Grade you teach: Physical Education
What is your favorite subject? Physical Education/Math
What/Who inspired you to become a teacher? Two educators are the reason why I chose this career. The first is Doug Henderson, who was my Physical Education teacher in elementary school. His classes were always engaging and entertaining. Mr. Henderson had so much of an impact on me I later became is supervisor over Physical Education Years later LOL. The second person is Keith Cosby, who was my Lead Teacher for Student Teaching in Physical Education. The attention to detail and the way he progressed his lessons to make sure that students were building their skills up was nothing like I had seen before and something I’ve adapted to my teaching to this day.
What do you enjoy most about teaching? The interaction with the students. Getting to know them while watching them grow and develop not only with their psychomotor skills but their cognitive thinking skills and the love that they have for physical education.
What is a memorable experience you’ve had while teaching? This isn’t one particular instance but the experience of filling in the shoes of a legendary Physical Education Teacher in Keith Cosby. Taking over for him at Valerie Elementary in 2013 was tremendous pressure. Felt like LeBron James carrying the NBA on his back after Michael Jordan retired.
How have you maneuvered online classes and distance learning? It has been a unique path to say the least. I’ve caught (no pun intended) on to the new technology and different tools that can be used to teach online fairly quickly. Physical Education during the spring of distance learning was a great success for not only myself but all Physical Educators within Dayton Public schools. We’ve learned to challenge ourselves to be more creative and get the most out of our students to stay Physically active in these social distancing times.
How can families adapt to be successful during these challenging educational times? The parents & guardians of our students can be successful during these wild times if they seek the help from us educators and ask as many questions as possible to check for understanding just as a student would in the classroom. Parents and educators must be as proactive and transparent as possible in order to make the best of the current circumstances.
The Dayton Daily News is profiling educators in our region as they navigate through these challenging times. To nominate an educator, email Rebecca.Mullins@coxinc.com.
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