The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

Teacher Feature: YES Prep Teacher and Teach For America Alum Brian Lawton

February 10, 2011 by Jeremy Jones

Brian Lawton teaches 6th grade science at YES Prep Southeast and is a Teach For America Alum.  His father was in the Air Force so he grew up in a few different places but I spent most of his late childhood and teenage years in Apopka, FL (just outside of Orlando).  He graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Biology.  We recently had the chance to sit down with Brian to talk a little about him and teaching!

In your class, what do you get most excited about teaching?
I love almost every topic in Science so it’s pretty easy for me to get excited about any of it. I have to say that Earth and Space science topics excite me the most, though because the knowledge is much more fresh. I didn’t study Geology or Astronomy in high school or college so I’ve had to learn it along the way. Students have so many questions about these topics and love learning about them. I find myself doing research with my students to find answers to many of their questions.

Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
My 11th grade English teacher, Mrs. Taschemberger, was incredible. Even though she was about 40 years older than her students she knew how to connect on their level. She wasn’t afraid to show her emotions and truly treated us as individuals. To this day she inspires me to make sure that I don’t let the day to day “busyness” of this job get in the way of how important it is to stop and listen to my students. They are the reason I feel energized to come to work every day.

What is your favorite thing about teaching at YES Prep?
The fact that the bar stays high and that as teachers we are constantly working together to improve so that our students can go above and beyond that bar is probably my favorite thing about teaching here.

What would your “teacher theme song” be?
I think I’ll go old school with “Lean on Me” because in my first few years of teaching and even now I’ve had to lean on others for support, advice, or part of their lunch when I forgot mine. There have also been other times where I had the privilege to return the favor. I also like that it directly ties in to our Think and Act, “The strong should take care of the weak.”

What does college ready mean to you?
College ready means that our students are equipped with the academic and social skills necessary to succeed. They must be prepared for the rigor of college courses but they also need to be able to work
collaboratively, persist when the going gets tough, and spend quality time helping their community.
 

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