2021-22 Region 9 Teacher of the Year - Brian Paul

I teach because I enjoy the thrill of learning. The most enjoyable part of teaching is getting a student to take a risk and achieve something they thought was impossible. 

I love demonstrating my belief in each student by the way I speak with them, look at them, talk about their accomplishments and laugh with them.  With that blossoming relationship a student feels safe to take risks. 

I openly share with them when I am trying a new teaching strategy so they see me model risk taking skills.  With rigorous instruction and hard work they set out to achieve an academic goal.  That goal, which they help to determine, can range from reading in front of the class, writing a single sentence, moving up a reading level to scoring well on a test.  When they achieve that goal, they swell with pride.  I call these moments the infectious joy of learning.  Once a student has felt it, they hunger for it again.  Once classmates witness a student brimming with success, they yearn for it themselves.