What Are You Looking For in a Teaching Colleague?

 

RANDY WORMALD

Randy teaches Mathematics at Belmont High School in Belmont, New Hampshire. (Pictured below is an electric motorcycle Randy and his students built in his mathematics class)

• 2005 Disney High School Teacher of the Year
• 2005 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year
• 2010 Top 5 Finalist for the Great American Teacher Award

What are you looking for in a teaching colleague?

Randy:  It’s tough to answer. It’s like trying to define the term creativity. I don’t know what it is but I know it when I see it. They have to be flexible and know their content, but those are things you can check off a list. Then there’s a certain quality that you can’t put on a list. It comes back to that relationship piece. Are they capable of building and maintaining relationships with students? Do they have something to offer? Are they going to be a favorite teacher to some students? We all have our groups of students who are drawn to us. I think we are just looking for that extra something that is so hard to put into words.

You just can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know it’s there.

Randy:  It’s like defining love. It’s just one of those people that you know in your gut are going to be awesome. I think that’s what I’m always looking for in a teacher, a potential for awesomeness.