted by the idea of learning new languages.

I am also passionate about free software development and deployment. Community based projects always sound so attractive to me. Furthermore, I have a keen interest in cryptography, some car mechanics and sailing.

Finally I would like to mention that I have a driving licence and Qualified Teacher Status in England and Wales, with a Teacher Reference Number.

So much for what I've done! Now let's see what you've got to say. If you have any questions or comments remember you can always contact me using the contact details in my C.V. or on my website: jalon.org.

Good bye!

David Jalon