Mbaus002

About the author

Hey everybody! My name is Alec Bauserman, I'm 27 and I live in my hometown of Winchester, VA. I'm married to a wonderful young lady, no kids, 2 cats & 2 dogs. I teach Biology and Earth Science at John Handley High School. This is my third year here. I previously taught ESL in China for two years. I enjoy my job but the time commitment is WAY greater than what I thought it would be. In my few moments of spare time I like to do anything outdoors - hiking, camping, gardening, etc. I spent a lot of my childhood on a farm in West Virginia and Im currently building it into a business. Anyone interested in organic meat & produce...?

What am I doing here!?

Im taking this course and 4 others this year so I can meet the requirements to become *drum roll* a fully licensed, highly qualified teacher in the state of Virginia. I majored in Biology at Virginia Tech (go Hokies!!!!) and Ive completed all my Earth Science coursework, now I need to complete the 15 hours of educational classes. So far the design of this class looks really fun.

Teaching Philosophy

1) First and foremost, it is my duty to be a positive influence on my students lives. If I treat my students with respect and hold them to the same high standards I would hold my own children, many of the discipline problems I face in the classroom will disappear.

2) Accountability should be built into our educational system. SOLs are not the end-all-be-all indicator of student achievement. I will work hard to ensure my students pass but there are other life skills that should also be given high priority.

3) Science is awesome. I have the best job in the world! My personal enthusiasm for the things I teach DO rub off on my kids and the less I try to bottle it up and act like the stern lecturer, the more they enjoy class and the more they learn.

WikiProject

I'll be doing 6.2.2 - 'How do we combat learned helplessness?" Im sure you are all familiar with the attitude and its my number one priority this year. Some of our students have been told so many times by so many people they trust that they're just not capable and hard work is pointless. That is an attitude that Im going to crush every time it pops up. "I don't know" is no longer an acceptable answer in my class. I told them on the first day: "If you don't know, FIND OUT." Step one on the path to recovery...

Hi Alec! It's nice to meet you. It's very refreshing to see that many of my classmates that are currently teaching have come back to school to further their educations. Having just chosen my major earlier this year (which is Early Childhood Education K-3), I have already learned so much about the struggles teachers face- children misbehaving, undisciplinary parents, and problems within the school system. It is nice to see that you still seem so passionate about teaching! I too believe in your philosophies on positivity and accountability. If more teachers taught this way, I think students would learn more and enjoy class more as well. However, about science being awesome...I'm not too sure about that! It's not one of my strong points haha. At any rate, I wish you luck in this class and all of your others. Kmayx003 (talk) 21:41, 12 September 2008 (UTC)