For some teachers, teaching doesn't feel like work. For Brent Truchon, being around young people and helping them learn is not work but an opportunity which gives him energy. Brent relies on this attitude to gauge his personal goals. He knows that when teaching begins to feel like "work," it will be time to move on to something else. Meet Brent Brent's interest in teaching began in high school. He noticed that many of his teachers really enjoyed what they were doing, and he wanted to find a career that would offer him that same level of satisfaction. His teachers and friends often told him that he was a "natural" teacher, but Brent needed to discover this fact for himself. He knew he wanted a job that he was excited about and gave him energy. He looked at several professions before deciding on education. Simply stated: Brent realized that he obtains the greatest reward when he is working with kids. Brent received his undergraduate degree in Geography and American Studies from Middlebury College in 1992. During the Fall of 1992, he enrolled in Middlebury's Ninth Semester program, an intensive teacher preparation program where he gained field experiences in classrooms. Brent did his student teaching at Middlebury Middle and High School and received his teaching license in secondary education as a social studies teacher in June, 1993. Just several days before school opened that Fall, Brent was hired to teach seventh and eighth grade social studies at Edmunds Middle School. Brent credits three of his colleagues as "tremendous mentors" who helped him survive his first year of teaching. They are: Jane Lavigne, Daryl Kuhn, and John True. Brent describes his first year as a "challenge" and that he took a pretty traditional approach to teaching then. Brent is one of four teachers who work in the Navigator Team, a team of 72 students in seventh and eighth grades. Over the nine years he has been at Edmunds Middle School, Brent has grown into a well-respected teacher at Edmunds. Currently, Brent is enrolled in the Graduate College at the University of Vermont where he is pursuing a master's degree in education (M.Ed.) through the Interdisciplinary Program. Brent's advisor is Dr. Robert Nash. Brent is a teacher who sees technology as a tool for learning. As his experience has deepened over the last nine years, his application and use of technology has deepened as well. To learn more about Brent and how he uses educational technology to support teaching and learning, click on the link "learn more" below or follow the Quick Links in the right column. |
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