Teacher of the Day: Andrew Garland

Today's teacher is Andrew Garland. This is his first year teaching at SEP.

Andrew teaches mock senate for 9-11 campers.

What's your class like? Can you describe it for us?

Students play the role of a current U.S. Senator. They're supposed to create and argue for legislation such as that senator might propose and argue for. We try to follow the senate procedures pretty closely, so we use Senate parliamentary procedure for proposing and debating legislation.

What's something about you that someone might not expect if they didn't know you well?

I love baseball.

What made you want to teach at SEP?

I have several classmates in my graduate program who have taught for SEP before. They thought well of it, and I thought it would be a fun experience.

What do you think is the most difficult part of the job?

So far I'd say the most difficult part is predicting the background knowledge and interest of the students. For my class, it's very useful if students come with some pretty decent background knowledge about politics, and a lot of interest in debate and public speaking.

What do you think will be the most rewarding part of the job?

I'm not sure yet. It's always cool to see the "light come on," and it's neat to see students step up to the tasks at hand.

What do you think about gifted education?

I don't know much about it, except what general education training speaks of. I wish my school had offered a gifted ed. program.

Given infinite supplies and opportunities, what sort of class would you teach?

I'd seriously consider doing a much more detailed Senate or House. If I had the time to teach all of the theoretical parts in enough detail, and then the time to really help the students learn to write and argue, that would be great.

What's your biggest pet peeve?

About teaching, or in general? Perhaps my biggest pet peeve about teaching is watching someone do it really badly. It makes me feel sorry for the students.